Express Entry: 1,390 candidates invited in latest PNP-only draw

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued invitations to apply (ITAs) in the latest Express Entry draw

The department issued 1,390 ITAs in a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-only draw.

Candidates required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 670 to be considered.

Get a Free Express Entry Assessment

Today’s draw is the first of the week and the fifth Express Entry draw since the start of July.

The most recent draw before this occurred on July 8 and invited 3,200 candidates in a category-based draw for French proficiency.

Another PNP-only draw took place on July 2 and invited 920 candidates with a CRS score of 739.

CRS scores for PNP-only Express Entry draws tend to be higher than average because Express Entry candidates who have been successfully nominated for the PNP automatically receive an additional 600 CRS points on top of their existing score. For example, an Express Entry candidate with a score of 300 that is successfully nominated will then have an overall CRS of 900, almost guaranteeing an ITA in an upcoming draw.

Summary of Express Entry draw results in 2024

Date	Draw Type	Number of ITAs	Minimum CRS
July 8	French proficiency	3,200	420
July 5	Healthcare occupations	3,750	445
July 4	Trade occupations	1,800	436
July 2	Provincial Nominee Program	920	739
June 19	Provincial Nominee Program	1,499	663
May 31	Canadian Experience Class	3,000	522
May 30	Provincial Nominee Program	2,985	676
April 24	French proficiency	1,400	410
April 23	General	2,095	529
April 11	STEM occupations	4,500	491
April 10	General	1,280	549
March 26	French language proficiency	1,500	388
March 25	General	1,980	524
March 13	Transport occupations	975	430
March 12	General	2,850	525
February 29	French language proficiency	2,500	336
February 28	General	1,470	534
February 16	Agriculture and agri-food occupations	150	437
February 14	Healthcare occupations	3,500	422
February 13	General	1,490	535
February 1	French language proficiency	7,000	365
January 31	General	730	541
January 23	General	1,040	543
January 10	General	1,510	546

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is an application management system for three economic immigration programs in Canada: The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). Each program is a pathway to permanent residency in Canada.

These programs use the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to evaluate immigration candidates based on human capital factors such as occupation, age, education, language ability and work experience. Each factor receives a score, and the total creates a candidate’s CRS score.

The system was introduced in 2015 as a means for IRCC to speed up processing time for successful applicants. The department has a published service standard of six months for these applications.

What is category-based selection?

Category-based selection was launched in 2023 as a way for IRCC to further target the Express Entry candidates who are the most likely to help Canada fill urgent gaps in it’s workforce, or strengthen a demographic.

To that end, the department introduced six possible categories in 2023 and earlier this year announced that they would remain in place into 2025. They are:

• Healthcare occupations
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
• Trades occupations, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
• Transport occupations
• Agriculture and agri-food occupations
• French-language proficiency

Draws for this category are not program-specific and permanent resident applicants must be in the Express Entry application pool to be eligible.

Get a Free Express Entry Assessment