IRCC to hold more French category based Express Entry Draws in 2024.

Highlights: French category-based draws are to be held more by IRCC in 2024

• Access to Information Request (ATIP) reports that IRCC will hold more French language proficiency draws in 2024.
• IRCC is planning to issue 78.5% ITAs to category-based Express Entry draws.
• Eligible candidates under the French proficiency category will receive 30% of ITAs. 
• STEM candidates are to make up 25% of ITAs, followed by healthcare professionals with 15% of ITAs.

 

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IRCC to focus on category-based Express Entry draws

According to a recent Access to Information Request (ATIP) report, IRCC plans to prioritize category-based Express Entry draws. The category of French language proficiency is going to dominate among all other category-based Express Entry draws to be held in 2024.

The ATIP reported that IRCC is willing to issue 78.5% of ITAs for selected candidates in category-based draws, and 21.5% of ITAs are to be reserved for general Express Entry draws. IRCC targets to issue 30% ITAs for eligible French language professionals. The next highest target category is for STEM candidates, followed by healthcare professionals.

 

The table below lists the categories and targeted percentage of ITAs to be issued by IRCC:

Round type	Category Target
French Proficiency	30%
Healthcare occupations	15%
STEM occupations	25%
Trade occupations	5%
Transport occupations	3%
Agriculture and agri-food occupations	0.50%

 

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Why is French Proficiency prioritized?

The 2021 Labour Market Information Council reports revealed numerous vacancies for bilingual skilled workers in Canada. The council also reported a higher employment rate for French language professionals.

 

Data from Statistics Canada further supported this report by showing that language proficiency is one of the main factors in evaluating an immigrant's overall success in the Canadian labor force. IRCC prioritizes French language proficiency to meet its target of 4.4% of all French-speaking newcomers living outside Quebec.

 

New schedule for category-based Express Entry draws

ATIP 2024 reported that IRCC will follow a new schedule for Express Entry draws in 2024. Draws are to be held in a manner that will "provide predictability to provinces and territories and clients with a consistent schedule," as stated by the IRCC. 

 

According to the Immigration Levels plan 2024-2026, Canada is inviting 1.5 million PRs by 2026. The table below details the number of candidates IRCC plans to welcome in candidate 2024 and 2025:

Year	No. of candidates
2024	110,770
2025	117,500

 

Effect on CRS scores

IRCC prioritizing French language proficiency will impact the minimum CRS scores for each draw. According to the ATIP, CRS scores were expected to drop by 10% after introducing category-based draws in 2023. This was aimed at helping the source country broaden the diversity of occupations and benefit the newcomers in Canada.

 

The recent Express Entry draws have had higher minimum CRS Scores for candidates to be considered eligible. The table below shows the minimum CRS scores for all French language category draws held in 2024:

French Language Proficiency Draws in 2024
Date	Minimum CRS scores	No. of ITAs
April 24, 2024	410	1400
March 26, 2024	388	1500
February 29, 2024	336	2500
February 01, 2024	365	7000

 

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