December 2024: State of the Express Entry pool

By Asheesh Moosapeta, CIC News

*The “In-Canada Focus” category also may include Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) candidates. (Pexels Photo)

We can observe several patterns in recent Express Entry draws.

IRCC has already held the first and second Express Entry draws of December, inviting Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates and candidates with French language proficiency in a manner similar to the previous two months.

November and October saw Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issue 5,507, and 5,961 draws respectively, both across six Express Entry draws that emphasized PNP and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates, in addition to candidates eligible for category-based selection.

This article will break down the Express Entry draws that occurred in November and discuss the composition of the Express Entry pool at the start of December.

The current state of the Express Entry pool

What draws occurred in November?

November’s six Express Entry draws emphasized CEC, PNP, and category-based selection, with two selections for each category.

November also saw the first healthcare category-based draw since July. IRCC issued 3,000 ITAs to healthcare occupation candidates, making this the single largest draw of the month by far. Cumulatively, category-based selection draws also accounted for the bulk of issued ITAs. 69% of invitations were issued to candidates in healthcare and French language proficiency draws.

CEC and PNP draws throughout November issued a relatively small number of ITAs, with each delivering roughly 800 invitations total, across the month. As a result of smaller draw sizes, Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores remained higher for these draw categories than in previous months.

The following table presents a breakdown of each draw in November, including draw sizes and CRS cut-off scores:

The pattern of emphasizing PNP, CEC, and category-based selection draws is in line with IRCC’s newest Immigration Levels Plan, which allocates admissions to the Express Entry system to these candidates through the “In-Canada Focus” category* (for PNP and CEC candidates) and the “Federal Economic Priorities” category (for candidates eligible for category-based selections). IRCC has allocated the totality of its 2025 admissions targets through Express Entry to these two categories.

*The “In-Canada Focus” category also may include Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) candidates.

Based on IRCC’s Levels Plan, and a released IRCC memo from July 2024, the immigration department intends to hold category-based selection draws primarily focusing on candidates with

• Eligible work experience in healthcare occupations;
• Eligible work experience in trades occupations; and
• Strong French-language proficiency.

In addition, based on the same IRCC memo, PNP rounds are expected to precede CEC or category-based selection rounds, which has continued to be a consistent pattern since July of this year.

IRCC has issued between 5,000 and 6,000 ITAs through Express Entry for each of the past three months:

What is the current distribution of scores in the Express Entry pool?

As of December 1 (the most recent data available at the time of writing) the current composition of the Express Entry pool is as follows:

This data is also presented as a bar graph for better visualization:

How do scores in the Express Entry pool rank against each other?

The following table uses percentile scores to provide a clearer picture of how certain CRS scores rank against each other in the overall distribution of scores currently in the Express Entry pool.