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.
As a pool-based online system for managing applications for permanent residency, Express Entry has revolutionized Canada’s immigration system since its launch in 2015.
This article delves into how Express Entry has changed over the years, and what these changes say about Canada’s evolving immigration priorities.
Why was Express Entry launched?
Before Express Entry, Canada processed permanent residency applications from skilled workers on a first-come, first-served basis.
Under the old system, any eligible foreign national could apply directly to the federal government, and could expect to receive permanent residency once their application had been processed.
But this first-come, first-served system resulted in a huge backlog of PR applications – at one point, the expected processing time for a PR application was seven years.
This extended backlog was bad both for applicants and for Canadian businesses. In some cases, by the time applicants received their PR status, changes in their circumstances left them ineligible for the occupations they had originally qualified for.
Between 2012 and 2013, the Canadian government returned Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications without processing, and refunded the application fees.
The government then went on to launch Express Entry in 2015 to manage applications moving forward.
How did Express Entry change the immigration landscape?
Express Entry uses a pool-based system to issue invitations to apply for PR to the highest ranking candidates in the Express Entry pool.
When seeking PR through Express Entry, a foreign national will create an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the online Express Entry system, completing a profile which is then ranked against other profiles using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which assigns a score out of 1200.
The CRS scores candidate profiles based on objective criteria, including factors such as
- Age;
- Level of education;
- Language proficiency; and
- Work experience.
IRCC issues invitations to apply through Express Entry draws. In each draw, IRCC determines the number of candidates they wish to invite, and issues invitations to the top-ranking candidates.
The CRS score of the lowest-ranking candidate in a given draw is referred to as the cut-off score for that draw.
Under the pool-based Express Entry system, the highest scoring foreign nationals can immediately proceed to the “front of the immigration line,” and can generally expect their applications to be processed within about six months.
The system has also been favoured by employers and provinces for creating a pool of would-be PRs who can be chosen to fill labour market needs.
Currently, Express Entry manages applications for the following economic immigration programs:
- The Federal Skilled Worker Program;
- The Federal Skilled Trades Program;
- The Canadian Experience Class; and
- A portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.
Express Entry in 2015
The very first Express Entry draw, on January 31, 2015, had a CRS cut-off score of 886.
By July 2015 (12 draws later), the CRS cut-off had dropped to 463 points.
By the end of 2015, IRCC had issued 31,000 ITAs through Express Entry, and 10,000 new permanent residents had landed.
IRCC met its processing standards for 2015, having processed 80% of Express Entry PR applications within six months of receipt.
How has Express Entry changed over the last 10 years?
Over the years, Express Entry has evolved in response to Canada’s economic and labour market needs.
We describe some of the major changes below.
Points for valid job offers
When Express Entry first began, foreign nationals having valid job offers were eligible for 600 additional CRS points (this could also help explain the high CRS cutoff score during early draws).
In 2016, the government made “targeted improvements” to Express Entry, aiming to make the system fairer. This included reducing the number of points awarded for job offers:
- 50 points for job offers in a National Occupational Classification (NOC) 0, A or B occupation; or
- 200 points for job offers in NOC 00 occupation.
In December of 2024, IRCC announced that it would be eliminating all valid job offer points from the CRS. This change is expected to come into effect in the Spring of 2025.
Greater demand for candidates with higher education
Also in 2016, the CRS began awarding
- 15 points for a one- to two-year diploma or certificate; and
- 30 points for a degree, diploma, or certificate of three years or longer, or for a Master’s, professional, or doctoral degree of at least one academic year.
Tie breaking rule
In an Express Entry draw, IRCC normally invites a selected number of the highest-ranking candidates – but what happens if, say, IRCC decides to invite 1000 candidates, and 1001 are top-ranking due to two candidates having the same CRS score?
To determine which of the two (or more) lowest-ranking candidates would be invited, IRCC implemented the tie-breaking rule in November of 2017.
In draws where more than one candidate profile would meet the cut-off score, but there are not enough spots to invite them all, this tie breaking rule uses profile submission date and time to determine priority, with the earliest submitted profiles getting prioritized.
Increased focus on French
On June 6, 2017, Express Entry introduced additional CRS points for French language proficiency.
French-language proficiency points are awarded to candidates with a score of 7 or higher on all four French language abilities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC). These candidates receive
- 30 additional points, if they also score CLB 5 or higher in all English abilities; or
- 15 additional points, if they score less than CLB 5 in any English ability.
