BREAKING: Inside IRCC’s Latest Express Entry Report for 2024

It’s an especially busy moment for immigration news, but this report deserves attention. It shows us who entered the pool, who actually received an Invitation to Apply (ITA), and how new permanent residents are doing once they arrive. 

One thing we’ll say right up front. We really wish IRCC had released this data earlier in 2025. There’s a lot of valuable insight here on trends and patterns that anyone pursuing Express Entry this year could have benefited from.

The 2024 numbers show that competition is tightening, selection trends are shifting, and economic outcomes remain strong. Below, we break down the key findings from the report, from pool composition and invitation patterns to category-based draws and post-landing results.

Part 1: The Express Entry Pool 

Here are three key takeaways from the 2024 Express Entry data about who entered the Express Entry pool.

1. Fewer Profiles Entered the Pool

The total number of Express Entry profiles submitted in 2024 dropped compared to 2023. 

• 2023: 488,571 total profiles 
• 2024: 468,073 total profiles 

Not all profiles are eligible, and here too the decline continued: 

• Eligible profiles 2023: 343,875 
• Eligible profiles 2024: 339,621 

That means fewer people overall, and fewer eligible candidates, entered the pool last year compared to 2023. But as we will see below, fewer eligible candidates did not equal less competition. 

2. A Sharp Rise in High-Scoring Candidates

Competition within the pool intensified. Profiles claiming CRS scores between 501 and 550 increased sharply: 

• 2022: 3% of those in the pool scored between 501 and 550 
• 2023: 4% of those in the pool scored between 501 and 550 
• 2024: 7% of those in the pool scored between 501 and 550 

This 3% increase from 2024 represents a jump of more than 11,000 profiles between 2023 and 2024. Based on the composition of the pool data we have been tracking, this trend has continued into 2025.  

3. More Candidates Benefiting from Additional Points

Fewer candidates are now entering the pool without claiming any additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. 

• 2022: 55% claimed no additional points 
• 2023: 47% claimed no additional points 
• 2024: 38% claimed no additional points 

This means more candidates are leveraging extra points, whether for Canadian education, a sibling in Canada, or arranged employment (no longer available). In 2024 specifically: 

• 36% claimed points for education in Canada 
• 16% for having a sibling in Canada 
• 12% for arranged employment  
• 9% for French language proficiency

Part 2: Who Received an ITA in 2024? 

Here are the five biggest takeaways from those who received an ITA last year. 

1. Invitations by Economic Program

This is where the data gets really interesting. Because there were no Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws until May 2024, a fair number of invitations for candidates in these categories were issued through general draws. This lets us see how many CEC and PNP candidates were selected in total, from general and program-specific draws. 

In total, 98,881 ITAs were issued in 2024. Here’s how they broke down: 

• Canadian Experience Class (CEC): 47,739 (although only 26,500 ITAs were issued in CEC-only rounds)
• General: 27,104 
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP): 24,038 (although only 15,483 ITAs were issued in PNP-only rounds)

2. Work Experience – Surprises for both Canadian and Foreign Work Experience.

For Canadian work experience, most successful candidates had at least one year, but the biggest growth came from those with three or more years. Between 2022 and 2024, the share of ITAs issued to this group rose from 3% to 8%. With the high CRS CEC draw cut-off we have seen in 2025, we are sure this segment continues to grow. 

Looking at foreign work experience, 30% of successful candidates reported five or more years abroad. But here’s the major shift: those with no or less than one year of foreign experience dropped from 27% in 2022 and 28% in 2023 to just 1% in 2024. Almost every successful candidate now has at least 1 year of foreign work experience.

This trend is especially interesting because we’re now hearing more stories of in-Canada applicants looking to gain foreign work experience as a way to boost their CRS scores. When done correctly, this can help, but it’s not without risks. Anyone considering this route should fully understand the implications and potential drawbacks before making a move. 

3. French Language and Arranged Employment Points

The share of ITA recipients claiming French language points jumped from 14% in 2023 to 25% in 2024, a huge increase that reflects the growing impact of French language-based draws  

Among candidates who earned additional points, while the most common boost came from Canadian education, we’re more interested is the arranged employment points. In 2024, 21% of ITA recipients met the criteria to be eligible for arranged employment points, but only 19% were actually awarded those points in their CRS scores. In numbers, that’s 20,957 people who met the criteria, yet just 18,708 were assigned the points. 

