IRCC releases annual Express Entry report 2024

More than double the number of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) were issued in Express Entry draws in 2023 compared to 2022 according to the newly released Express Entry Year-End report for 2023.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 110,266 ITAs over 42 Express Entry draws between January 11 and December 21, 2023. This is a 136% increase over 2022’s 46,539.

Overall, there were 488,571 profiles submitted. Of these 343,875 (67%) were eligible while 144,696 (33%) were not.

Express Entry is an application management system designed to facilitate expedited processing for economic immigration applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). It uses the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to score and rank candidates, assigning each candidate a score out of 1200. Those with high scores are the most likely to receive an ITA.

Further, 2023 saw the introduction of category-based selection draws. These draws consider candidates from all Express Entry programs but target them based on their occupation, or language ability.

Which candidates received ITAs?

Programs

The report notes that the majority of ITAs (40,052) were issued to candidates under the CEC program. This was followed by the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) (26,445 ITAs) and the FSWP (17,898 ITAs).

IRCC issued just eight ITAs to FSTP candidates. However, IRCC chooses the program under which to issue each ITA using a processing hierarchy. According to this hierarchy, a candidate eligible for the CEC and the FSTP would be invited under the CEC. This hierarchy may help to explain the low number of ITAs issued under the FSTP.

Following the introduction of Category-Based Selection Rounds in June, IRCC issued 25,870 ITAs, accounting for 23% of all ITAs. Again, by program, 12,073 were CEC candidates, 13,790 were FSWP candidates and 7 were FSTP candidates.

CRS scores

Most CRS scores in the pool ranged between 300-550, accounting for 93% of all candidates.

The average CRS score rose above 500 for all-program (generic) draws following the introduction of category-based selection.

Gender

The data shows that, overall, most Express Entry applicants were men. Specifically, 57% of ITAs issued went to men while the remaining 43% went to women. By program, more men received ITAs under the CEC (52%) and PNP (26%) than women. However, consistent with 2022 data, women were more likely to get an ITA through the FSWP (33% vs 22%)

Occupation

A candidate’s work experience factors into their eligibility for Express Entry. Some occupations are more in-demand or more likely to receive an ITA.

In 2023, A significant number of ITAs went to Express Entry candidates in computer, tech, and finance occupations. However, 48% of all ITAs went to candidates in “other” occupations not listed in the report.

For the second time in a row, software engineers and designers were the most likely to receive an ITA (7,259) followed by software developers and programmers (5,183).

Among the 15 occupations listed in the report, 10 are classified as TEER 1 under the National Occupation Classification (NOC) system. These occupations typically require a university degree.

Countries of residence and citizenship

As seen in 2022, most candidates who received ITAs in 2023 listed Canada as their country of residence (76,791). India once again fell into the second spot (7,394).

Of interest, Cameroon moved into the third highest number of ITAs (3,828) by just six ITAs more than Nigeria (3,822).

Lebanon is no longer in the top ten, while Pakistan received 1,173 ITAs despite not appearing in the top 10 countries in 2022.

Of note, these numbers measure country of residence, not country of citizenship. India is the biggest source country of Express Entry ITA recipients by citizenship, followed by Nigeria and China.

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