IRCC will continue with the present Express Entry categories eligible for category-based selection in 2024. In an email alert from IRCC, the department stated that it would continue selecting applicants with specific qualifications, like education, work experience, or language skills, in order to support the economic needs & priorities of the nation.
The six categories target applicants with the following:
- French language proficiency
- Work experience in healthcare professions
- Work experience in STEM professions
- Work experience in agriculture/ agri-food professions
- Work experience in trade professions
- Work experience in transport professions
Category-based selection draws for Express Entry candidates were introduced in May 2023 as a way for helping Canada meet its economic goals.
The categories were chosen in 2023 following public consultations with provinces & territories & other stakeholders like unions, employers, settlement service provider organizations, worker advocacy groups, etc.
By singling out Express Entry applicants who meet the criteria for these categories, IRCC aims to invite newcomers who can help fill urgent gaps in Canada’s workforce, in sectors that are critical to the economy & well-being of Canadians along with meeting its mandate to promote the French language outside of Quebec.
When the categories were introduced, IRCC noted that they would be reviewed every year as part of IRCC’s yearly report to parliament & amended as necessary.
Category-Based Selection In 2023
IRCC will continue with the present Express Entry categories. The first category-based selection draw occurred on June 28, 2023. The draw invited over 1,500 Express Entry applicants in eligible professions.
During the remaining year, IRCC invited more than 16,000 Express Entry applicants through category-based selection over 17 separate draws. So far, in 2024, there has been one category-based selection draw inviting 7,000 applicants with French language proficiency.
Who Is Eligible For Category-Based Selection?
Category-based selection is for applicants who already have Express Entry profiles. Other economic newcomers/ immigrants who do not have an application in the Express Entry application pool aren’t eligible.
Moreover, IRCC states that an applicant who meets the criteria for an Express Entry program must also have accumulated, within the past three years, a minimum of six months of full-time, continuous work experience in a single profession in Canada or abroad to be considered for a work-experience based category.
Furthermore, applicants who are invited in the French language proficiency category must score a 7 in all four categories, i.e., reading, writing, listening, & speaking in the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens.
What Is Express Entry?
Express Entry manages three prominent economic immigration programs, i.e., CEC, FSTP, & FSWP.
All three programs use CRS to assign scores to applicants based on their human capital attributes. These include age, education, language ability, profession, work experience, etc.
Every factor is scored & added together for a total that becomes an applicant’s overall CRS score. The CRS score is further ranked against other applicants’ scores. Moreover, those who have the highest score obtain an ITA in the forthcoming Express Entry rounds of invitations.
Once an applicant obtains an ITA, they have 60 days to submit their final application for PR to IRCC.