Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in this week’s third Express Entry draw.
The department released 3,750 ITAs in the category-based selection draw for healthcare professions.
Candidates were required to have a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 445 to be accepted for consideration.
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This was the second category-based draw of the week. It comes after the draw held on July 4, which was a category-based selection draw for 1,800 candidates in trade occupations.
IRCC also held a draw earlier this week on July 2 that considered only Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates. The 920 invited candidates were required to have a minimum CRS score of 739.
This brings the total number of ITAs issued this week to 6,470, the highest number of ITAs issued since April.
The recent trend of program-specific draws began earlier this year. So far, IRCC has held four program-specific draws since May 30, three of which are for PNP candidates.
Program-specific draws only consider candidates in the Express Entry pool who have applied through an Express Entry program such as the CEC, Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) or Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). In the case of PNP-only draws, candidates are only considered if they have been successfully enrolled through the PNP’s Express Entry aligned stream, a process known as advanced enrollment.
Most recently, this type of draw had not taken place since the introduction of category-based selection draws in May 2023. However, since January of this year, IRCC has been working to stabilize the high levels of temporary residents in Canada. One way to do this is to provide temporary residents, who are in Canada on a work or study permit or a visitor visa, with more options to become permanent residents (PR).
Many temporary residents who have applied for permanent residence, and are currently living in Canada or have experience living in Canada, apply for PR through the CEC. The same is true for candidates in the PNP. This means that IRCC can meet its annual target for “federal high skilled workers” (Express Entry) outlined in the Immigration Levels Plan, while also reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada.
Summary of Results for Express Entry Draws in 2024
| date | Draw Type | Number of ITAs | Minimum CRS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17th July | Canadian Experience Class | 6,300 | 515 |
| 16th July | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,391 | 670 |
| 8th July | French Proficiency | 3,200 | 420 |
| 5th July | Healthcare Business | 3,750 | 445 |
| July 4th | business Business | 1,800 | 436 |
| 2 July | Provincial Nominee Program | 920 | 739 |
| 19 June | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,499 | 663 |
| 31st May | Canadian Experience Class | 3,000 | 522 |
| 30th May | Provincial Nominee Program | 2,985 | 676 |
| 24th April | French Proficiency | 1,400 | 410 |
| 23 April | General | 2,095 | 529 |
| 11 April | STEM Professions | 4,500 | 491 |
| 10th April | General | 1,280 | 549 |
| 26 March | French Language Proficiency | 1,500 | 388 |
| 25 March | General | 1,980 | 524 |
| 13 March | Transportation Business | 975 | 430 |
| March 12 | General | 2,850 | 525 |
| 29 February | French Language Proficiency | 2,500 | 336 |
| 28 February | General | 1,470 | 534 |
| 16 February | Agriculture and Agri-Food Business | 150 | 437 |
| February 14 | Healthcare Business | 3,500 | 422 |
| 13 February | General | 1,490 | 535 |
| 1 February | French Language Proficiency | 7,000 | 365 |
| 31 January | General | 730 | 541 |
| 23 January | General | 1,040 | 543 |
| 10 January | General | 1,510 | 546 |
What is Express Entry?
The Express Entry Application Management System was introduced in 2015 as a way for IRCC to target candidates with human capital attributes and process their applications faster. It oversees applications for the FSWP, FSTP, and CEC.
The CRS used by Express Entry considers human capital factors such as age, work experience, occupation, language skills, and vocation to evaluate a candidate’s eligibility. Each factor is given a score and when they are added together, candidates get their overall CRS score. The higher a candidate’s CRS score, the greater their chances of receiving an ITA in an upcoming draw.
There are several types of Express Entry draws including program-specific draws, category-based selection draws, and general draws. The general draw considers all Express Entry candidates, regardless of their program or occupation.
What is range-based selection?
The category-based selection draw was introduced by IRCC in 2023 as a method to differentiate Express Entry candidates with in-demand qualities for the Canadian workforce or to help strengthen the national French-speaking demographics.
IRCC has introduced six possible categories for candidates to obtain an ITA:
- Healthcare Business
- Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions
- Trade occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
- Transportation Business
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Business
- Proficiency in French Language
These draws are not program-specific and are more likely to have lower than average CRS scores (compared to normal draws).
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