Canada invites PNP candidates in third Express Entry draw of the month

Janice Rodrigues
Published: March 17, 2025

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued more invitations to apply (ITAs) to candidates in the Express Entry system.

The immigration department issued 536 ITAs to candidates in a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry streams

To be considered for this draw, candidates needed a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 736, and to have created an Express Entry candidate profile before 2:02 pm Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) on March 12, 2025.

Summary of Express Entry draws

DateDraw TypeNumber of ITAsCut-off CRS score
March 17Provincial Nominee Program536736
March 6French language proficiency4,500410
March 3Provincial Nominee Program 725667
February 19French language proficiency 6,500428
February 17Provincial Nominee Program 646750
February 5Canadian Experience Class4,000521
February 4Provincial Nominee Program455802
January 23 Canadian Experience Class4,000527
January 8Canadian Experience Class1,350542
January 7Provincial Nominee Program471793

Today's draw is the third in March. It follows a French-language proficiency draw on March 6, and a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw on March 3.

Express Entry draws in 2025 have been alternating between Canadian Experience Class (CEC), PNP and French-language candidates.

The year has also seen some larger draws, with thousands of ITAs being issued to candidates. The last CEC draw, held on February 5, saw 4,000 ITAs being issued, with a CRS of cutoff score of 521. Both the previous French language draws, which took place on March 6 and February 19, invited over 4,000 candidates each.

On February 27, IRCC announced its priority categories for 2025, adding education as a new category.

The 2025 priority categories are:

  • French-language proficiency;
  • Healthcare and social services occupations;
  • Trade occupations; and
  • Education occupations.

In the press release announcing the categories, IRCC reaffirmed its commitment to invite candidates with experience in Canada as well as French-language proficiency in Express Entry.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an applicant management system that manages three programs for economic immigration to Canada:

These programs use the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to find the candidates who are most likely to meet Canada's labour market needs and contribute to the overall economy,

It does this by evaluating a candidate’s human capital factors such as their 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.

Note: As of now, candidates may also get additional points for having job offers under arranged employment. However, IRCC plans to remove additional CRS points for job offers in Spring of 2025.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry streams

 

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