Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has conducted the department’s second Express Entry draw in as many days. Here are the results of IRCC’s latest Express Entry draw, which occurred on April 11, 2024.
IRCC’s most recent Express Entry draw, which occurred today, saw the department conduct its first category-based draw for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) candidates in 2024. This is IRCC’s first STEM draw since December 8, 2023. During today’s draw, IRCC issued 4,500 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to eligible candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 491.
IRCC’s April 11 draw follows a general draw yesterday (April 10, 2024) where the department issued 1,280 ITAs to eligible candidates in a general draw. The minimum CRS score for the April 10 draw was 549.
Note: This is a developing story, which CanadaVisa will update later this week if IRCC conducts any more Express Entry draws.
Express Entry
Express Entry is the name of IRCC’s application management system for immigration applications made to three specific economic-class permanent residence (PR) programs. The programs managed under this system are the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Within the Express Entry system, IRCC conducts three types of draws: general, program-specific, and category-based.
General and Program-specific Express Entry Draws
IRCC’s first two draw types have been around since the department first introduced the Express Entry system in 2015. These draws are primarily focused on the Canadian immigration candidates with the highest CRS scores.
These scores are unique numerical values assigned to all Express-Entry eligible candidates based on a variety of human capital factors (age, education, work experience etc.).
Once the Express Entry candidate confirms their eligibility for at least one of the three Express Entry-managed programs and creates an online profile with IRCC, they will receive their CRS score. At this time, they must then wait for IRCC to conduct its next Express Entry draw to see if they have met the criteria* and whether they will receive an ITA.
*To receive an ITA from IRCC, candidates must have a CRS score above the cut-off score determined by IRCC for that given draw
Note: ITAs are the only way an Express Entry candidate can apply for PR in Canada.
Category-Based Express Entry Draws
First conducted in June 2023, IRCC first introduced category-based draws in May last year as a way to attract Canadian immigration candidates with specific types of work experience and proficiencies, which the department deemed to be “in-demand” based on Canada’s labour market and demographic needs.
Already confirmed to be continuing with the same six focus categories in 2024, IRCC chose candidates with the following attributes as areas of priority for its category-based draws:
- 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)).