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By Rebecca Major
Updated 1 day ago
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Targeted categories allow Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to invite skilled workers who meet specific labour market needs. Whether you’re a healthcare professional, tradesperson, educator, or French-speaking candidate, understanding the latest Express Entry categories is essential to improving your chances of receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residence.
Key Takeaways
Use our resources to be one of them.
Express Entry categories are specific occupational or skill-based groupings used by IRCC to invite candidates from the Express Entry pool.
These categories are designed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), to meet Canada’s economic goals by prioritizing candidates with in-demand skills, language abilities, or Canadian work experience
Canada may adjust its Express Entry categories based on changing labour market needs. Currently, there are seven categories—one based on French language proficiency and five focused on specific occupations. However, IRCC is unlikely to prioritize all of these categories in 2025.
Based on the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan and the February 27, 2025 IRCC announcement, it is highly likely that category-based draws in 2025 will only focus on French, Healthcare, Trades, and Education.
With that in mind, here are the Express Entry categories for 2025. Click below to learn more about the eligibility criteria for each:
Join other like-minded individuals navigating their journey to success within the Express Entry system — from Immigration tips to settlement and job search support, you're not alone.
The standout addition in 2025 is the Education Occupations category. This includes roles such as:
This change supports Canada’s growing need for educators and aligns with provincial hiring trends
While not officially discontinued, some categories like STEM and Agriculture & Agri-Food have not been prioritized in 2025 draws so far. This shift reflects IRCC’s focus on domestic labour shortages and in-Canada experience
IRCC chooses categories for targeted Express Entry draws based on the following factors:
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.
The following tables show the draw histories of category-based Express Entry draws.
Yes, if you meet the criteria for multiple categories, you may be invited under any of them.
You can still be invited through general or program-specific draws if your CRS score is high enough.
There is no fixed schedule, but IRCC conducts them regularly based on labour market needs.
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.
Applicants whose occupation is not currently targeted should still enter the Express Entry pool if they are eligible. Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) continue to select candidates from the pool, and IRCC is still conducting all-program draws.
Additionally, IRCC may update the list of targeted occupations. If your occupation is not targeted now, it could be in the future.
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.
Yes, targeted occupations are assessed annually, with IRCC adding the education occupations but removing the transport occupations in 2025.
In addition to adding and removing categories, IRCC will also update the occupations targeted within each category, with the latest update happening on February 27, 2025.
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