Canada Express Entry Draw #237: Canada recently held its largest all-program and first Canada Express Entry draw of 2023. It came after a gap of nearly one and a half months. This is the first draw since the November 23 Express Entry draw.

With the help of this draw, IRCC invited a total of 5,500 candidates with a minimum required CRS score of 507. The invited candidates were from the following categories:

This 237th draw saw an increase of 750 more invites than the previous one, held on September 28, with 4,750 invitations.

Last year, Canada resumed Express Entry Draws for all-program categories. According to ministerial directives, 46,538 ITAs were given to Express Entry candidates during the 23 draws in 2022 between January 2023 and July 2023.

Before July 2022, all-program Express Entry draws were stopped for more than 18 months due to huge application backlogs created by the COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Only applicants from the CEC or PNP were invited to apply (ITAs) during this time. However, in September 2021, IRCC also suspended CEC draws. The total ITAs for all program draws that began in July and continued throughout the year were 35,750. The CRS cut-off for the last Express Entry draw was 491.

In the second half of 2022, IRCC announced bringing some modifications to Express Entry in 2023. The IRCC’s shift from NOC 2016 to NOC 2021 was the perfect example of a change in the Express Entry System. With the introduction of NOC 2021, IRCC transitioned from a skill classification system based on 0-D levels to one based on training, education, experience, and responsibilities (TEER). The new TEER system has amended NOC 2016’s competence levels 0-E and developed five TEERS in their place. Under NOC 2021, 16 additional occupations are now eligible to apply for Express Entry-managed economic immigration programs.

According to the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, Canada will also boost the number of individuals admitted through Express Entry programs. In 2023, IRCC is further planning to invite nearly 82,880 eligible immigrants through Express Entry. This figure is expected to rise to 109,020 in 2024 and 114,000 in 2025, accounting for roughly one-fifth of Canada’s overall permanent resident admissions targets.

These higher objectives highlight the significance Canada places on economic immigration in the context of a persistent labor deficit. Immigration provides for up to 90% of Canadian labor force growth and around 75% of population growth. It shows the level of dependency of the Canadian economy and government on skilled immigrants.