On March 12, IRCC released the result of its latest Express Entry draw. This was the first draw of this month. This general Express Entry Draw invited 2850 candidates. The cut-off CRS score that candidates needed to receive an ITA was 525.

General Express Entry Draw Invited 2850 Candidates: Overview of Other Recent Express Entry Draw 

This was the latest and first Express Entry draw of March, which invited 2850 Candidates. There were around six Express Entry draws in February before this draw. All draws invited around 16,110 candidates. 

Interestingly, the first and last draws of February were category-based draws that targeted candidates with strong French language proficiency.

Last month’s first Express Entry draw was held on February 1, inviting 7000 candidates. The needed CRS score was 365. The month’s last draw occurred on February 29, inviting 2,500 candidates. The minimum required CRS score for that draw was 336, which was the lowest score in any Express Entry draw this year as of now.

Besides these two draws, there were four more Express Entry draws last month. 

A general Express Entry draw occurred on February 13, inviting 1,490 candidates who had a minimum CRS score of 535. 

On February 14, there was a draw targeting healthcare professionals. A total of 3,500 candidates were invited to this draw with a minimum CRS score of 422.

After two days, on February 16, IRCC held another category-based draw for candidates skilled in agriculture and agri-food occupations. The needed CRS score for this draw was 437.

Finally, on February 28, IRCC invited 1,470 candidates in a general draw who had a minimum CRS score of 534.

What is the Express Entry System in Canada?

Express Entry is a system that handles candidates’ applications from three immigration programs in Canada. The following programs are the most popular economic programs for Canadian immigration:

1. FSWP: The Federal Skilled Worker Program 
2. FSTP: The Federal Skilled Trades Program 
3. CEC: The Canadian Experience Class.  

If candidates find that they are eligible for any one of these three Express Entry Programs, they can upload their profiles to the IRCC website. Candidates are then assessed based on their profiles and allotted a CRS score. 

The CRS score is evaluated under a system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) that uses various human capital attributes. These include:

• Age,
• Work experience, 
• Education, 
• Occupation, 
• Language ability.

Candidates are ranked against other Express Entry candidates in the pool depending on their CRS score. 

The highest-scoring candidates have the most chances to acquire an invitation to apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residency. 

If a candidate receives an invitation from IRCC, they must submit their complete application within 60 days.  

What are Category-Based Selections Under the Express Entry System?

Category-based selections were included under Express Entry last May. IRCC introduced these draws to address labor market shortages in the vital sectors of Canada’s workforce. 

Category-based draws consider candidates under the Express Entry with specific in-demand attributes. This is unlike regular Express Entry draws, which consider candidates from three Express Entry-managed programs that use candidates’ CRS scores.

Under Express Entry category-based selections, there are six categories through which candidates may receive an invitation. These include:

• Healthcare occupations
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
• Trades occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
• Transport occupations
• Agriculture and agri-food occupations
• High French language abilities

This category draw may be advantageous for candidates under the Express Entry application pool. This is because, compared to the General draw, the category-based draws have had a lower average CRS score until now.

For instance, out of four category-based draws, the lowest CRS score was 336, and the highest was 437. On the contrary, No general draw in 2024 until now has a minimum CRS score of less than 534.