After a busy August and July, September saw Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) slow down Express Entry draws.
In September, the immigration department held three Express Entry draws, continuing to prioritize domestic and francophone candidates to be invited to apply for permanent residence (PR).
Let’s look at Express Entry draws over the last month, and the composition of the federal Express Entry candidate pool at the start of October.
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The current state of the Express Entry pool
What draws occurred in September?
September saw three Express Entry draws, in which IRCC issued nearly 6,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs):
| Draw Number | Date | Round Type | ITAs Issued | Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 313 | September 9th, 2024 | Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) | 911 | 732 |
| 314 | September 13th, 2024 | French language proficiency | 1,000 | 446 |
| 315 | September 19th, 2024 | Canadian Experience Class (CEC) | 4,000 | 509 |
We can observe several trends in IRCC’s draw types. The last three months of draws (September, August, and July) have all included draws for PNP, CEC, and French-language proficiency candidates—with both August and July featuring multiple PNP and CEC draws.
These draws align with statements made by Immigration Minister Marc Miller, regarding the prioritization of “domestic” immigration candidates (those already in the country), and Canada’s continued commitment to supporting Francophone immigration outside of Quebec.
Lastly, IRCC issued fewer ITAs in September:
| Month | ITAs issued |
|---|---|
| July | 25,125 |
| Aug | 10,384 |
| Sep | 5,911 |
What is the current distribution of scores in the pool?
As of September 19th (the date of the most recent Express Entry draw at the time of writing), the breakdown of scores within the Express Entry pool is as follows:
| CRS score range | Number of candidates |
|---|---|
| 0-300 | 5,457 |
| 301-350 | 23,613 |
| 351-400 | 51,137 |
| 401-410 | 10,387 |
| 411-420 | 10,598 |
| 421-430 | 10,102 |
| 431-440 | 11,528 |
| 441-450 | 10,655 |
| 451-460 | 11,035 |
| 461-470 | 12,690 |
| 471-480 | 14,582 |
| 481-490 | 12,110 |
| 491-500 | 11,352 |
| 501-600 | 11,752 |
| 601-1200 | 764 |
How do scores in the pool rank in the overall distribution of candidates?
The following table utilizes percentile scores to give a better idea of how certain CRS-scores rank in the overall distribution of CRS-scores within the Express Entry candidate pool.
We’ve taken the top boundary of each CRS-score range and calculated a percentile score, based on the number of candidates at or below that score, in relation to the total number of candidates in the pool.
Because IRCC’s data only provides ranges, we were only able to calculate the percentile for the top CRS score of each range.
Here are the ranges between the percentiles between the tops of each range reported on by IRCC, along with the percentage candidates who score in each percentile range:
| CRS score range | Percentile ranking range (%) | Percentage of the overall pool (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 0-300 | 0-2.63 | 2.63 |
| 300-350 | 2.63-13.99 | 11.37 |
| 350-400 | 13.99-38.61 | 24.61 |
| 400-410 | 38.61-43.60 | 5.00 |
| 410-420 | 43.60-48.71 | 5.10 |
| 420-430 | 48.71-53.57 | 4.86 |
| 430-440 | 53.57-59.12 | 5.55 |
| 440-450 | 59.12-64.25 | 5.13 |
| 450-460 | 64.25-69.56 | 5.31 |
| 460-470 | 69.56-75.66 | 6.11 |
| 470-480 | 75.66-82.68 | 7.02 |
| 480-490 | 82.68-88.51 | 5.83 |
| 490-500 | 88.51-93.98 | 5.46 |
| 500-600 | 93.98-99.63 | 5.66 |
| 600-1200 | 99.63-100 | 0.37 |
