Express Entry Draw 349 – 500 Healthcare and Social Services Workers Invited To Apply For Permanent Residence in Canada

Key Takeaways for Express Entry Candidates

• Type of draw: Category-based draw targeting candidates with work experience in Healthcare and social services occupations
• Invitations issued: 500
• CRS score: 504
• Tie-breaking rule: March 31, 2025 at 06:47:23 UTC
• Prediction for the next draw: Unclear due to recent draw uncertainty, but possibly trades or French this week. 
• New to the excitement of Express Entry draws? Check out our guide to Express Entry.

Our Analysis of This Express Entry Draw

We were caught a little off guard by today’s healthcare draw, since it’s the second category-based draw targeting healthcare and social services workers in just over a month. Even though we did suggest that we might see another small draw in the short-term, this draw does deviate from IRCC’s healthcare draw trends. Typically, we would expect to see around 4-5 months go by before seeing another healthcare round.

That being said, the size of two recent draws also differ quite drastically from the previous years, so that may give us a clue as to why we’re seeing more frequent draws.

Today’s draw invited just 500 candidates to apply for permanent residence in Canada. The CRS cut-off remained quite high, at 504, though it was lower than what we saw in the May 2, 2025 healthcare round, which had a CRS cut-off of 510.

For some context on previous healthcare rounds, the healthcare round on November 20, 2024 invited 3,000 workers with a cut of 463 but even that was a relatively high CRS cut off. We saw scores as low as 422 in the healthcare draw round in February of 2024.

So, what does this mean for future rounds?

As of now, just 1,000 healthcare candidates have been invited in 2025 — a far cry from the 3,500+ invited by June last year. However, we are also seeing significant focus on healthcare professionals at the provincial level — which may be why Canada is inviting smaller numbers of healthcare workers through its category-based rounds.

Given that many candidates invited going forward will be admitted to Canada in 2026, we would hope to start seeing some more action on the category-based draws front in the latter half of 2025.

• Do you know what your CRS is? If not, use our online Express Entry CRS calculator to determine how many points you have.

What Is A Healthcare & Social Services Occupation Draw in Canadian Immigration?

To be eligible for an invitation through a category-based round, you must:

• Qualify for one of the three main immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Trades (FST), or Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
• Meet the minimum requirements for the round, including the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off and tiebreaker rules.

Additionally, you must have at least six months of full-time, continuous work experience (or an equivalent in part-time work experience) in one eligible occupation.

• Animal health technologists and veterinary technicians

• Audiologists and speech language pathologists

• Cardiology technologists and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists

• Chiropractors

• Dental hygienists and dental therapists

• Dentists

• Dieticians and nutritionists

• General practitioners and family physicians

• Licensed practical nurses

• Massage therapists

• Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations

• Medical laboratory technologists

• Medical radiation technologists

• Medical sonographers

• Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates

• Nurse practitioners

• Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors

• Occupational therapists

• Optometrists

• Other medical technologists and technicians

• Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating

• Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment

• Paramedical occupations

• Pharmacists

• Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants

• Pharmacy technicians

• Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals

• Physiotherapists

• Psychologists

• Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses

• Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists

• Social and community service workers

• Social workers

• Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine

• Specialists in surgery

• Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies

• Veterinarians.

If your work experience spans multiple occupations, you will need to accumulate six months in a single occupation to qualify.

Of course, healthcare workers in Canada may also be selected in Canadian Experience Class draws but selection in this category may come with a more competitive CRS cut-off.

For more information:

• Learn more about the latest Express Entry draws.
• Learn more about the state of the Express Entry pool.
• Learn when to expect the next Express Entry draw.
• Learn more about Express Entry healthcare draws.

For up-to-date information about Express Entry draws, consider creating a free Moving2Canada account and subscribing to our newsletter. We share news about the draws and our analysis as it happens, so you’ll never miss the latest results.