Express Entry Draw Canada 2024

The Express Entry system manages three critical immigration programs – The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

The Express Entry Draw Canada issues Invitations to Apply (ITA) to applicants eligible for at least one of the three skilled worker pathways. Once eligible candidates receive the Invitation to Apply in the draw, they can apply for Canada PR through the Express Entry pathway.  

Understanding the Express Entry Draw

• What is an Express Entry draw?
• Latest Express Entry draws
• Previous Express Entry Draws
• How do Express Entry Draws work?
• Types of Express Entry Draws
• Steps after Express Entry Draw
• What time is the Express Entry draw in Canada?
• What is the score for Express Entry in Canada?

What is an Express Entry Draw?

Canada Express Entry draw is announced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It selects applicants from the federal pool of eligible individuals according to various selection criteria such as a CRS score, rank, occupation category, immigration program, language proficiency, etc. The selected applicants in the draw receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA), and become eligible to apply for Canada PR through the Express Entry system within 60 days. You cannot apply for Canada Immigration through Express Entry until you get an ITA in the draws. 

Note: In most cases, Express Entry draws are announced twice a month. However, the date, time, and type of the draw are never fixed. 

Latest Express Entry Draws

The latest Express Entry draws are given in the table below.

Draw no.	Draw Date	Draw Type	ITAs issued	CRS score
321	23.10.2024	Trade Occupations	1,800	433
320	22.10.2024	Canadian Experience Class	400	539
319	21.10.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	648	791
318	10.10.2024	French Language Proficiency	1,000	444
317	09.10.2024	Canadian Experience Class	500	539
316	07.10.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	1,613	743
315	19.09.2024	Canadian Experience Class	4,000	509
314	13.09.2024	French Language Proficiency	1,000	446
313	09.09.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	911	732
312	27.08.2024	Canadian Experience Class	3,300	507
311	26.08.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	1,121	694
310	15.08.2024	French Language Proficiency	2,000	394
309	14.08.2024	Canadian Experience Class	3,200	509
308	13.08.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	763	690
307	31.07.2024	Canadian Experience Class	5,000	510
306	30.07.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	964	686
305	18.07.2024	French Language Proficiency	1,800	400
304	17.07.2024	Canadian Experience Class	6,300	515
303	16.07.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	1,391	670
302	08.07.2024	French language Proficiency	3,700	420
301	05.07.2024	Healthcare occupations	3,750	445
300	04.07.2024	Trade Occupations	1,800	436
299	02.07.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	920	793
298	19.06.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	1499	663
297	31.05.2024	Canadian Experience Class	3000	522
296	30.05.2024	Provincial Nominee Program	2985	676
295	24.04.2024	French Language Proficiency	1400	410
294	23.04.2024	General	2095	529
293	11.04.2024	STEM Occupations	4500	491
292	10.04.2024	General Draw	1280	549
291	26.03.2024	French language proficiency	1500	388
290	25.03.2024	General	1980	524
289	13.03.2024	Transport occupations	975	430
288	12.03.2024	General	2850	525
287	29.02.2024	French language proficiency	2500	336
286	28.02.2024	General	1470	534
285	16.02.2024	Agriculture and agri-food occupations	150	437
284	14.02.2024	Healthcare occupations	5300	422
283	13.02.2024	General	1490	535
282	01.02.2024	French language proficiency	7000	365
281	31.01.2024	General	730	541
280	23.01.2024	General	1040	543
279	10.01.2024	General	1510	546

Previous Express Entry Draws

How do Express Entry Draws work?

To understand Express Entry draws, we must understand the Express Entry system.

Stage 1: Creating an Express Entry profile

The first step in the Express Entry process is to create your profile through the GCKey or Sign-in partners. You will be required to answer a questionnaire that will assess your eligibility for Express Entry. 

While creating your profile, you will have to provide all the information about your age, education, language proficiency, NOC code, etc. An Express Entry profile stays in the pool for one year. 

Stage 2: Get your Express Entry pathway and the CRS score

According to the information in your profile, the Express Entry system will assign you the Express Entry pathway you are eligible for. You will also get a score by the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) as per the provided personal information. 

Stage 3: Enter into the Express Entry pool

Once you are assigned your Express Entry program and a CRS score, you will enter the Express Entry pool of eligible profiles. Your profile will stay active in this pool for one year. 

