Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued invitations to apply (ITAs) to Express Entry candidates in the second draw this week.
The department issued 1,400 ITAs in a category-based selection draw for candidates with French proficiency.
Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 410 to be considered.
Today’s draw follows a general draw on April 23. IRCC invited 2,095 candidates with a minimum CRS score of 529. This score represents a 20-point decrease over the last general draw on April 10 when the cut-off score was 549, the highest minimum score of the year.
One other draw occurred month, on April 11. It was the first draw of the year for Express Entry candidates eligible for category-based selection for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) occupations. The department invited 4,500 candidates with a minimum CRS of 491.
What is category-based selection?
Category-based selection draws were introduced in May 2023 as a method for IRCC to target Express Entry candidates with highly in-demand human capital attributes such as their language ability or occupation.
The final categories for 2023 were chosen following consultations with IRCC partners and stakeholders. In early 2024, the department announced it would keep the same categories throughout 2024. They are:
- Healthcare occupations
- Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
- Trades occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
- Transport occupations
- Agriculture and agri-food occupations
- Strong French proficiency
Candidates in occupation-based categories require at least six months of continuous full-time work experience in an eligible occupation over the past three years.
Those who are eligible under the category for French proficiency must have French-language test results that show a minimum score of 7 in all 4 language abilities on the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens.
What is Express Entry?
Express Entry is an application management system for economic immigration candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).
Candidates who are eligible for one of these programs upload a profile to the IRCC website and are assigned scores based on human capital factors such as age, language ability, education, work experience and occupation. These scores are taken together and used to assign a final Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.
Those with the highest scores are the most likely to receive an invitation to apply for permanent resident status in Canada. If a candidate is issued an ITA, they then submit their final application to IRCC, which aims to process the application within six months.
