Yesterday, on February 14, Canada held this week’s second Express Entry draw. In this latest draw, IRCC sent 3500 ITAs targetting candidates in the healthcare category. Find additional details on this latest as well as all Express Entry draws as of now.

Recent Express Entry Draw Result: 3500 ITAs sent in Healthcare Category Draw 

The immigration department of Canada, IRCC, held two Express Entry draws this week. The most recent one occurred yesterday, targeting candidates skilled in healthcare professions. The needed Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for this draw was 422. 

This draw occurred after a general Express Entry draw, which invited 1,490 candidates. To be eligible for this February 13 draw, candidates needed a minimum CRS score of 535.

Besides these draws, one more category-based draw took place in 2024 as of now, targeting French Language proficiency.

That draw occurred on February 1 and had a minimum CRS score requirement of 365. It was the largest draw of 2024 as of now, in which around 7000 candidates skilled in the French language received ITA.

In January this year, Canada held three general draws. Around 3,280 candidates who had a minimum CRS score between 546 and 541 received an invitation to apply in those draws. 

Popular Express Entry Immigration Pathway to Move to Canada

For Canadian immigration, Express Entry is a popular pathway for candidates to move to Canada. It’s an application management system that IRCC uses to accept and handle applications of skilled workers from overseas.

Typically, Express Entry applications are accepted under three economic immigration programs, that are:

CEC- Canadian Experience Class

FSWP- Federal Skilled Worker Program

FSTP- Federal Skilled Trades Program

To assess Express Entry Candidates, Canada uses a point-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System. It assigns candidates a score based on several human capital attributes. These are:

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

Each of these factors has a specified score, which is added to assign the candidate an overall CRS score. After this, candidates enter the Express Entry Pool, where they are ranked against other candidates.

Candidates with the highest CRS score are more likely to get invitations to apply in the coming draw. After that, they have 60 days to apply to IRCC and submit their final application for Canada’s permanent residence.

Addition of Category-Based Draws Under Express Entry System

Canada introduced new category-based selections in May last year to address urgent market needs. IRCC selected six categories that are in high demand across Canada. 

Among these categories, five are occupation-based, and one is language-based. These include:

  • Occupations in the Healthcare sector
  • Professions in the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) sector
  • Occupations in the Trades sector
  • Professions in the Transport sector
  • Occupations in Agriculture and agri-food sector
  • French Language Proficiency

The immigration selected these categories based on the consultation and feedback from stakeholders like provincial and territorial governments, immigration researchers, employers, and settlement services. They assessed all the aspects and then suggested the fields that are in high demand across the nation.

After that, Canada invited candidates under the category-based draw who could fill the urgent market gaps. This was the most recent draw in which IRCC sent 3500 ITAs in the Healthcare Category Draw.