The First Trades Draw of 2025 on September 18 | 1,250 Invited

Key Takeaways From The Current Express Entry Trades Draw

• Type of draw: Category-based: Trade Occupations
• Invitations issued: 1,250
• CRS score: 505
• Tie-breaking rule: November 05, 2024 at 22:36:09 UTC

Waiting for a different draw? Learn when we think the next Express Entry draw will be.

Our Analysis of This Express Entry Draw

While the first trades draw for 2025 has been widely anticipated, today’s draw may come as a bit of a shock for many candidates in the pool. Why? The CRS cut-off is significantly higher than any previous Trades draw.

Let’s take a look at the past trades draws and their cut offs:

As you can see, today’s CRS cut-off is a huge jump from any previous trades draw. The previous record for the CRS cut-off was 436 on July 4, 2024 — inviting 1,800 candidates.

So, why is today’s score so high?

Because of extremely high competition in the Express Entry pool.

The pool size has been growing very fast, particularly for workers with a score of 501+ and at the 451-500 range over the past 12 months. It’s not surprising that there are a high number of trades workers within the pool who have managed to accumulate more than 501+ points. Though, we would expect a reasonable portion of this draw to be ranked between 505 points and 530 points, given the intermittent CEC draws that would have picked up candidates with higher scores.

The Tie-Breaker Rule May Cause Heartbreak This Trades Draw Too

While the tie-breaker doesn’t always catch our attention, this one did. The cut-off for candidates this round is November 5, 2024. That means that any trades workers in the pool with a score of 505, but who entered the pool after November 5 last year, won’t receive an invitation this round.

Comment
byu/UndoButtonPls from discussion
incanadaexpressentry

We would predict that at least a handful of people may be caught off guard by this rule. If you’re a trades worker with a score of 505 and you don’t receive an invitation in the next 48 hours, check when your profile entered the pool — you may have missed out this time.

Will There Be Another Trades Draw in 2025?

We think it’s likely, but we aren’t 100% certain.

An ATIP request from earlier this year revealed that IRCC planned around 3,300 invitations to apply for trades occupations this year.

📑 Express Entry ITA Schedule 2025 (IRCC memo)

Planned ITAs by category:
•🎓 Education: ~3K ITAs (5% target)
•🏥 Healthcare: ~8K ITAs (15% target)
•🔧 Trades: ~3.3K ITAs (8% target)
•🗣️ French-proficiency: IRCC aiming to hit the 8.5% target for Francophone admissions outside… pic.twitter.com/KOlzgBU9Az

— Mandeep Lidher (@MannyLidher) August 27, 2025

So, on that basis, we would predict another draw.

However, further ATIP requests revealed that the trades category is dominated by cooks — around 60% of trades-draw-eligible workers in the pool in February 2025 were cooks. As a result, IRCC is concerned about how skewed the trades category is and may not complete further trades draws until it comes up with a solution to diversify the occupations drawn from the trades category.

What is a Trades Category-Based Draw in Canadian Express Entry?

A trades draw is a targeted draw in Canada’s Express Entry system for workers in certain trades occupations. 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).
• Have at least six months of full-time, continuous work experience (or an equivalent in part-time work experience) in one eligible occupation. If your work experience spans multiple occupations, you will need to accumulate six months in a single occupation to qualify.
• Meet the minimum requirements for the specific Express Entry invitation round, including the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off and tiebreaker rules.

You can find more information about the Express Entry Trades Category on our dedicated page.