Express Entry continues weekly draws in a possible new normal.

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are continuing to conduct Express Entry draws, inviting 800 candidates with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 435 in a category-based draw today targeting those with French-language proficiency.

Today’s draw marks IRCC’s second in as many days, following the first Express Entry selection round of August yesterday, as IRCC continues both program-specific and category-based selection draws.

During the week of July 10-14, IRCC issued 4,600 total Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued in two Express Entry draw rounds: an all-program draw (with a minimum CRS of 505), and a targeted French language proficiency draw (with a minimum CRS of 439). Recent weeks have also seen category-based draws for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and healthcare professionals.

Other targeted categories

As IRCC continues to pursue targeted draws, there are still three other categories that the department has not yet used to bring more qualified professionals to Canada. These are:

1. Trade occupations (like welders, carpenters, plumbers, etc.);
2. Transport occupations (like truck drivers, air pilots, railway traffic controllers, deck officers, etc.); and
3. Agriculture and agri-food occupations (like butchers, contractors, and farm supervisors).

Notably both targeted and program-based Express Entry draws are expected to continue at the same time, with recent trends suggesting that they will happen separately, on the same day, or in consecutive days.