Blue Bird Blog

BREAKING: IRCC holds fourth Express Entry draw this week

Canada has held an Express Entry draw for the fourth day in a row this week. IRCC has held its first-ever French category-based Express Entry draw, inviting 2,300 candidates with strong French-speaking abilities. Candidates required a minimum CRS score of 439, which is the lowest CRS score of 2023. This is the sixth round of invitations issued in two weeks and brings the total number of candidates invited through Express Entry over this period to 9,800.

The majority of invitations were issued this week. The most recent round took place yesterday, July 6, and invited 1,500 candidates with work experience in healthcare professions. This draw was expected to occur following an announcement alongside the first-ever Express Entry invitations for 500 healthcare professionals on June 27.

The July 5 round of invitations was the first-ever for candidates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professions. There were 500 candidates invited with a minimum CRS score of 486.

Finally, the July 4 round of invitations was an unexpected all-program draw in which 700 candidates were considered in an all-program draw. These candidates required a CRS of 511, the highest of any all-program draw in 2023.

Invitations for French-speakers

Strong French-speaking abilities are the only category-based selection criteria that does not use work experience as the key attribute for the six new selection categories.

Canada’s immigration minister has a mandate to promote the French language outside of Quebec. In a release announcing the draw for French-speaking Express Entry candidates IRCC said by prioritizing the invitation of French-speaking newcomers, Canada aims to support economic growth through Francophone immigration outside Quebec while recognizing how it enriches and strengthens these communities.

Category-based selection

Sean Fraser, Canada’s immigration minister, announced the new categories for category-based selection on May 31. New categories were expected following a law passed last June that gives Canada’s immigration minister the authority to invite economic immigration candidates based on a specific attribute rather than their overall CRS score. This can include work-experience, language ability, education or more.

The categories for 2023 were chosen following discussions with provincial and territorial governments as well as IRCC partners and stakeholders, They are as follows:

Healthcare
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
Trades, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
Transport
Agriculture and agri-food
Strong French-language proficiency

These categories will be reviewed each year in IRCC’s presentation to parliament and may change in 2024.

According to the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 Canada hopes to admit up to 82,880 newcomers through Express Entry by the end of 2023. This target rises as high as 114,000 by the end of 2025. Category-based selection may help Canada meet these targets while also closing urgent skills and labour gaps in Canada’s workforce.

Source: cicnews.com

Express Entry

February 2025: State of the Express Entry pool

After a January that saw Express Entry draws return to some semblance of normalcy, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has already held two draws in the month of February.
January saw the issuance of 5,821 Invitations to Apply (ITAs): candidates includes those in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and those in enhanced Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs). Last month was also the first month since June of 2024 that the immigration department did not hold an Express Entry draw for candidates with French-language proficiency.

A ten-year review: How Express Entry shaped immigration in Canada

Jan 31, 2025 marks the ten-year anniversary of Canada’s first Express Entry draw.

Since then, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued over 800,000 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residency (PR) through the Express Entry system.

Canada launches new immigration pathway for French speakers

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has launched the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP) immigration pathway.
This new immigration pathway was first announced in March of 2024, with further details revealed in December of last year.
Under this program, newcomers with an intermediate level of French ability—and who have an offer of employment in priority occupations sought by a community outside of Quebec—can be nominated and receive Canadian permanent residence (PR).

New Brunswick begins reopening immigration programs

New Brunswick will finally begin opening its immigration streams, after a period of adjustment following notice from the federal government that the province would only be given 2,750 immigrant nomination spaces this year.
The 2,750 spaces will be split up between the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program NBPNP (1,500) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) (1,250).
In a press release on February 5, Jean-Claude D’Amours, acting Minister of Post-Secondary Education for the province, stated that the significant reduction in allocations for 2025 has forced the province “to make difficult decisions."

ANALYSIS: How many Express Entry ITAs can we expect to see in December?

Previous years of Express Entry draws can help us make reasonable estimates of how many Invitations to Apply (ITAs) we might expect to see issued for the remainder of 2024.

Should the number of ITAs issued in the remainder of 2024, relative to the landing target for 2025, be the same as it was on average for years 2021 to 2023, we might expect IRCC to issue about 3,522 ITAs through Express Entry in December.

Is it worth applying for Express Entry after you turn 35?

Prospective Canadian immigrants are sometimes discouraged from applying for Express Entry after they turn 35 years of age.
This is largely due to points lost on their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.
The Express Entry application management system uses the CRS to rank and order eligible Express Entry candidates based on their human capital factors before they can receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).