Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in the latest Express Entry draw.
The department invited 763 candidates in the Provincial Nomination Program (PNP)-aligned draw.
To be considered, candidates were required to achieve a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 690.
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Today’s draw is on the first of August and comes after an unprecedented number of Express Entry draws throughout July. IRCC issued over 25,000 ITAs to candidates in nine separate draws.
This means that July had the most Express Entry draws than any month since the system was introduced in 2015. This is a significant turnaround from a slow June, which only had one draw.
The four draws in July were category-based selection draws and two of them were for candidates who met the French language proficiency criteria. The July 18 draw for this category had the lowest CRS score of the month (400).
The other two category-based draws issued ITAs to candidates from healthcare occupations and trade occupations.
Of the remaining five draws, two were program-specific for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and three were for candidates who were also in the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The highest CRS score of the month was for PNP candidates on July 2 (739).
The number of program-specific draws, after a year of only category-based selection and general draws, shows that IRCC is meeting its goal of conducting more domestic draws for permanent residence candidates already living in Canada. This is part of the department’s announcement that it will work to reduce the number of temporary residents in Canada, while also trying to achieve its target for permanent resident admissions.
Summary of Results for Express Entry Draws in 2024
| date | Draw Type | Number of ITAs | Minimum CRS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31st July | Canadian Experience Class | 5,000 | 510 |
| 30th July | Provincial Nominee Program | 964 | 686 |
| 18th July | French Language Proficiency | 1,800 | 400 |
| 17th July | Canadian Experience Class | 6,300 | 515 |
| 16th July | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,391 | 670 |
| 8th July | French Proficiency | 3,200 | 420 |
| 5th July | Healthcare Business | 3,750 | 445 |
| 4th of July | business Business | 1,800 | 436 |
| 2 July | Provincial Nominee Program | 920 | 739 |
| 19 June | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,499 | 663 |
| 31st May | Canadian Experience Class | 3,000 | 522 |
| 30th May | Provincial Nominee Program | 2,985 | 676 |
| 24th April | French Proficiency | 1,400 | 410 |
| 23 April | General | 2,095 | 529 |
| 11 April | STEM Professions | 4,500 | 491 |
| 10th April | General | 1,280 | 549 |
| 26 March | French Language Proficiency | 1,500 | 388 |
| 25 March | General | 1,980 | 524 |
| 13 March | Transportation Business | 975 | 430 |
| 12 March | General | 2,850 | 525 |
| 29 February | French Language Proficiency | 2,500 | 336 |
| 28 February | General | 1,470 | 534 |
| 16 February | Agriculture and Agri-Food Business | 150 | 437 |
| 14 February | Healthcare Business | 3,500 | 422 |
| 13 February | General | 1,490 | 535 |
| 1 February | French Language Proficiency | 7,000 | 365 |
| 31 January | General | 730 | 541 |
| 23 January | General | 1,040 | 543 |
| 10 January | General | 1,510 | 546 |
What is Express Entry?
Express Entry is an application management system launched in 2015 by IRCC with the aim of helping select economic immigration candidates who are most likely to successfully integrate into the Canadian economy and workforce.
It uses a comprehensive ranking system to manage applications received from three programs; CEC, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).
The system evaluates candidates and ranks them based on human capital factors such as their age, occupation, education, language skills, and work experience. Each factor is assigned a score, and the sum is the candidate’s overall CRS score. Those with the highest scores are most likely to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence.
What is range-based selection?
The category-based selection invitation round was introduced in May 2023 so that IRCC can target Express Entry candidates who can either fill an immediate need in the workforce or help the department reach a demographic target.
IRCC says the department has decided on six categories after several months of consultation with relevant stakeholders. The categories include:
- Healthcare Business
- Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions
- Trade occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
- Transportation Business
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Business
- Proficiency in French Language
The recently released Express Entry year-end report for 2023 found that STEM category candidates received the most ITAs across the year (32,111) followed by French language candidates (15,812).
However, according to an access to information request shared with CIC News earlier this year, it is expected that candidates in the French-speaking category will receive the highest number of ITAs in 2024.
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