Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued invitations to apply (ITAs) in Canada’s most recent Express Entry draw.
The department issued 920 ITAs in a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw.
Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 739 to be considered.
Today’s draw comes on the heels of three program-specific draws over the past month. Most recently, IRCC invited 1,499 candidates in another PNP-only draw on June 19. They needed a minimum CRS score of 663.
There was also a PNP-only draw on May 30 that invited 2,985 Express Entry candidates. It was the first such draw, and the first program specific draw, since May 10 2023. Another draw on May 31 invited 3,000 candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Program-specific draws only consider candidates in the Express Entry pool who have applied through an Express Entry program such as the CEC, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) or the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). In the case of a PNP-only draw, candidates are only considered if they have been successfully nominated through an Express Entry aligned stream of a PNP, a process known as enhanced nomination.
Until recently, this type of draw had not occurred since the introduction of category-based selection draws in May 2023. However, since January this year, IRCC has been working to stabilize the high levels of temporary residents in Canada. One method of doing so is offering temporary residents, those in Canada on a work or study permit or a visitor visa, 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 also true of candidates in the PNP. This means IRCC can meet its yearly target for “Federal High Skilled Workers” (Express Entry) as outlined in the Immigration Levels Plan, while also reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada.
What is Express Entry?
The Express Entry application management system was introduced in 2015 as a way for IRCC to target candidates with in-demand human capital attributes and process their applications faster. It oversees applications from the FSWP, the FSTP and the CEC.
The CRS used by Express Entry considers human capital factors such as age, work experience, occupation, language ability and occupation to evaluate a candidate’s eligibility. Each factor is assigned a score and, when added together, candidates receive their overall CRS score. The higher a candidate’s CRS score, the more likely the are to receive 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. General draws consider all Express Entry candidates regardless of their program or occupation.
What is category-based selection?
Category-based selection draws were introduced in 2023 as a method for IRCC to single-out Express Entry candidates with in-demand attributes for Canada’s workforce, or to help strengthen the national French-speaking demographic.
IRCC introduced six possible categories for candidates to receive ITAs:
- Healthcare occupations
- Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
- Trades occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
- Transport occupations
- Agriculture and agri-food occupations
- French-language proficiency
These draws are not program-specific and are more likely to feature a lower than average CRS score (when compared to general draws).
