Canada invites 1,800 Express Entry candidates in category-based draw for trade occupations

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued invitations to apply (ITAs) in the most recent Express Entry draw.

The department issued 1,800 ITAs in a category-based selection draw for candidates in trade occupations.

Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 433 to be considered.

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This is the first trade-occupation category-based draw since July 4, when IRCC also invited 1,800 candidates with a minimum score of 436. It is also the first non-French proficiency category-based draw since July 5.

Today’s draw was also the third Express Entry draw of the week. The last one occurred on October 22 and invited 400 candidates from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) with a minimum CRS score of at least 539. A draw for Express Entry candidates with a Provincincial Nominee Program (PNP) nomination took place on October 21 and invited 648 candidates with a minimum CRS score of 791.

In recent months IRCC has developed a pattern of holding multiple Express Entry draws every second week, usually including PNP and CEC-specific draws.

This highlights IRCC’s ongoing commitment to increasing the number of domestic draws for Express Entry candidates already living and working in Canada as temporary residents. This strategy was implemented to help the department meet both its target for reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada, while also meeting the targeted number of new permanent residents that Canada will admit each year as outlined in the Immigration Levels Plan.

The next Plan is expected to be released by November 1 this year with targets for 2025-2027. The 2024 planned to welcome 110,770 in 2024. So far, details have not been released if IRCC met that target.

Those who receive an ITA in draws throughout the second half of the year are more likely to be admitted in 2025 due to IRCC’s service standard of six months for processing Express Entry applications.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an application management system that oversees three of Canada’s most prominent economic immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

These programs use the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to single out the candidates who are most likely to fill urgent gaps in Canada’s labour force and contribute to the national economy,

It does this by examining a candidate’s human capital factors such as age, occupation, education, language ability and work experience. Each factor receives a score and is added together to get an overall CRS score.

CRS scores are often higher in PNP draws because Express Entry candidates who are nominated by a province automatically receive an additional 600 points.

Candidates may also receive points for having family in Canada or immigrating with a spouse or partner.

Those with the highest scores are the most likely to receive an ITA in an upcoming Express Entry draw.

Summary of Express Entry draw results in 2024

Date	Draw Type	Number of ITAs	Minimum CRS
December 16	Provincial Nominee Program	1,085	727
December 3	French language proficiency	800	466
December 2	Provincial Nominee Program	676	705
November 20	Healthcare occupations	3,000	463
November 19	Canadian Experience Class	400	539
November 18	Provincial Nominee Program	174	816
November 15	French language proficiency	800	478
November 13	Canadian Experience Class	400	547
November 12	Provincial Nominee Program	733	812
October 23	Trade occupations	1,800	433
October 22	Canadian Experience Class	400	539
October 21	Provincial Nominee Program	648	791
October 10	French language proficiency	1,000	444
October 9	Canadian Experience Class	500	539
October 7	Provincial Nominee Program	1,613	743
September 19	Canadian Experience Class	4,000	509
September 13	French language proficiency	1,000	446
September 9	Provincial Nominee Program	911	732
August 27	Canadian Experience Class	3,300	507
August 26	Provincial Nominee Program	1,121	694
August 15	French language proficiency	2,000	394
August 14	Canadian Experience Class	3,200	509
August 13	Provincial Nominee Program	763	690
July 31	Canadian Experience Class	5,000	510
July 30	Provincial Nominee Program	964	686
July 18	French language proficiency	1,800	400
July 17	Canadian Experience Class	6,300	515
July 16	Provincial Nominee Program	1,391	670
July 8	French proficiency	3,200	420
July 5	Healthcare occupations	3,750	445
July 4	Trade occupations	1,800	436
July 2	Provincial Nominee Program	920	739
June 19	Provincial Nominee Program	1,499	663
May 31	Canadian Experience Class	3,000	522
May 30	Provincial Nominee Program	2,985	676
April 24	French proficiency	1,400	410
April 23	General	2,095	529
April 11	STEM occupations	4,500	491
April 10	General	1,280	549
March 26	French language proficiency	1,500	388
March 25	General	1,980	524
March 13	Transport occupations	975	430
March 12	General	2,850	525
February 29	French language proficiency	2,500	336
February 28	General	1,470	534
February 16	Agriculture and agri-food occupations	150	437
February 14	Healthcare occupations	3,500	422
February 13	General	1,490	535
February 1	French language proficiency	7,000	365
January 31	General	730	541
January 23	General	1,040	543
January 10	General	1,510	546

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