Canada has held the Express Entry draw for the fourth day in a row this week.
IRCC has held its first-ever French category-based draw, inviting 2,300 applicants with strong French-speaking abilities. In this Express Entry draw, applicants required a minimum CRS score of 439, which is the lowest score of 2023.
Moreover, this is the sixth round of invitations issued in two weeks & brings the total number of candidates invited via Express Entry over this period to 9,800.
Well, a majority of invitations were issued this week. The recent round occurred on July 6, thus inviting over 1,500 applicants with work experience in healthcare professions. This draw was expected to take place following a declaration alongside Express Entry invitations for 500 healthcare workers/ professionals on June 27.
The invitation rounds held on July 5 were the first-ever for STEM job applicants. In addition, there were 500 applicants invited with a minimum score of 486.
Finally, the invitation rounds occurred on July 4 and was a surprise all-program draw, wherein 700 applicants were invited. These applicants needed a minimum CRS score of 511, the highest score of 2023.
Express Entry Draw: Invitations For French Speakers
Strong French-speaking capabilities are the only category-based selection criteria that do not use relevant work experience as the critical characteristic/ attribute for the next six new selection categories/ classifications.
In addition, Sean Fraser has a mandate to promote and publicize the French language outside the province of Quebec. Moreover, IRCC asserted that by prioritizing these invitations to French-speaking newcomers/ immigrants, Canada aims to support its economic growth via francophone immigration outside Quebec while identifying how it strengthens and enriches these communities.
Category-Based Selection
Sean Fraser declared the new category-based selection on May 31. The new categories were expected following a law which passed in June; this law gave the immigration minister the authority to invite economic immigration applicants based on specific characteristics/ attributes instead of their overall CRS score. This includes work experience, education, language abilities, etc.
Interestingly, the categories of the year were selected after discussions with territorial & provincial governments. The classifications are as follows:
- Healthcare
- STEM professions
- Trades
- Transport
- Agriculture/ Agri-Food
- Strong French language proficiency
These categories will be reviewed every year in IRCC’s presentation to Parliament.
As per the Immigration Level Plans of 2023-25, Canada hopes to admit over 82,880 newcomers/ immigrants via Express Entry Draw by the end of this year. In addition, category-based selection might help the Nation meet its targets while closing labor gaps & urgent skills in the Canadian workforce.