More people have been drawn for Express Entry in April as immigration is ongoing all year round.
Regarding draw sizes and kinds, last month’s results were similar to those of March, suggesting possible trends for 2024. Continue reading to find out about the present status of the Express Entry applicant pool, the April drawings, and how these things may affect your prospects of being granted immigration.
The current state of the Express Entry pool
What draws occurred in April?
Four Express Entry drawings were held in April, the same as in March: two general draws and two category-based choices.
The CRS cut-offs for the general drawings were 549 and 524 on April 10th and 23rd, respectively. On April 11 and 24, individuals with expertise in STEM-related fields and fluency in French were invited to apply for category-based selections, which focus on candidates with particular job experience or language skills.
In general draws, overall Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) ratings are still higher than in prior years. There have been three to five drawings every month so far this year, with a roughly equal distribution of general and category-based draws overall.
| Draw Date | Round Type | Invitations Issued | CRS Score Cut-Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-04-24 | General | 1,280 | 549 |
| 11-04-24 | STEM occupations | 4,500 | 491 |
| 23-04-24 | General | 2,095 | 529 |
| 24-04-24 | French language proficiency | 1,400 | 410 |
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will issue 110,770 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residency (PR) through the Express Entry system this year, in accordance with the immigration levels plan. 35,970 of these ITAs had been granted as of April.
The Express Entry pool
There are 214,697 applicant profiles in the Express Entry pool as of April 23rd, 2024—a rise of 2753 profiles from March. All score brackets saw increases at a relatively equal pace, keeping distributions about at the same volume as the prior month.
Below is a full table with score distributions and the total number of participants in the pool.
These scores have also been visualized in a bar graph format to better understand the distribution. As we can see the most populous score range (with the most candidates) continues to be the 351-400 CRS boundary.
What percentile is your score in the pool?
Taking the upper bound of each score range we can calculate the percentile of that score relative to the overall pool. The percentile can help us better understand how scores compare to each other, and what percentage of the pool is below that score. While having a score with a higher percentile may not guarantee an ITA, it can still provide some indication as to how one’s immigration chances may be throughout the year.
How does the composition of the Express Entry candidate pool influence score cut-offs and draw sizes?
Predicting upcoming CRS score cut-offs and draw sizes can be very difficult (if not impossible) due to the multitude of considerations that IRCC takes before conducting each draw (such as category-based selections, which respond to demographic and labor market needs in Canada and put less emphasis on CRS scores).
Nevertheless, we can better grasp the patterns that might affect draw sizes and cut-off scores if we comprehend the distribution of these scores as well as the size of the pool as a whole (particularly when considering annual immigration levels). This is due to the fact that, in addition to perhaps taking the distribution of CRS scores into account when deciding on the next cut-off score, all draw sizes eventually need to work toward fulfilling the department’s goals as stated in the immigration levels plan.
Therefore, even if the data above cannot provide us with a perfect forecast for the future, it may still be helpful to understand the patterns within and behind the Express Entry pool when assessing an applicant’s likelihood of being selected for an ITA this year.
