IRCC Invites 5,900 Applicants In The Third Express Entry Draw

IRCC invites 5,900 applicants in the third Express Entry draw of the week. The ITA issued were for STEM-related professions.  Applicants required a minimum CRS score of 481 in order to be considered. 

As IRCC invites 5,900 applicants in the third Express Entry draw of the week, on December 7, the department invited over 1,000 applicants with a CRS of 470 in a targeted draw for individuals with proficiency in the French Language. On December 6, over 4,750 applicants with a CRS of 561 were invited to an all-program draw.  

In addition, this week’s draws were the first Express Entry draws in more than a month. The earliest draws took place on October 26, wherein around 3,600 applicants with a CRS score of 431 were invited in a category-based selection draw for healthcare professions. 

On November 14, IRCC tweeted that applicants who had obtained ITAs in recent draws could not upload their final application to the Express Entry profile builder. A follow-up tweet was seen wherein the immigration department stated that the issue had been resolved, but no reason was confirmed in the longer pause.  

Summary Of The Latest Express Entry Draws Since June 2023

IRCC invites 5,900 applicants in the third Express Entry draw of the week. Here is the outline of the latest Express Entry draws result. Take a look!

What Is Category-Based Selection? 

As IRCC invites 5,900 applicants in the third Express Entry draw of the week, the department also declared that it would begin holding category-based Express Entry rounds of invitations. 

These draws target Express Entry applicants who meet the criteria for a certain attribute, like proficiency in the French language or relevant work experience in the following professions: 

• STEM Professions
• Healthcare
• Trades
• Transport
• Agriculture/ Agri-Food

These are the professions that are experiencing an acute labor shortage. As a result, these shortages are placing a strain on the economy of the nation & other key sectors, like the supply chain, healthcare system, etc. 

Canada’s Immigration Minister, i.e., Marc Miller, stated that admitting more skilled workers is the key to eliminating these shortages, specifically as up to nine million Canadians are expected to retire by 2030. Moreover, the present Immigration Levels Plan for 2023-25 demonstrates that there will be over 114,000 immigrants admitted to Canada every year by the end of 2025. A new Levels Plan is expected on/ or by November 1. 

Despite these targets, in the recent meeting of the Standing Committee on Immigration & Citizenship, it was noted that there had been a slowdown in the Express Entry draws that took place. 

In addition, Christiane Fox, the Deputy Immigration Minister of Canada, states that when new categories were launched, an IT glitch forced the department to reduce the number of Express Entry draws & that the department will make up the number as they move forward. Christiane Fox also stated that a category-based draw for skilled trades professionals will take place in the month of December.  

Since the first category-based draw in June, the nation invited applicants via category-based selection draws twelve times, totalling over 11,000 ITAs. All applicants were already in the Express Entry pool. 

What Is Express Entry?  

Express Entry manages PR applications from applicants in three immigration programs, i.e., FSTP, FSWP, & CEC. 

Through Express Entry, applicants are evaluated using the CRS. The system does this by assigning points to applicants depending on their collective human capital attributes. This includes factors like work experience, age, education, language proficiency, etc.   

Applicants who obtain the highest score are the most likely to get an ITA. If an applicant receives an ITA, they have over 60 days to submit their final application for permanent residency to IRCC. IRCC aims to process all Express Entry applications within six months.