This gap suggests that some candidates technically qualified under the arranged employment category but didn’t receive the points, likely tied to growing concerns about applicants claiming job offers that weren’t genuine. Those concerns came to a head in March 2025, when arranged employment points were removed entirely following reports of fraudulent offers being used to inflate CRS scores.

It’ll be interesting to see how the removal of these points plays out in 2025, particularly how it affects the number of applicants able to claim additional points, and whether the balance shifts more toward education, language, and Canadian experience instead.

It’s also worth noting that, according to the Express Entry 2024 report, candidates who legitimately received points for arranged employment went on to earn substantially more than those who did not. That suggests that legitimate job offers remain one of the strongest predictors of economic success after landing.

Top Occupations and Gender Trends

The top five occupations among ITA recipients were: 

1. Software engineers and designers – 3,715 ITAs 
2. Food service supervisors – 3,608 
3. Software developers and programmers – 3,142 
4. Administrative assistants – 2,669 
5. Secondary school teachers – 2,136 

Gender patterns stood out clearly among those who received ITAs for these leading occupations. Men dominated the two software-related roles, while women accounted for most of the invitations issued to food service supervisors and administrative assistants. Secondary school teachers were more balanced overall, with women holding a slight edge.

5. Country of Residence and Citizenship: Cameroon Makes History

When it comes to country of residence, Canada unsurprisingly led the way with 67,817 invitations. But for the first time, Cameroon overtook India as the second-most common country of residence, with 8,999 ITAs, followed by: 

• India: 3,104 
• Nigeria: 3,088 
• Morocco: 1,770 

As for country of citizenship, India remained the clear leader with 43,004 ITAs, followed by: 

• Cameroon: 10,141 
• Nigeria: 6,696 
• China: 3,689 
• Philippines: 2,561 

Cameroon’s rise is one of the most striking trends in the 2024 data. Many Cameroonian nationals benefited from French-language draws, but a notable share also qualified under healthcare and STEM categories. 

Other Useful Insights from the Express Entry 2024 Report: Economic Outcomes of Applicants 

Federal High Skilled (FHS) Applicants 

For principal applicants admitted between 2017 and 2021, median earnings consistently rose year over year. 

• The 2017 cohort started at $58,700 one year after admission and reached $82,000 by year five. 
• The 2018 cohort followed a nearly identical trajectory, ending at $82,300 by 2022. 
• The 2019 cohort saw slightly lower early earnings (likely due to COVID-19’s labour market impact) but still climbed to $74,400 by 2022. 
• More recent cohorts, 2020 and 2021, began even stronger — earning $62,800 and $56,300, respectively just one year after landing. 

Across all cohorts, FHS immigrants earned well above the national median income, which hovered between $40,900 and $43,600 during the same period. 

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) Applicants 

PNP candidates under Express Entry earned slightly less on average than FHS applicants but still outperformed Canadian-born workers overall. 

• Their median earnings ranged from $47,900 to $57,300 one year after admission. 
• By year three, the 2017 cohort reached around $75,000. 
• Like the FHS group, PNP applicants admitted during the pandemic years saw a temporary dip but rebounded quickly. 

Impact of Canadian Education 

Applicants with Canadian post-secondary credentials generally earned more than those without, but the data shows an interesting twist. 

Those with three or more years of Canadian education performed the strongest, with median earnings of $78,600 (2020 cohort, two years after landing). However, candidates with only one or two years of Canadian study actually earned less than those with no Canadian credentials at all. 

This suggests that longer, higher-level programs provide a clear economic advantage, but shorter study periods don’t always translate to higher earnings. 

French Language and Sibling Factors 

Interestingly, applicants with lower French proficiency (below CLB 7) often reported higher earnings than those with stronger French results, suggesting that language category points don’t always align with initial income outcomes. 

Applicants without siblings in Canada also tended to earn more two years after landing. 

The Express Entry 2024 report gives us a clear look at how the system actually played out in 2024. Fewer people entered the pool, competition at the top end got tougher, and those with Canadian connections, through study, work, or language, continued to stand out. 

We only wish it had come out sooner, because the insights in this report could have been incredibly useful for anyone navigating Express Entry in 2025. And while we can’t say for sure, it’s hard not to think the timing is tied in some way to the Budget and Immigration Levels Plan announcements due tomorrow.

This is, of course, a high-level summary of the full Express Entry 2024 report. If you want to dig into all the data and analysis yourself, you can read the full report here. And remember to sign up for our newsletter to get the latest updates once Budget 2025 and the Immigration Levels Plan are released.