Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has officially conducted two Express Entry draws in two days this week. Here are the results of IRCC's latest draw, which occurred on March 26, 2024.
In the department's second Express Entry draw this week, IRCC issued 1,500 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in a category-based draw for Express Entry candidates with strong French-language proficiency. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score held by all Express Entry candidates who received an ITA during this round of invitations was 388.
Today's round of invitations follows a general Express Entry draw on March 25, 2024, when IRCC issued 1,980 ITAs to candidates with a minimum CRS score of 524.
Express Entry
Express Entry is the federal government's application management system. This system jointly manages Canadian immigration applications made to the following three economic-class permanent residence (PR) programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Note: IRCC now conducts three types of Express Entry draws: general draws, program-specific draws, and category-based draws. The difference between these draws will be outlined below.
General and Program-specific Express Entry Draws
General and program-specific draws have been conducted by IRCC since the inception of Express Entry in 2015. These draws are primarily focused on welcoming the eligible immigration candidates with the highest CRS scores.
CRS scores are assigned to all eligible candidates once they enter the Express Entry candidate pool. This only occurs after the candidate confirms they are eligible for any of the three programs managed by the Express Entry system and they create an online profile with IRCC.
Note: CRS scores are determined using pre-established values given to various human capital factors (a candidate's age, education and work experience acquired in Canada, for example).
After candidates receive their CRS score, they must wait for Canada's immigration department to issue its next round of invitations. Only then will they know whether they have met the criteria to receive an ITA. ITAs are the only way to apply for Canadian PR as an Express Entry candidate.
Note: Candidates must have a CRS score above the cut-off for a given draw to be given an ITA by IRCC.
Category-Based Express Entry Draws
IRCC conducted its first category-based draw on June 28, 2023.
These draws were introduced as a way for the federal government to attract foreign skilled workers with specific in-demand work experience and proficiencies relevant to the most pressing needs of Canada's labour market and demographic landscape.
When category-based Express Entry draws were first introduced, IRCC chose the following six categories as priorities based on Canada's labour market needs and demographic gaps. Express Entry candidates with the following attributes have been the focus of IRCC's category-based draws since their inception.
Note: IRCC confirmed last month that it would continue with the same Express Entry categories for 2024.
- Work experience in Healthcare
- Work experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
- Work experience in Trades
- Work experience in Transport
- Work experience in Agriculture and Agri-Food
- Strong French language proficiency (defined as a "minimum score of 7 in all 4 language abilities on the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens" (NCLC)).
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