5 Lessons For Express Entry Candidates From The 2023 Express Entry Report

We dug into the data and pulled out 5 important lessons for current Express Entry candidates. These takeaways can help you to understand your chances of immigrating to Canada, and what you can do to strengthen your profile. 

Quick Summary of Express Entry in 2023

Here’s 2023 in Express Entry summarized in 5 bullet points: 

• 110,266 invitations to apply issued (ITAs) in 2023
• Category-based rounds were introduced, and we saw 25,870 ITAs issued in 17 category-based rounds from June to December 2023. 
• 70% of candidates who received an ITA in 2023 lived in Canada. 
• More than half of Express Entry candidates who received an ITA were 20-29 years of age. 
• 92% of candidates who received an ITA had studied for at least three years after leaving secondary education (including Master’s and PhD recipients).

You can read the 2023 Express Entry Report here.

5 Lessons From Express Entry Applicants, Based on 2023 Outcomes

Slight Increase in Ineligible Profiles Submitted in 2023

Let’s start with the first step: profile submission.

2023 saw an increase in the number of eligible and ineligible profiles submitted to the Express Entry pool. There were 488,571 profiles submitted to Express Entry, with 343,875 candidates submitting eligible profiles. 

Note that there were 110,266 invitations to apply during 2023, so fewer than one third of eligible candidates who entered the pool in 2023 received an invitation to apply that year. (Profiles are valid for one year, however, so some may have received an ITA in 2024.) 

The increase in the number of ineligible profiles was quite large, up to 144,696 in 2023 from 109,563 in 2022. In other words, around 30% of profiles submitted to the Express Entry system were not eligible for any of the three programs: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, or Canadian Experience Class. 

Significant Increase In CRS Scores 700+

It will come as no surprise to candidates hoping to receive an invitation in 2024, that 2023 came with a significant increase in the number of candidates with high CRS scores above 701. 

Here’s what the data tells us about the number of profiles with a CRS of 701+ from 2021-2023, based on a snapshot on December 1 of each year: 

• In 2021, 445 profiles had a CRS of 701 or higher. 
• In 2022, 970 profiles had a CRS of 701 or higher. 
• In 2023, 3,893 profiles had a CRS of 701 or higher. 

This tells us that there are more candidates who are receiving Express-Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Program nominations – and the 600 points that come with the PNP nomination. 

This isn’t surprising to see, since PNP has overtaken Express Entry in terms of the number of economic immigrants entering using the program each year. 

The data from the 2023 snapshot shows a significant portion of the CRS pool had scores between 351-500 (79% of the pool). A further 14% of the pool had a score of 301-350. 

While this data only shows a snapshot of the pool in December 2023, it does reinforce our messaging that increasing your CRS above 510 can drastically improve your odds of receiving an Invitation To Apply. 

2-In-3 Invitees Eligible For Additional CRS Points

In 2023, only 34% of people who received an invitation to apply did not have additional CRS points assigned to them. 

Express Entry candidates can be assigned additional points if they meet any of the following criteria: 

• Provincial nomination: 600 points
• Arrangement employment: 50-200 points. 
• Education in Canada: up to 30 points. 
• French-language proficiency: up to 50 points. 
• Siblings in Canada: up to 15 points. 

In order of most common to least common, here’s what we saw people receiving additional CRS points for in 2023: 

1. Education in Canada. 
2. Provincial nomination. 
3. Arranged employment. 
4. Siblings in Canada. 
5. French-language proficiency. 

Candidates can receive up to 600 points total for these categories. 

Living and Working In Canada Strongly Associated With ITA

Given Canada’s options for two-step immigration, where workers come in on a temporary work permit initially, it’s not surprising that Canadian residency and/or work experience are strongly associated with candidates receiving an ITA. 

70% of those who received an ITA for Express Entry in 2023 listed Canada as their country of residence. 

Meanwhile, 36% of those who received an ITA for Express Entry in 2023 applied under the Canadian Experience Class. This means that the candidate had at least one year of Canadian work experience. 

A further 24% applied under the Provincial Nominee Program in 2023. Many PNP nominees were previously temporary foreign workers in Canada (72% in 2021). So we can assume that a high percentage of the candidates in the PNP category would have either lived in or worked in Canada at some point. 

Category-Based Round Program Eligibility

24% of ITAs (25,870 in total) in 2023 were sent out in Category-Based rounds. Given that category-based rounds were only held in 6 months of the year, this is a high percentage – and it shows Canada’s commitment to attracting workers who meet the criteria for the 6 eligible categories: French-speaker, STEM, Healthcare, Trades, Agriculture and agri-food, and Transport. 

1. STEM – 32,111 ITAs
2. French speaker – 15,812 ITAs
3. Healthcare – 10,185 ITAs
4. Trades – 4,091 ITAs
5. Transport – 2,466 ITAs
6. Agriculture – 1,216 ITAs.

You’ll note that the number of ITAs going to category-based candidates are higher than the 25,870 ITAs issued in category-based rounds. This is because it includes candidates who received invitations under general rounds and through the PNP in the second half of 2023. 

However, the 25,870 ITAs sent in category-based rounds translates to around 50% of ITAs issued between the first category-based draw in June 2023 to December 2023. This shows Canada’s commitment to inviting candidates who fall into these categories.  

The 2023 Express Entry report also revealed that 210,859 candidates in the pool were eligible for category-based selection, on January 8, 2024. 

We are expecting to see a higher percentage of category-based candidates receiving invitations in 2024. An internal memo from IRCC suggested that around 21.5% ITAs would go to general candidates in 2024, with the rest going to category-based candidates. You can learn more about who will receive an ITA in 2024, and you can see if we’re on track to hit those targets in our analysis of the first 6 months of Express Entry in 2024.

We’re going to continue our analysis of the 2023 Express Entry Report over the coming weeks. We plan to look into gender dynamics in Express Entry, where immigrants are settling, and more. Sign up to receive our newsletter to learn more about this report.