IRCC invites 5,900 candidates in third Express Entry draw of the week

IRCC invites 5,900 candidates in third Express Entry draw of the week

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has invited candidates in the third Express Entry draw of the week. The department issued 5,900 invitations to apply (ITAs) in a category-based selection draw for candidates with professional experience in STEM related professions.

Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 481 to be considered. Today’s draw is the third of the week. Yesterday, December 7th, IRCC invited 1,000 candidates with a CRS of 470, in a targeted draw for individuals with proficiency in French. The day before (Dec. 6th) 4,750 candidates with a CRS score of 561 were invited in an all-program draw.  

This week’s draws were the first Express Entry draws in more than a month. The earliest draw prior took place on October 26 and invited 3,600 candidates with a CRS score of 431 in a category-based selection draw for healthcare occupations.  

On November 14, IRCC tweeted that candidates who had received ITAs in recent draws were unable to upload their final application to the Express Entry profile builder. A follow-up tweet two days later said the problem had been resolved but no reason was confirmed for the longer pause. 

Summary of Express Entry draws since June 2023

 

Date Draw Type Number of ITAs Minimum CRS
Dec 8 STEM occupations 5,900 481
Dec 7 French language proficiency 1,000 470
Dec 6 All-program 4,750 561
Oct 26 Healthcare occupations 3,600 431
Oct 25 French language proficiency 300 486
Oct 24 PNP-only 1,548 776
Oct 10 All-program 3,725 500
Sept 28 Agriculture and agri-food occupations 600 354
Sept 27 French language proficiency 500 472
Sept 26 All-program 3,000 504
Sept 20 Transport occupations 1,000 435
Sept 19 All-program 3,200 531
Aug 15 All-program 4,300 496
Aug 3 Trade occupations 1,500 388
Aug 2 French language proficiency 800 435
Aug 1 All-program 2,000 517
July 12 French language proficiency 3,800 375
July 11 All-program 800 505
July 7 French language proficiency 2,300 439
July 6 Healthcare occupations 1500 463
July 5 STEM occupations 500 486
July 4 All-program 700 511
June 28 Healthcare occupations 500 476
June 27 All-program 4,300 486
June 8 All-program 4,800 486

 

What is category-based selection?

In May this year, IRCC announced it would begin holding category-based selection Express Entry rounds of invitations.

These draws target Express Entry candidates who meet the criteria for a specific attribute, such as French-language proficiency or have work experience in one of five occupations:

  • Healthcare;
  • STEM professions;
  • Trades;
  • Transport;
  • Agriculture and agri-food

These are all occupations that are experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. The shortages are placing a strain on Canada’s economy and other key sectors such as the healthcare system and the supply chain.

Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, says admitting more skilled workers is key to eliminating these shortages, especially as up to nine million Canadians are expected to retire by 2030. The current Immigration Levels Plan for 2023-2025 shows that there will be 114,000 Federal High Skilled (Express Entry) immigrations admitted to Canada each year by the end of 2025. A new Levels Plan is expected on or by November 1st.

Despite these high targets, in a recent meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, it was noted that since Minister Miller took office, there has been a slowdown in the number of Express Entry draws.Deputy Immigration Minister Christiane Fox says that when the new categories were launched, an IT glitch forced the department to reduce the number of draws and that the department will make up the numbers as they go forward.

The Deputy Minister also said that a category-based draw for skilled trades professionals will take place by December this year.Since the first category-based draw in June Canada has invited candidates through category-based selection draws 12 times, totaling over 11,000 ITAs. All candidates were already in the Express Entry pool.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an application management system that processes permanent residence applications from candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Program.

Through Express Entry, candidates are evaluated using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The system does this by assigning points to candidates based on their collective human capital attributes. This includes factors such as work experience, language ability, occupation, education, and age. Each factor is worth a specific point value.

Candidates who obtain the highest score are the most likely to receive an invitation to apply (ITA). If a candidate receives an ITA, they then have 60 days to submit their final application for permanent residency to IRCC.IRCC aims to process all Express Entry applications within six months