Canada’s immigration department has held the first Express Entry Draw of 2024. The last Express Entry took place on December 21, 2023. Read on to uncover the latest Express Entry draw results, the targeted stream, and the required CRS score candidates need to be eligible for the ITA.

Canada’s First Express Entry Draw of 2024

Canada has invited 1,510 skilled candidates in the first Express Entry draw of this year. This was a general draw in which candidates received invitations to apply (ITAs). To qualify for an ITA, Candidates must have a minimum CRS score of 546.

Typically, a general draw invites candidates from all three popular programs managed under the Express Entry System. In these draws, no specific occupation or other human capital traits are targeted. The three programs are:

  • FSWP: Federal Skilled Worker Program;
  • CEC: Canadian Experience Class; and 
  • FSTP: Federal Skilled Trades Program.

Overview of December 2023 Express Entry Draws.

Prior to this first Express Entry draw of 2024, IRCC held several draws in the last month of 2023. Most recently, four draws occurred from December 18 to December 21.

The Express Entry draws on December 21, 20, and 19 targeted candidates who met the criteria for category-based selection in one of the six selected categories for 2023.

On December 21, IRCC issued 400 ITAs to candidates with a minimum of 386 CRS scores. The draws targeted agriculture and agri-food occupations.

The Draw on December 20 invited 670 candidates who were skilled in trade occupations. The needed CRS score for this draw was 435.

A total of 1000 trade workers received invitations to apply in a Category-based draw on December 19. Candidates needed a minimum CRS score of 425 to be eligible for this draw.

On December 18, IRCC sent 1,325 invitations to apply to candidates who had a minimum CRS score of 524. This was an all-program Express Entry draw.

Besides these, there were three more draws that took place between December 6 to December 8.

The draw on December 8 targeted 5,900 candidates in STEM occupations. The needed CRS score was 481. 

Also, IRCC invited 1,000 French-proficient candidates with a CRS score of 470 in the December 7 Draw.

The December 6 draw was an all-program where IRCC issued 4,750 ITAs to candidates with 561 CRS scores.

Overall, the IRCC department held seven Express Entry draws in December 2023. Notably, this was the highest number of Express Entry draws that occurred within a month throughout 2023. 

These December draws took place after the six-week pause from October 26 to the December 6 draw. The department did not confirm the cause of the draw suspension. 

A recap of previous Express Entry draws (since June) 

This table outlines the result of Express Entry draws that have occurred in Canada since June 2023. Find the total invited candidates, draw type, needed CRS score, and the date the draw took place. 

The table begins with the June draw results and ends with the first Express Entry Draw of 2024. 

Draw Date     Type Of Draw     Total ITAs Issued     Cut-Off Score     
June 8     All-program     4,800     486     
June 27     All-program     4,300     486     
June 28     Healthcare occupations     500     476     
July 4     All-program     700     511     
July 5     STEM occupations     500     486     
July 6     Healthcare occupations     1500     463     
July 7     French language proficiency     2,300     439     
July 11     All-program     800     505     
July 12     French language proficiency     3,800     375     
August 1     All-program     2,000     517     
August 2     French language proficiency     800     435     
August 3     Trade occupations     1,500     388     
August 15     All-program     4,300     496    
September 19    All-Program    3,200    531    
September 20    Transport Occupations     1,000    435    
September 26    All-Program     3,000    504    
September 27    French Language Proficiency    500    472    
September 28    Agriculture and Agri-Food Occupations    600    354    
October 10    All-Program Draw    3,725    500    
October 24    PNP-only    1,548    776    
October 25    French language proficiency    300    486   
October 26   Healthcare occupations   3,600   431   
December 6   All-Program Draw   4,750   561  
December 7 French language proficiency  1,000 470 
December 8 STEM occupations     5,900 481 
December 18 All-Program Draw   1,325 542 
December 19 Trade Occupations 1,000 425 
December 20 Transport Occupations 670 435 
December 21Agriculture/Agri-Food Occupations400386
January 10General Draw1,510546

Defining Canada’s Express Entry

IRCC employs an application management system called Express Entry. It governs three significant economic immigration programs, i.e., FSWP, FSTP, and CEC. These shorts are for:

  • FSWP: Federal Skilled Worker Program;
  • CEC: Canadian Experience Class; and 
  • FSTP: Federal Skilled Trades Program.

Express Entry utilizes a CRS, called a Comprehensive Ranking System, to consider candidates depending on human capital factors. These include education, age, occupation, work experience, and language ability.

Based on these factors, candidates are assigned a score used to rank candidates against each other. 

Candidates who obtain the highest CRS score have a greater probability of acquiring an ITA for Canada’s permanent residence in the following Express Entry Draws.

If a candidate attains an ITA, they can apply to IRCC. The immigration department typically processes an application in six months and gives a final decision on it. 

Defining Canada’s category-based selection draws. 

In May 2023, the IRCC department publicized new category-based selection draws under the Express Entry.                                                                

Under these draws, IRCC plans to target Express Entry candidates with typical, in-demand traits that can help support the Canadian economy as well as the labor market. IRCC selected six categories for the category-based round of selection draws. One category considers candidates with French language proficiency. The remaining five are occupation-based, which considers candidates’ work experience in a specific field.

These include healthcare, STEM professions, trades, transport, agriculture, and agri-food.

Notably, the ITAs sent under the category-based draws will calculated toward the Federal High Skilled workers targets under Express Entry in the Immigration Levels Plan. 

In the upcoming three years, Canada has set a target of admitting 114,000 new permanent residents (PRs) annually under Express Entry by the end of 2025.