Vimal Sivakumar - 26 October, 2023
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) conducted a third Express Entry this week, the first time the department has done this since September 26-28 this year. Here are the results of Canada's most recent draw, from October 26, 2023.
In the department's first category-based draw for candidates with experience in Healthcare professions since July 6, IRCC issued 3,600 more Invitations to Apply (ITAs) today. Today's draw saw ITAs issued to eligible candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 431.
The October 26 draw follows two other draws conducted by IRCC this week. IRCC held a draw for French-language proficiency candidates on October 25 where the department issued 300 ITAs and the minimum CRS was 486. On October 24, IRCC held a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-only draw, inviting 1,548 candidates with a minimum CRS of 776.
Express Entry
Canada's federal government uses an application management system, which they have called the Express Entry system, to jointly manage immigration applications for three programs - the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). All three of these programs are under the "economic immigration" umbrella of Canada's immigration system.
Under this application management system, Canada operates two different kinds of Express Entry draws.
The first of which, for lack of a better word, is called a standard Express Entry draw. In place since the inception of Express Entry in 2015, the process for these draws begins when a candidate who is eligible for one of the three programs within this system enters themselves into the Express Entry pool. At this time, each candidate in the pool is given a CRS score. These scores are then used to rank candidates against each other, after which a number of candidates with CRS scores above the cut-off score for a particular Express Entry draw will receive an ITA for permanent residence in Canada.
Note: CRS scores are based on various human capital factors (including work experience, professional fields, language skills, education, and age) that have all been assigned an objective value by IRCC
The other type of Express Entry draw employs a category-based selection system, designed to help IRCC welcome more immigration candidates who have specific traits (specifically work experience or proficiencies) that can help this country address particular labour market gaps.
In 2023, IRCC is using category-based draws to prioritize Express Entry candidates with the following attributes:
Recent work experience in an occupation that falls under one of the following categories:
• Healthcare
• STEM professions
• Trades
• Transport
• Agriculture and agri-food
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