Express Entry Draw 302 – 3,200 French Applicants Invited To Apply

Key Takeaways for Express Entry Candidates

• Type of draw: Category-based targeting French language proficiency candidates
• Invites issued: 3,200
• CRS score: 420
• Tie-breaking rule: May 30, 2024
• Prediction for the next draw: The week of 15 July 2024
• Learn more about changes proposed for the 2025 Express Entry categories. 

Watch our short video recap!

Our Analysis of This Week’s Express Entry Draw

With 3,200 invitations sent, this is the largest French draw we’ve seen since February 1, 2024. It’s also the highest CRS cut-off for a French draw for 2024 – at 420. When there’s a higher CRS and a higher number of invitations sent out, this means that the competition in the pool is higher. We aren’t surprised to see this after more than two months with very few draws or invitations sent. 

This draw is likely to catch many by surprise, given that we saw three draws last week. To recap, last week we saw:

• A healthcare draw, inviting 3,750 candidates on July 5. 
• A trades occupations draw, inviting 1,800 candidates on July 4. 
• A Provincial Nominations Program draw, inviting 920 candidates on July 2. 

We aren’t sure what caused the two month delay with very few draws in May and June, nor are we sure when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will return to a schedule of draws taking place every two weeks. IRCC outlined in an internal memo that it hopes to stick to the week-on, week-off schedule where possible to promote trust in Canada’s immigration system. 

With that said, we are pleased to see the larger draws and invitations taking place since the beginning of July. And we hope that this is a sign that things will be ‘returning to normal’ in the near term. 

If we were to guess, we would anticipate that we will see a combination of PNP, CEC, and category-based draws over the next two months, with potential for CRS cut offs to decrease slightly across these types of draws. We would also hope to see a return of bi-weekly general draws, though we would be surprised to see a CRS cut-off below 550 for the initial general rounds. 

Comparisons to Previous French Draws

This is the fifth French draw for 2024, and the second largest for the year. The largest draw was on February 1, where we saw a staggering 7,000 candidates with French proficiency receive an invitation. The last French draw we saw with a higher CRS than this was in December 2023, with a CRS of 470. 

Given the CRS cut-off for this draw is 10 points higher than the last French draw of April, and more invitations were issued, we can conclude that more people with French proficiency have entered the Express Entry pool in the last few months. 

Learning French is a great way to not only give your CRS score a boost, but also allows you to be considered for these French language draws that benefit from a lower CRS cut-off. 

Learn more about how French skills can help you immigrate to Canada.

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.

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