The Express Entry (EE) organizes and processes applications for people who wish to immigrate to Canada and acquire Canadian permanent residence. Express Entry is not an immigration by itself, rather it’s an online system that manages applications sent to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) department. The system manages three Canadian immigration programs:
- Federal Skilled Workers (FSW)
- Federal Skilled Trades (FST)
- Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
Candidate profiles under the Canadian Express Entry system are ranked against each other according to a point-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The candidates with the highest ranking scores in the Express Entry draw will be considered for an Invitation to Apply for Permanent Residence.
These invitations are issued by the federal government on a regular basis.
THE LATEST EXPRESS ENTRY DRAW 263 - AUGUST 19, 2023
The IRCC issued 3200 invitations to applicants in the Express Entry draw 263. Applicants having a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System Score (CRS) of 531 received an Invitation to Apply (ITA). Today’s express entry draw was an all-program meaning candidates in Federal Skilled Trades (FST), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) were considered. According to the tie-breaking rule, candidates who created their profile before September 12, 2023, at 12:16:31 UTC, were prioritized.
There has been a break from EE draws for a month, today’s EE draw is the first draw in a month. The last draw took place on August 15th, and was an all-program draw as well, that invited 4300 candidates to receive an ITA. Compared to this draw, today’s draw’s CRS minimum score is 35 points higher.
IRCC expects to be holding Express Entry Category-based draw in the Transport occupations later this week. Learn more about Transport occupations in the category-based draw here.
What are Express Entry Category-Based Draws
Express Entry category-based draws / occupation-specific draws are express entry draws that enable the IRCC to issue Letter Invitation to Apply (ITA) to candidates with talents, skills and jobs that are most in demand in Canada.
There are six new categories for which candidates may be eligible:
- Healthcare
- Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
- Trades such as carpenters, plumbers and contractors
- Transport
- Agriculture and agri-food
- Strong French-language proficiency
Additionally, category-specific draws can be helpful to candidates because the cut-off score in the selected categories can probably be lower than in all-program daws.
Applicants must have completed at least six months of continuous employment in one of the listed occupations within the previous three years in order to qualify under the category-specific categories. You can obtain this experience in Canada or abroad.
