In the most recent Express Entry lottery, Invitations to Apply (ITAs) have been released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Only candidates for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) were eligible to receive 911 ITAs from the department.
To be considered, candidates had to receive a minimum of 732 points on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
The first drawing of the month is today, and it comes after a hectic summer. In 14 distinct Express Entry lotteries, the IRCC solicited candidates in July and August. More precisely, since the system’s debut in 2015, July has broken the record for the most drawings in a single month. Between July 2 and July 31, there were nine drawings.
In the most recent Express Entry, which was held on August 27, 3,330 individuals received invites in a lottery that was limited to those enrolled in the Canadian Experience Class.
IRCC has recently adopted a pattern of multiple draws every other week. They generally include at least one draw for PNP candidates. This is line with IRCC’s previously announced intention to hold more “domestic” draws to ensure that temporary residents in Canada have increased opportunity to become permanent residents and to reduce the volume of temporary residents entering Canada.
Summary of Express Entry draw results in 2024
| Date | Draw Type | Number of ITAs | Minimum CRS |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 9 | Provincial Nominee Program | 911 | 732 |
| August 27 | Canadian Experience Class | 3,300 | 507 |
| August 26 | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,121 | 694 |
| August 15 | French language proficiency | 2,000 | 394 |
| August 14 | Canadian Experience Class | 3,200 | 509 |
| August 13 | Provincial Nominee Program | 763 | 690 |
| July 31 | Canadian Experience Class | 5,000 | 510 |
| July 30 | Provincial Nominee Program | 964 | 686 |
| July 18 | French language proficiency | 1,800 | 400 |
| July 17 | Canadian Experience Class | 6,300 | 515 |
| July 16 | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,391 | 670 |
| July 8 | French proficiency | 3,200 | 420 |
| July 5 | Healthcare occupations | 3,750 | 445 |
| July 4 | Trade occupations | 1,800 | 436 |
| July 2 | Provincial Nominee Program | 920 | 739 |
| June 19 | Provincial Nominee Program | 1,499 | 663 |
| May 31 | Canadian Experience Class | 3,000 | 522 |
| May 30 | Provincial Nominee Program | 2,985 | 676 |
| April 24 | French proficiency | 1,400 | 410 |
| April 23 | General | 2,095 | 529 |
| April 11 | STEM occupations | 4,500 | 491 |
| April 10 | General | 1,280 | 549 |
| March 26 | French language proficiency | 1,500 | 388 |
| March 25 | General | 1,980 | 524 |
| March 13 | Transport occupations | 975 | 430 |
| March 12 | General | 2,850 | 525 |
| February 29 | French language proficiency | 2,500 | 336 |
| February 28 | General | 1,470 | 534 |
| February 16 | Agriculture and agri-food occupations | 150 | 437 |
| February 14 | Healthcare occupations | 3,500 | 422 |
| February 13 | General | 1,490 | 535 |
| February 1 | French language proficiency | 7,000 | 365 |
| January 31 | General | 730 | 541 |
| January 23 | General | 1,040 | 543 |
| January 10 | General | 1,510 | 546 |
What is Express Entry?
Express Entry is an application management system that was introduced by IRCC in 2015 to help the department select economic immigration candidates with in-demand human capital attributes. It oversees three economic immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program.
The Comprehensive Ranking System is the cornerstone of the system. It assigns a point score to applicants for several attributes such as their language ability, work experience, education, occupation and age.
Taken together, these points make up a candidate’s overall score. Those with the highest scores are the most likely to recieve an ITA.
Candidates in these programs can also apply for streams of the Provincial Nominee Program that are aligned with Express Entry, a process known as enhanced nomination. Express Entry candidates who are nominated through a PNP automatically recieve an additioanl 600 CRS points, making it extremely likely they will recieve an ITA in an upcoming Express Entry draw, depending on the type of draw.
IRCC also introduced category-based selection draws in 2023 to allow the department to target the candidates with more specific in-demand attributes, mostly based around work experience. Candidates who recieve ITAs in one of these draws are not required to be in any specific Express Entry program (although they must still be in the Express Entry application pool) and the minimum CRS required is generally lower than it would be for a program-specific or general draw.
The six categories 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
- French-language proficiency
IRCC reviews these categories every year and says that as labour market priorities and demographic demands shift, the categories may change in coming years.