Express Entry Draw 357 – 4,000 Healthcare and Social Services Workers Invited To Apply For Permanent Residence in Canada

Key Takeaways for Express Entry Candidates from the July 22, 2025 Healthcare Draw

• Type of draw: Category-based draw targeting candidates with work experience in Healthcare and social services occupations
• Invitations issued: 4,000
• CRS score: 475
• Tie-breaking rule: March 13, 2025 at 13:08:29 UTC
• Prediction for the next draw: Unclear due to recent draw uncertainty, but possibly Canadian Experience Class on Wednesday or Thursday or 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

It seems the only trend in healthcare draws this year is that they keep catching us off-guard. Today’s draw invited 4,000 Express Entry candidates with eligible healthcare and social services work experience to apply for permanent residence in Canada. This draw is the largest healthcare draw ever — and significantly larger than the 500 invitation draws we’ve seen so far in 2025.

The timing of this draw is also a little surprising (but not entirely), in past years, we would expect to see around 4-5 months go by before seeing another healthcare round. This year, we’ve had monthly draws in May, June and now July. Given the size of this round, we would be surprised to see another large healthcare round in August. (Though anything is possible in the current climate of draw uncertainty.)

So why wasn’t it entirely surprising? Well, IRCC completed its now-second largest draw in July 2024, where 3,750 candidates were invited. So IRCC does have a tendency to complete a large healthcare draw in July each year.

CRS Cut-Off For The Latest Healthcare Draw in Canada

As for the CRS cut-off in today’s round, at 475 it remains relatively high compared to what we saw in past years. It’s the lowest CRS cut-off so far in 2025, though. The previous two healthcare draws had CRS cut-offs that were higher than 501+. So, the score dropping to 475 will be welcome news for many candidates in the pool.

That said, it does reveal just how competitive the pool is this year. In 2023, we saw a draw inviting just 500 people with a cut-off off 476. Similarly, the largest previous round, on July 5 2024, invited 3,750 candidates and the CRS score cut-off was as low as 445. This is a similar number of invitations but the cut-off score for this round is much higher — showing that there is fierce competition in the Express Entry pool in 2025 — even for category-based rounds.

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

With 4,000 invitations issued today, that brings the total healthcare and social services workers invited in 2025 to 5,000. That said, many of the candidates invited today will be admitted as permanent residents in 2026 (since it takes 5-6 months on average from when the application is submitted and passes its completeness check).

Reactions to the Healthcare and Social Services Draw on July 22, 2025

The internet reacted swiftly to today’s healthcare and social services worker draw, with some saying this large draw has restored faith and offered some optimism — even among those who are not eligible for a category-based healthcare draw.

Healthcare draw!
byu/Giobix incanadaexpressentry

So, why are folks feeling positive? Well, a good number of the people invited in today’s draw will be in the 501+ range with their CRS score. This means that the overall size of the CRS pool in the 501-600 range could decrease by a decent margin — depending on how many of the 4,000 invitees had a score of 501+.

In turn, this means that the overall CRS cut-off for a Canadian Experience Class draw, whenever that happens next, could be lower due to lower overall competition. While we may have expected a score of 518+ for a CEC draw inviting 3,000 people, we would adjust this to 515+ as a result of today’s very large healthcare draw.

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 subscribing to our newsletter. We share news about the draws and our analysis as it happens, so you’ll never miss the latest results.