What is Express Entry
Express Entry is an application system that offers skilled workers from around the world a pathway to permanent residency in Canada. It manages three federal economic immigration programs:
- The Federal Skilled Worker Program
- The Federal Skilled Trades Program and
- The Canadian Experience Class
Workers qualified for any of the above three programs can submit their profiles and be entered into the Express Entry pool. Here, candidates are picked based on points scored on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
Canadian provinces can also recruit workers in the Express Entry pool through their respective Provincial Nominee Programs.
The Comprehensive Ranking System
The criteria under the CRS and the maximum points available under each factor are as follows:
|
Factors |
Maximum points |
|
| Core/ human capital factors | With a spouse/partner | Without a spouse |
| Age | 100 | 110 |
| Level of education | 140 | 150 |
| Language proficiency | 150 | 160 |
| Canadian work experience | 70 | 80 |
| Spouse or common-law partner factors | ||
| Level of education | 10 | |
| Official language proficiency | 20 | |
| Canadian work experience | 10 | |
| A + B maximum points | 500 | |
| Skill Transferability factors | ||
| Strong language proficiency and post-secondary degree | 50 | |
| Canadian work experience and post-secondary degree | 50 | |
| Strong language proficiency and foreign work experience | 50 | |
| Canadian work experience and foreign work experience | 50 | |
| Strong language proficiency and Certificate of qualification | 50 | |
| Maximum | 100 | |
| Additional points | ||
| Brother or sister living in Canada as a citizen or permanent resident | 15 | |
| French language skills | 50 | |
| Post-secondary education in Canada | 30 | |
| Arranged employment in TEER 0 Major group 00 | 200 | |
| Arranged employment in NOC TEER 1, 2, 3 or any TEER 0 other than Major group 00 | 50 | |
| Provincial nominee | 600 | |
| Maximum | 600 | |
| Grand total | 1200 points | |
Canada’s Immigration goals for 2023
The IRCC’s Immigration Levels Plan for 2023-2025 plans to welcome 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023. This includes 82,880 new admissions under the Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades Program and the Canadian Experience Class, and 105,500 under the Provincial Nominee Program.
Express Entry draws in March 2023
The IRCC issued a total of 21,667 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) across four draws in March.
The March 15 draw surpassed the IRCC’s previous record for the largest all-program draw in its history, with 7000 ITAs issued. The IRCC also followed up with two consecutive draws matching March 15’s record numbers.
The score of the lowest-ranked candidate invited for each draw was as follows:
| Date | Invitations issued | Lowest CRS score |
| March 1, 2023 | 667 | 748 |
| March 15, 2023 | 7000 | 490 |
| March 23, 2023 | 7000 | 484 |
| March 29, 2023 | 7000 | 481 |
Express Entry numbers in April compared to March
April’s numbers have fallen off compared to the 7000 ITAs issued across two draws in March. The numbers and the CRS scores of the lowest-ranked candidate invited are as follows:
| Date | Invitations issued | Lowest CRS score |
| April 12, 2023 | 3500 | 486 |
| April 26, 2023 | 3500 | 483 |
April’s numbers are unlikely to surpass those of March. The IRCC is already looking to implement targeted Express Entry draws within the first quarter of 2023 to address the shortages in specific occupations classified by their NOC codes. This could mean that a candidate’s occupation, language and education could play a major role in being issued an ITA rather than their CRS scores alone.
