IRCC reaffirms to continue with Express Entry category draws in 2024. The immigration department recently confirmed its determination to carry out the selection of candidates based on specific skills and traits. These include work experience, education, and language skills to fulfill economic requirements and priorities.
IRCC Reaffirms to Continue with Express Entry Category Draws
The six new categories target candidates who fulfill the following requirements:
- Work experience in healthcare occupations and STEM professions;
- French language abilities;
- Work experience in trade and transport occupations;
- Experience in Agriculture and Agri-Food occupations
Express Entry category-based selection draws came to the forefront in May last year. These draws assisted Canada in fulfilling its economic objectives. The categories took effect after various discussions with stakeholders, provinces, territories, immigration researchers, and worker advocacy groups. The idea behind these categories is simply to welcome appropriate newcomers who can fill labor gaps. These are primarily urgent vacancies in prominent sectors that contribute significantly to the economy. One of the categories also includes French language proficiency to meet the mandate of encouraging French even outside Quebec.
IRCC stated that these categories will have to be reviewed each year as the department will need to submit an annual report to the parliament. Hence, the department might modify the categories as and when necessary.
Express Entry Category-Based Draws in 2023
The first-ever category-based selection occurred on June 28, 2023, and 1,500 invitations were issued to Express Entry candidates in qualifying healthcare professions. After this draw, the entire year, IRCC issued more than 1,6000 ITAs to candidates through the Express Entry category-based draws. Overall, there were 17 different draws under the category-based selection. However, this year, there has been only one category-based draw for French proficiency, issuing 7,000 ITAs.
Eligibility Requirements for Category-Based Draws
Candidates with already uploaded Express Entry profiles are fit for these category-based draws. On the other hand, economic immigrants without an Express Entry application in the pool will not qualify for such draws.
According to IRCC, candidates who fulfill the eligibility requirements of the Express Entry program must also comply with the following:
- They must have possessed a minimum of six months of full-time, uninterrupted work experience within the past three years.
- Equivalent experience in part-time work in a Canadian occupation or abroad to gain acknowledgment for a work experience category.
- French language proficiency category candidates must attain 7 points in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Express Entry’s Basic Details
Express Entry looks after the three chief economic immigration programs, including the FSWP, the Federal Skilled Trades program, and the Canadian Experience Class. The three economic-class programs evaluate candidates based on specific human capital traits, such as work experience, age, education, occupation, and language skills. The candidates receive scores under the Comprehensive Ranking System since each human capital factor gets a point. Overall, all the factors contribute to a larger score, which ranks candidates against one another. The candidate who attains the highest score has a greater chance of receiving an ITA for permanent residence in Canada.
Typically, a candidate only gets 60 days to submit their final PR application to IRCC once they obtain an ITA.
Do you have any general queries about Canada Express Entry? Let our expert guides at Make Home Canada help you get all the answers. We are just a call away; stay connected at 1-800-979-0509 or simply email your concerns to [email protected].
