Canada invites applicants for PNP in first Express Entry lottery of 2025

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) opens the year 2025 with the issuance of 471 invitations (ITAs) to permanent residence candidates who obtained a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 793. This is the first Express Entry draw of January and is aligned with the Provincial Nomination Program (PNP). 

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In this Immiland blog, you will learn a summary of the latest 2024 Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Program draws for ITA issuance, last year's trend and the pattern to expect this 2025 in Canada. Let's begin.

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Summary of the latest Express Entry and PNP 2024 drawings

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada closed the last draws from November to December 2024 with over 6500 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence in different rounds of Express Entry; some were aligned with the Provincial Nominee Program and others were for the Canadian Experience Class, the categories: French proficiency and health occupations.

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Express Entry

The last draw for 2024 was on December 16. Candidates who received the Invitation to Apply obtained a minimum score of 727 in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Previously, on December 2, IRCC had launched a PNP draw, marking a trend towards the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) with two such rounds during the month and a single round for francophones on December 3. The latter category was considered for the issuance of 800 invitations to French-speaking candidates who scored at least 466 CRS points. 

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November 2024 was more diverse in terms of the types of rounds, as IRCC looked at the categories of health occupations, trade occupations, the Candian Experience Class and the Provincial Nominations Program. The highest minimum CSR score for the month was 816 for PNP and the lowest was 433 for trade occupations.  

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Provincial Nomination Program (PNP)

British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island were the provinces that held the most recent 2024 draws to select eligible candidates to meet the region's labor and demographic needs. 

British Columbia

On December 17, 10 and 3, British Columbia held draws for candidates in different sectors. The one on the 17th was through the Base and Regional Entrepreneur streams. For this, at least 11 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) were issued, with different cut-off scores for each stream. On December 10 was a general draw for skilled workers with a minimum score of 148, EEBC-option skilled workers with a minimum score of 148, entry level and semi-skilled with a minimum score of 121. On December 3, CB issued a total of 472 Invitations to Apply (ITAs). The latter were distributed in the EEBC-eligible skilled worker stream. 

• Para cuidado de niños, el puntaje mínimo fue de 102 y se emitieron <5 ITA. 
• Para el sector de la construcción, el puntaje mínimo fue de 108 y se emitieron <5 ITA.
• For health care, the minimum score was 121 and 6 ITAs were issued.
• Para el sector de la tecnología, el puntaje mínimo fue el mayor con 141. El número de invitaciones emitidas fue de <5. Ver página oficial del gobierno de British Columbia.

Alberta

The province of Alberta stood out in the last two months of the year with a wide variety of invitations under different pathways. Some of the most important by score or number of ITAs sent were: the Alberta Opportunity Stream with 687 ITAs and a cut-off score of 61. The Dedicated Health Care Pathway through the federal Express Entry system with 52 invitations and a minimum score of 49 and the Tourism and Hospitality Stream with 260 invitations and a minimum score of 65.

Manitoba

On December 18, the province of Manitoba was also active with the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) draws, which occurred under these two streams: the first draw under the International Education stream type with 297 letters of advice to apply. The second draw, under the Overseas Skilled Worker stream, with 102 ITAs and a minimum score of 630.

Prince Edward Island

On December 16, the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP) held draws under the following two routes: Entrepreneur Work Permit with 32 invitations and Work Stream and Express Entry with only one candidate invited and a minimum score of 125.

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Express Entry trend for the year 2025

Draw 331 on January 7, 2025 is the first draw this year and IRCC is expected to emphasize Express Entry in three main rounds of selections which are the Provincial Nominee Program, the Canadian Experience Class and the Francophone category. 

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In conclusion, by 2025, Express Entry will play a prominent role in Canadian immigration with a higher share of total admissions of high-skilled workers, thus fulfilling the federal planning foreseen in the "Focus on Canada" and the "Federal Economic Priorities" which will set the tone for the fastest immigration system for permanent residency in Canada with its characteristic competitiveness through points in the Comprehensive Classification System (CSR).

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I hope this topic will help you understand what is the trend of the new year to settle in Canada and you can focus on preparing your profile to the level of demand that the country is looking for. If you want to improve your score to successfully compete in the Express Entry system, you can request an immigration appointment with a CICC regulated consultant from Immiland.

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Visit our website: https://www.immilandcanada.com/ and learn about the complete services we offer for the immigrant in Canada.

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Thanks for reading, see you in the next blog!

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With love,

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Immiland Law