Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has now conducted a second Express Entry draw this week. Here are the results of that draw, which occurred on March 13, 2024.
In the department’s second draw for the week of March 11, IRCC issued 975 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in a category-based draw for Express Entry candidates with work experience in Transport occupations. All candidates who received an ITA in this draw had a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 430.
Today’s draw follows a general Express Entry draw conducted by IRCC yesterday (March 12, 2024), where the department issued 2,850 ITAs to Express Entry candidates with a minimum CRS score of 525.
Express Entry
Express Entry is the application management system used by the federal government in Canada to manage applications made to three economic-class permanent residence (PR) programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Beginning in June of last year, IRCC has conducted three types of Express Entry draws, general draws, program-specific draws, and category-based draws.
General and Program-specific Express Entry Draws
Both general and program-specific Express Entry draws focus on the CRS scores of eligible candidates.
CRS scores are numerical values assigned to all candidates based on various human capital factors such as age, education and work experience acquired in Canada. Since candidates must have a CRS score above the cut-off for a given draw to receive an ITA, CRS scores are the deciding factor that determines if a candidate will receive an ITA during a given Express Entry draw.
The following four steps must be taken by an Express Entry candidate for them to be considered for an ITA through these two types of Express Entry draws:
- The candidate must first confirm they are eligible for at least one of IRCC’s three Express Entry-managed programs: the FSTP, the FSWP and the CEC
- If eligible, candidates can then create an online profile with IRCC, which will enter them into the Express Entry candidate “pool”
- At this time, all candidates inside the “pool” will receive their CRS score
- The candidate must now wait for IRCC to conduct its next Express Entry draw, at which time they will see if they have met the criteria to receive an ITA for Canadian PR
Note: ITAs are the only way that Express Entry candidates can apply for PR in Canada through Express Entry
Category-Based Express Entry Draws
Category-based draws were implemented to give IRCC a way to better focus on welcoming foreign skilled workers with in-demand work experience/proficiencies. Last year, Canada’s immigration department chose the following six categories – five occupational categories and one language proficiency – as areas of focus for category-based draws:
- Applicants with work experience in Healthcare
- Applicants with work experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
- Applicants with work experience in Trades
- Applicants with work experience in Transport
- Applicants with work experience in Agriculture and Agri-Food
- Applicants with strong French language proficiency (defined as a “minimum score of 7 in all 4 language abilities on the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens” (NCLC)).
Note: On February 12, IRCC confirmed that it would continue with the same Express Entry categories for 2024.