In 2023, the government would go on to establish French language proficiency as a criterion for category-based selection (more on this below).
Points for siblings
In 2017, IRCC announced that the CRS would award candidates additional points if they or their accompanying spouse had a sibling living in Canada as a Canadian citizen or PR.
The government made this change to strengthen family connections and help newcomers integrate.
Category based draws
In 2023, IRCC introduced category-based selection. Under category-based selection, IRCC can conduct draws in which it extends invitations only to candidates who meet the criteria for a federally established economic category.
The categories chosen (which are still in place) are
- French-language proficiency;
- Healthcare occupations;
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations;
- Trade occupations;
- Transport occupations; and
- Agriculture and agri-food occupations.
Category-based selection draws often have much lower CRS cut-off scores than other draws, making it easier for candidates with French proficiency or in-demand work experience to get an ITA.
The federal government launched category-based selection to support key sectors and occupations with labour market shortages, and to support its goal of increasing the number of French-speaking immigrants settling outside Quebec.
Covid-19 and Express Entry
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Canada’s Express Entry system, leading to adjustments in both the number of draws and the criteria for selection.
The early stages of the pandemic led to a pause in general draws as the government adjusted to the travel restrictions. During this period, the Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program draws continued.
Due to a growing backlog, IRCC then suspended general draws for 18 months, resuming them in July 2022.
The pandemic-era changes led to huge fluctuations in CRS cut-off scores. For example, a CEC draw held on February 13, 2021 issued 27,332 ITAs, with a cut-off CRS score of 75.
Current immigration landscape
In May 2024, the department began to hold more PNP, CEC, and French language proficiency draws, a trend that continued until the end of 2024.
The rise of category-based selection, along with the increase in candidate demand, led to a rise in CRS cut-off scores for CEC draws, relative to 2023. The lowest CEC CRS cut-off in 2024 was 507, and the highest was 547.
Ongoing changes to Express Entry
Focus on Candidates residing in Canada
Over the years, Express Entry has increasingly acknowledged the value of Canadian experience.
In 2016, IRCC announced that it would award points for job offers to certain candidates already in Canada on LMIA-exempt work permits.
Since May 2024, there has also been an increased focus on CEC draws (draws for skilled foreign workers with at least one year of Canadian work experience).
The Immigration Levels Plan 2025-2027, announced in October 2024, places even more focus on in-Canada applicants.
As per the Plan, nearly half of all admission spaces for new PRs in 2025 will be allocated to In-Canada Focus category, which will be prioritizing candidates already residing in Canada for PR.
This change is in line with the government’s commitment to reducing the number of non-permanent residents in the country from 7% to 5% by 2026. One of ways IRCC plans to do this is by converting status from temporary to permanent.
Federal Economic Priorities
The latest Immigration Levels Plan breaks down the Federal High-Skilled allocation into two subcategories: In-Canada Focus, and “Federal Economic Priorities.”
For 2025, Federal Economic Priorities focuses on candidates with
- Healthcare occupations;
- Trade occupations; and
- French language proficiency.
The government is expected to implement this policy using the existing system of category-based draws, by issuing a larger number of ITAs under these categories.
Removal additional points for valid job offers
In December of 2024, the government announced that it would do away with awarding additional CRS points to candidates with valid job offers.
In January of 2025, IRCC said that this change would take place in the spring.
This is a major change to the CRS, and may have a significant impact on the distributions of CRS scores in the Express Entry pool, and on the cut-off scores for draws. But the extent of this impact is uncertain.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the government is making this change to increase fairness and to combat LMIA fraud.
Increased focus on Express Entry allocations
In the immigration levels plan for 2025-2027, announced in October of 2024, the federal government significantly increased landings allocations to Express Entry, while scaling back on allocations for the PNP.
| Levels plan | 2025 EE allocation | 2025 PNP allocation |
| 2024-2026 Levels Plan | 117,500 | 120,000 |
| 2025-2027 Levels Plan | 124,680 | 55,000 |
Express Entry went from 39.0% of economic immigration in the earlier Plan, to 53.72% of economic immigration in the most recent Levels Plan.
The change in allocation reflects the federal government’s desire to increase its own level of control over immigration and to reduce the control of the provinces.
It’s clear that the Express Entry system remains a core component of the federal government’s economic immigration policy. CIC News expects that the government will continue to make changes to the system over the coming years in response to shifts in Canada’s political and economic landscape.
Source: Cicnews.com
