Category-Based Express Entry Draws

Key Takeaways

• In category-based Express Entry draws, Canada invites candidates who are eligible for a specific category, which may relate to official language ability, work experience, or education.
• Category-based Express Entry rounds are held in addition to general and program-specific draws.
• Canada plans to target people working in trades and healthcare and who speak French in the 2025 category-based Express Entry draws.

To be eligible for an invitation through a category-based Express Entry draw, you must meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round.

When Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) holds a category-based round of invitations, it will rank candidates in the pool who meet the category requirements and invite the top candidates to apply for permanent residence.

IRCC will provide full eligibility details in the instructions for each round.

Keep in mind, you must first be eligible for an Express Entry-managed program in order to be invited in a category-based Express Entry draw. That means you must meet all eligibility criteria for the Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program, or Federal Skilled Trades Program.

How Canada chooses categories

IRCC chooses categories for targeted Express Entry draws based on the following factors:

• labour market information and projections
• input we received from our partners, including provinces and territories, and stakeholders across the country

Each year, IRCC reports to Parliament on the categories chosen for the previous year, including why and how they were chosen, the instructions to establish a category, and the number of invitations issued for each.

Canada will also include information about category-based Express Entry draws in the annual Express Entry Year-End Report.

In order to remain flexible to the labour market, IRCC will also monitor and assess categories on a regular basis.

If you’re interested in moving to Canada but not sure which program you may be eligible for, check your eligibility for more than 20 different Canadian immigration programs by taking Moving2Canada’s free Canada Immigration Quiz.

Category-based Express Entry Draw History

The following tables show the draw histories of category-based Express Entry draws.

Who is eligible to receive an ITA through a category-based draw?

Any applicant who has at least  6 months of work experience in the last 3 years in a targeted occupation or those who are able to demonstrate CLB level 7 in French can be selected through a category-based draw.

Is the CRS score still important in category-based draws?

Yes, the CRS score is still important, however, it is not the only factor that is taken into consideration. The CRS cut-off score is generally lower than that in all-program draws however the CRS score needed to be successful in category-based draws is still high. For this reason, applicants should try and improve their CRS score wherever possible.

What should applicants do if their occupation is not targeted?

Applicants with work experience in an occupation that is not currently being targeted should still enter the Express Entry pool if they are eligible. Provincial nominee programs are still using the Express Entry pool to source applicants and IRCC is still conducting all-program draws from the pool.

Will there still be all-program/ general draws?

Yes, IRCC has confirmed that they will still hold all program/ general draws. In fact, since the introduction of category-based draws IRCC has almost held an equal number of all-program and category-based draws.

From an internal IRCC memo, it can be concluded that 21.5% of ITA’s issued in 2024 will be issued as part of all program/ general draws.

How can you increase your chances of being selected in a category-based draw?

If an applicant has a targeted work experience of the required level of French,  in order to increase their chances of receiving an ITA, they should focus on increasing their CRS score. The CRS cut-off for category-based draws is generally lower than all-program draws however is still very competitive.

Will the occupations targeted change?

Yes. It is likely that these categories will be reassessed in 2025 and may be updated to reflect the country’s new labour needs.

According to the 2025-2027 Immigration levels plan, priority categories will be Trades, Healthcare, and French. Although we are yet to see an official update on categories targeted for 2025.

How often will IRCC conduct category-based draws?

IRCC has not committed to a frequency of category-based draws. Historically, IRCC has conducted Express Entry draws every 2 weeks however since the introduction of category-based draws, Express Entry draws have been more sporadic and much less predictable.