The latest Express Entry French-Category draw issued 1000 ITAs on December 7. This turned out to be the second Express Entry draw in the same week. The last one occurred on December 6 and was an all-program draw. However, the most recent Express Entry draw was a Category-based selection draw for French language candidates only. The minimum CRS score requirement was 470.
The previous draw of December 6 issued ITAs to 4,750 candidates, and the minimum CRS score requirement was 561.
These two draws happened after a brief pause. Before these two draws, the draw took place on October 26. On November 14, IRCC even tweeted about an impending technical issue due to which a few candidates failed to upload their profiles. The problem came in the Express Entry profile builder. After two days, IRCC said that the problem had been resolved.
However, the reason behind this pause is yet to be known.
The latest Express Entry French-Category draw issued 1000 ITAs – previous draws since June 2023 in a nutshell
Refer to the table below for all the Express Entry draw details since June 2023:
| Date | Program Type | ITAs Issued | Lowest CRS 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 Category-based draw | 1,000 | 470 |
Express Entry Category-Based Draws – a summary
The announcement regarding the category-based draws took place in May this year. These draws emphasize candidates possessing strong French language abilities or those with considerable work experience in one of the five in-demand professions.
These include the following occupations:
- STEM occupations;
- Healthcare;
- Agriculture and Agri-Food;
- Trades; and
- Transport
These categories took effect this year as an attempt to enhance the Canadian economy by combating the existing labor shortages. The emphasis is on the major sectors like healthcare and the supply chain.
The latest Immigration Level Plan 2024-2026 has a steady immigration target of 500,000 for 2025 and 2026. In 2024, the PR admission target will be 485,000. Despite these increased target immigration levels, the Express Entry draws are happening at a slower pace. However, the Deputy Minister confirmed that a Skilled Trades draw for professionals will likely occur this month.
The total number of Category-based draws was 12, and the number of ITAs issued was around 11,000. All these candidates who received invitations existed in the pool of Express Entry.
Conclusion
Express Entry consists of three programs, including the Federal Skilled Trades Program, the CEC, and the Federal Skilled Worker Program. This application system ranks candidates using a Comprehensive Ranking System. It assigns points and scores on the basis of human capital attributes like age, education, work experience, language proficiency, and occupation. Every factor has a point attached to it. Candidates having the highest CRS score will be prone to receiving the ITA. If they receive an ITA, they must submit their PR application to IRCC within sixty days.
The standard processing time for IRCC is six months.
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