IRCC Publishes Annual Express Entry Report

The newly released Express Entry Year-End report for 2023 reveals that more than twice as many Invitations to Apply (ITAs) were issued in Express Entry draws in 2023 compared to 2022.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 110,266 ITAs across 42 Express Entry draws held between January 11 and December 21, 2023, marking a 136% increase from the 46,539 ITAs issued in 2022.

In total, 488,571 profiles were submitted, with 343,875 (67%) deemed eligible, while 144,696 (33%) were not.

Express Entry is a system that helps manage and speed up the processing of applications for people who want to immigrate to Canada through programs like the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). It uses a points system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to give each applicant a score out of 1200. The higher the score, the more likely an applicant is to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

In 2023, a new type of draw was introduced called category-based selection. These draws consider candidates from all Express Entry programs but focus on specific occupations or language skills.

Who were the candidates that received ITAs?

Programs

The report shows that most ITAs (40,052) were given to candidates in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Next came the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) with 26,445 ITAs, and the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) with 17,898 ITAs.

Only eight ITAs were given to candidates in the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). However, IRCC follows a processing hierarchy when issuing ITAs. If a candidate is eligible for both the CEC and the FSTP, they are invited under the CEC, which might explain the low number of ITAs for FSTP.

After the introduction of Category-Based Selection Rounds in June, IRCC issued 25,870 ITAs, making up 23% of all ITAs. By program, 12,073 went to CEC candidates, 13,790 to FSWP candidates, and 7 to FSTP candidates.

CRS Scores

Most CRS scores in the pool fell between 300 and 550, making up 93% of all candidates.

After category-based selection was introduced, the average CRS score in all-program draws increased to above 500.

Gender

The data reveals that most Express Entry applicants were men. Overall, 57% of ITAs were given to men, while 43% went to women. By program, more men received ITAs through the CEC (52%) and PNP (26%) than women. However, like in 2022, women were more likely to receive an ITA through the FSWP (33% compared to 22% for men).

Occupation

A candidate’s work experience plays a role in their eligibility for Express Entry, and some occupations are more in-demand or more likely to receive an ITA.

In 2023, many ITAs went to candidates in computer, tech, and finance jobs. However, 48% of all ITAs went to candidates in occupations not specifically listed in the report.

For the second year 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).

Out of the 15 occupations listed in the report, 10 are classified as TEER 1 under the National Occupation Classification (NOC) system, which typically requires a university degree.

Countries of Residence and Citizenship

Similar to 2022, the majority of candidates who received ITAs in 2023 listed Canada as their country of residence, with 76,791 ITAs. India remained in second place with 7,394 ITAs.

Notably, Cameroon moved into the third spot with 3,828 ITAs, narrowly surpassing Nigeria, which received 3,822 ITAs.

Lebanon dropped out of the top ten, while Pakistan, which wasn’t in the top 10 in 2022, received 1,173 ITAs this year.

It’s important to note that these numbers reflect the country of residence, not the country of citizenship. India is the leading source country for Express Entry ITA recipients based on citizenship, followed by Nigeria and China.

Education

As in previous years, the majority of ITAs were issued to candidates with post-secondary education. Of these, 46% had a post-secondary credential of three years or more, and 43% held a master’s degree or an entry-to-practice professional degree.

Language

Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) requirements differ between Express Entry programs. Generally, candidates who show strong language skills have higher CRS scores. In 2023, 78% of Express Entry candidates had a CLB score between 7 (24%) and 9 (31%).

Another 18% had the highest CLB score of 10, though this is a decrease from 21% in 2022.