The IRCC organized the first Express Entry June draw. It invited over 4,800 applicants in an all-program draw. In addition, the candidates required a minimum CRS score of 486.
This was the first Express Entry June draw, which followed the most recent draw on May 24. In this draw, over 4,800 applicants with a minimum CRS score of 488 were invited to an all-program draw. Interestingly, this score is higher than the all-program draw of April 26, with a minimum CRS score of 483.
IRCC Declares Category-Based Selection Draws To Begin This Summer
On May 31, IRCC issued a news release asserting that the department established six new category-based selection criteria for Express Entry applicants.
The new categories focus on applicants with particular attributes that support the country’s economic goals. Below are the areas wherein work experience is needed:
- Healthcare
- STEM Professions
- Transport
- Trades
- Agriculture/ Agri-Food
The last category asserts that it hopes to begin holding the category-based draws this summer but hasn’t given any exact date.
Applicants who hope to obtain an ITA in the targeted draws are applicants in the Express Entry pool. IRCC says that it will still rank Express Entry applicants who meet category requirements & further issue ITAs to applicants having higher scores.
In addition to the first Express Entry June draw, IRCC will continue to hold all program draws & program-specific draws as and when required.
Express Entry In 2023
Excluding this first Express Entry June draw, IRCC has invited 49,948 applicants over 13 draws this year. However, this is a higher number of applicants as compared to applicants in July-November 2022. Moreover, IRCC did not organize all-program draws until July 2022 because of the pandemic.
Moreover, there were two Express Entry draws held in May. The first took place on May 10 & was a Provincial Nominee Program having over 589 applicants. These applicants were in the Express Entry pool, nominated by the provincial government.
The two draws held in April were really similar. Both were all-program draws that invited over 3,500 applicants. In addition, the draw which occurred on April 12 had a CRS score requirement of 346. Moreover, the draw on April 26 required a CRS score of 483.
March was an incredible month regarding the number of draws & applicants. There were four draws held in March that invited over 21,677 applicants. Of these four draws, three were all-program draws that invited 7000 applicants. The remaining draw of 667 applicants was Provincial Nominee Program only.
Moreover, February also had four draws. However, each draw was program-specific, with three for PNP applicants. The fourth one was for applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker Program. In addition, January also had two all-program draws that invited 5,500 applicants each.
What Is Express Entry?
The application management system of Express Entry was launched in 2015 to help IRCC target high-skilled economic immigration candidates for permanent accommodation.
The system utilizes the CRS to evaluate applicants from Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class, & Federal Skilled Trades Program. It considers an applicant’s work experience, occupation, language capability, age, education, etc. The applicants with a high CRS score will likely obtain an ITA for permanent residency.
In addition, it is expected that IRCC will move away from emphasizing CRS scores later this year. Instead, it will begin targeting applicants based on certain attributes which are in demand in Canada’s economy.