Ensure your profile stays updated and reflects any possible changes in your circumstances.

Stage 4: Express Entry draws 

While you are in the pool, IRCC will announce Express Entry draws at least once a month (it is bimonthly in most cases). It will announce the necessary rank in the pool and the minimum CRS score (out of 1200) required to get an ITA. If your profile meets all the criteria announced during the draw, you will get an invitation to apply. 

Stage 5: Getting the ITA

Once you get the Invitation to Apply in the Express Entry draws, you have 60 days to upload complete documents, pay the fee, and apply to IRCC for Canada PR.

Types of Express Entry Draws

The main aim of the Express Entry system is to invite foreign workers who are critically required in the Canadian workforce.  This labor market requirement dictates the selection criteria of the Express Entry draws. Depending upon their eligibility instructions, there are three types of draws.

1. General or All-Program Express Entry draw
2. Program-Specific Express Entry Draw
3. Category-based selection

The General or All Program rounds of Invitation

The General or an All-program Express Entry selects foreign workers who are eligible for any one of the federal immigration programs managed by the Express Entry – the FSWP, the FSTP, and the CEC. As the name suggests, a general or all-program draw issues ITAs to applicants from all federal programs. Since this draw considers all the programs, it is more competitive and announces a relatively high CRS score cut-off. The average minimum CRS score required to get an ITA in an all-program Express Entry draw ranges from 500-550 points. 

The 294th Express Entry draw was the latest general round of invitations that was announced on 23rd April 2024. 

Program-Specific Express Entry Draws

A program-specific draw selects only those Express Entry profiles from the pool that are eligible for a particular Express Entry program. For example, a Canadian Experience Class-specific draw will issue ITAs only to those profiles that are eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program.  

The CRS score cut-off in this case varies according to the Express Entry program for which the draws are being announced. 

For example, if IRCC announces a round of invitations exclusively for provincial nominees, the minimum CRS score cut-off will be higher than 600 points. This is because all provincial nominees receive an additional 600 points to their Express Entry profiles. The largest ever program-specific invitations were announced in the 299th Express Entry draw. It was a Provincial Nominee Program-specific draw and its minimum CRS score cut-off was 793 points.

The minimum CRS score cut-off for FSTP-specific draws will be lower than the minimum score required for either CEC or FSWP-specific draws.

Category-based Express Entry Draws

On 31st May 2023, the category-based selection was announced to fill gaps in the Canadian labour force. The category-based Express Entry draws issue ITAs based on 6 categories:

• The French Language Category
• STEM Occupations
• Healthcare Occupations
• Trade Occupations
• Transport Occupations
• Agriculture and Agri-food occupations

Thus, to get an Invitation to Apply in a category-based draw you must:

• Have an active Express Entry profile in the pool
• Have higher CRS points than the cut-off announced in the draw
• Belong to one of the six categories for which the draw is announced. 

Steps after Express Entry Draw

If you receive an Invitation to Apply in the latest Express Entry draw, the IRCC will send you a message in your account. They will inform you about the immigration program through which you can apply for Canada PR. 

After getting an ITA, you will have 60 days to complete and submit your PR application. Follow the steps below after an Express Entry draw.

1. Sign in to your IRCC account. This is the same account you created while creating the Express Entry profile.
2. Initiate the PR application through Express Entry
3. Fill out all the forms and submit all the required documents such as identity documents, language test results, academic documents, ECA, etc. This is the step where you provide the paperwork to support your CRS score. 
4. Pay the non-refundable application fee of $1,525 (CAD)
5. Once your application is processed and approved, you will receive a COPR and PR visa.

What time is the Express Entry draw in Canada?

There is no fixed time for the Canada Express Entry Draw. The IRCC usually mentions the date and time of the draw along with the draw type, CRS cut-off, and its eligibility requirements. Express Entry draws are never predictable and are announced by the IRCC without any prior notice. 

Being a CICC-registered company, Talent Connected Worldwide is the first to know whenever the draws are announced. Keep checking the website to know the time of the latest draw as soon as they are announced.

What is the score for Express Entry in Canada?

The minimum CRS score depends on the type of Express Entry draw. Currently, the score for a general draw is in the range of 500-550 points. On the other hand, the minimum score for a category draw is slightly lower and is around 400-450 points.