Express Entry Draw Issues 730 Permanent Residency Invitations

Last Updated On 31 January 2024, 4:45 PM EST (Toronto Time)

The third Express Entry draw of 2024 issued 730 invitations to apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residency today, January 31st.

IRCC held a general draw today, inviting Express Entry profiles with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 541 or above.

The CRS cutoff score dropped by only 2 points as compared to the last general draw on January 23.

The following is a summary of the Express Entry Draw today:

Number of invitations issued: 730
Rank required to be invited to apply: 730 or above
Date and time of round: January 31, 2024, at 15:18:02 UTC
CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 541
Tie-breaking rule: July 15, 2023, at 10:52:08 UTC

Tie-breaking: If more than one candidate receives the lowest score, the cut-off is based on the day and time that they submitted their Express Entry profiles.

The number of invitations has been continuously decreasing since the first Express Entry draw in 2024, keeping the cutoff score high.

Previously, on January 23, 2024, the IRCC issued 1,040 invitations to apply in a general round of invitations that included all profiles with a CRS score of 543 or higher.

Also on January 10, the first general Express Entry draw of 2024 sent out 1,510 invitations to apply with a CRS score cutoff of 546.

Latest CRS Score Distribution in the Pool

CRS score range	Number of candidates
601-1200	534
501-600	7,926
451-500	60,120
491-500	6,787
481-490	9,668
471-480	17,586
461-470	14,160
451-460	11,919
401-450	54,181
441-450	10,930
431-440	11,219
421-430	10,104
411-420	10,874
401-410	11,054
351-400	57,855
301-350	29,709
0-300	5,401
Total	215,726

CRS Cutoff Score Trends for 2024

Immigration Program	2024 Total Invitations	Lowest CRS Cutoff: 2024	Highest CRS Score 2024	2023 Total Invitations	Lowest CRS Cutoff: 2023	Highest CRS Score 2023
No Program Specified or General	3,280	541	546	76,700	481	561
Agriculture and Agri-food draw	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	1,000	354	386
Transport-targeted draw	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	1,670	435	435
Trades Targeted Draw	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	2,500	388	425
Targeted Draw for French Speakers	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	8,700	375	486
STEM Targeted Draw	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	6,400	481	486
Healthcare Targeted Draw	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	5,600	431	476
Provincial Nominee Program	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	4,396	691	791
Federal Skilled Worker	0	Yet to be announced	Yet to be announced	3,300	489	489

2023-2024 Comparison So Far

IRCC is yet to announce any Express Entry draw for targeted categories introduced in 2023.

To learn more about the categories that IRCC is currently focusing on for upcoming invitation rounds, click here.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry serves as an application management system for three major economic immigration programs: the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

Express Entry uses the Comprehensive Ranking System to evaluate candidates based on human capital factors and assign them a score.

Human capital considerations include work experience, language competence, education, age, and occupation.

Those with the highest CRS scores are more likely to be issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in the next Express Entry round.

Once a candidate has acquired an ITA, they may submit their application to the IRCC.

The government has a six-month service standard for processing Express Entry applications and issuing final judgments.

What occupations are being targeted in Express Entry draws?

With a link to the complete list of occupations, here are the five sectors that Express Entry is focusing on:

1. healthcare
2. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
3. trades, such as carpenters, plumbers and contractors
4. transport
5. agriculture and agri-food

Satinder Bains

Satinder brings expertise, knowledge, and experience related to internal work flows at IRCC. She worked at Canadian Consulate in Chandigarh before moving to Canada. Her articles on “Chinook – An internal IRCC tool used to bulk process temporary applications” was one of the notable work on our news website