Express Entry Draw 333: 4000 CEC Candidates Issued Invitations on January 23, 2025

Key Takeaways for Express Entry Candidates

• Type of draw: Canadian Experience Class
• Invitations issued: 4,000
• CRS score: 527
• Tie-breaking rule:  July 23, 2024 at 07:06:43 UTC
• Prediction for the next draw: Potentially a French category-based draw on Friday January 24, 2025.
• New to the excitement of Express Entry draws? Check out our guide to Express Entry.

Our Analysis of This Express Entry Draw

We were expecting a Canadian Experience Class draw this week — but the delay of the draw until Thursday had many of us, including those currently sitting in the Express Entry pool, very nervous. Typically, we’d expect to see the first draw of the week on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest.

That said, candidates may be relieved to see that the draw is fairly large — with 4,000 invitations going out to those with Canadian work experience. We believe that larger draws, around the 3,000 mark will be common for CEC throughout 2025 as IRCC works towards filling its in-Canada quota of more than 80,000 for 2025.

At 527, the CRS is the lowest we’ve seen for a CEC draw since the September 19, 2024 draw. The CRS at this point (for a draw inviting 4,000) was 509. So this tells us that competition in the pool has significantly increased since this time. That’s because the draws were the same size — so a higher CRS for today’s draw means there are more people in the pool with these higher scores.

CRS Trends for CEC in 2025

While today’s large draw is good news for those with a higher CRS waiting for an invite, the pool data does show growing competition among candidates with a score of 501-600. Even with today’s draw of 4,000, there are 24,001 candidates in the pool with a score of 501-600. Many of these candidates will be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class — and it looks like a huge volume of these candidates have a score of 501-526.

If this is you, we suggest doing what you can in the short term to improve your CRS above 527. Your language proficiency results are the lowest hanging fruit here, and we suggest retaking your language test if possible to improve your results. But you can use our interactive CRS calculator to learn what you have received points for and what areas you have for improvement. 

Applying for a provincial nomination is another option, since competition remains low at the moment in the Express Entry pool. That said, many provinces are not issuing invitations at the moment due to uncertainty relating federal allocations for 2025. So, this route may be more challenging in 2025 than in previous years.

What Does 2025 Hold for CEC Express Entry Draws?

Canada plans to focus on transitioning temporary residents currently in Canada (and presumably with Canadian work experience) to permanent residency, we hope to see bi-weekly draws between 2,000-3,000 each time. 

However, we have stated that we don’t predict that the score will drop much below 500-510, and that’s after points are dropped for job offers in Spring 2025.

Remember — there is a positive note: the immigration levels plan includes a special allocation of 82,980 spots for applicants already in Canada. We expect that a significant portion of these admissions will go to in-Canada applicants who might have otherwise applied through a PNP. For more details on the 2025 PNP targets, you can read our in-depth analysis here.

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.
• Use our online Express Entry CRS calculator to learn more about your current score and how to improve it.

For up-to-date information about Express Entry draws, consider creating a free Moving2Canada account and subscribing to our newsletter. We share news about the draws and our analysis as it happens, so you’ll never miss the latest results.