Express Entry Year-End Report 2018

Express Entry Year-End Report 2018 (PDF, 1.12 MB)

Overview of Express Entry

Launched in January 2015, Express Entry is Canada’s flagship application management system for the following economic immigration categories: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class, and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program. As described below, Express Entry provides the Government of Canada with the means to manage the intake of applications for permanent residence under these specific economic immigration categories, while also facilitating the selection of individuals who are most likely to succeed in Canada.

As with previous Express Entry year-end reports, this Report provides an overview of Express Entry, as well as data from 2018 across all stages of the Express Entry continuum, including profile submissions, invitations to apply, applications, processing times, and admissions. A section with gender-disaggregated data is also included.

How Express Entry works

The Express Entry system manages applications for permanent residence through a two-step process. First, individuals express their interest in immigrating to Canada by completing an online profile, which is then screened electronically to determine if the individual is eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, or the Canadian Experience Class.^{Footnote 1} Individuals who meet the eligibility criteria for at least one of these programs are placed in the Express Entry pool and are assigned a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on the information in their profile compared to a transparent scoring criteria, including factors such as education, language ability, and work experience. Candidates in the pool are ranked against one another based on their CRS score.

Second, every few weeks, a Ministerial Instruction is published specifying the number of invitations to apply (ITA) for permanent residence that will be sent to candidates in the Express Entry pool on a specific date.^{Footnote 2} The Ministerial Instruction may also specify that the ITA round will target one or more of the Express Entry economic immigration categories. For a given round, invitations are issued to candidates, in descending CRS score rank order, until the maximum number of invitations specified in the associated Ministerial Instruction is met.^{Footnote 3} The profiles of candidates who do not receive an ITA, or decline an ITA, remain in the pool for up to 12 months. Candidates who receive an ITA but do not react are withdrawn from the pool.

Candidates that receive an ITA have 60 days to submit an online application for permanent residence to IRCC.^{Footnote 4} Upon receipt, an immigration officer assesses the application to verify the applicant’s CRS score and program eligibility, and to ensure the principal applicant and any accompanying family members are not inadmissible. If the immigration officer is satisfied that all conditions have been met and that the principal applicant and any accompanying family members are not inadmissible, they are approved for a permanent resident visa. Applicants and their accompanying family members become permanent residents when they are admitted to Canada.

The processing standard for applications sourced via Express Entry is six months for 80% of cases. Processing time is measured beginning from the day a complete application is received until a final decision is made by an immigration officer.

The CRS is the backbone of the Express Entry application management system. A CRS score comprises two components—core points and additional points. A candidate without an accompanying spouse can receive a maximum of 600 points under the core component, depending on the person’s human capital characteristics (i.e. age, education, official language proficiency, and work experience).^{Footnote 5} These factors predict greater potential for success in the Canadian labour market.

Under the additional points component, a candidate can receive points for having a provincial/territorial nomination (600 points), arranged employment (50 or 200 points), Canadian post-secondary education credentials (15 or 30 points), French language proficiency (15 or 30 points), or a sibling in Canada (15 points). With the exception of points awarded for a provincial/territorial nomination, which is high enough to guarantee a candidate an ITA in the following round, additional points increase the probability that a given candidate will receive an ITA without guaranteeing that outcome.

Candidates in the Express Entry pool must update their profile to reflect any change in circumstances and this action can trigger a recalculation of the CRS score. Some updates are automatically triggered when milestones, such as a birthday or expiry of language test results, are reached. Accordingly, candidates can take steps to increase their CRS score, thereby increasing the probability they will be selected to receive an ITA. For example, a candidate could increase their proficiency in an official language, secure arranged employment, or provide an educational credential assessment for education acquired abroad.

The maximum CRS score a candidate can achieve is capped at 1,200 points—600 points under the core component and 600 points under the additional points component. All information provided at the profile stage for the purpose of generating a CRS score is self-reported and must be supported with appropriate documentation from the candidate at the application stage or the application could be refused.

Profiles submitted to the Express Entry pool

In 2018, nearly 280,000 Express Entry profiles were submitted through the system, which represents an increase of more than 10% from 2017 (Table 1).^{Footnote 6} Among profiles submitted in 2018, 70% were eligible for at least one of the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, or the Canadian Experience Class, compared to 65% of submitted profiles that were eligible in 2017. The proportion of submitted profiles eligible for at least one of the three streams has increased steadily since Express Entry was first introduced in 2015.

Table 1: Profiles submitted to Express Entry, 2017 and 2018

Among individuals who submitted profiles that were eligible in 2018, a majority (71%) did not claim any type of additional points at the time of submission (Table 2). Siblings in Canada (12%) and Education in Canada (11%) were the most frequent type of additional point type claimed in 2018. The sharp increase in proportion of eligible profiles with additional points for having a sibling in Canada (from 7% in 2017 to 12% in 2018) and for being proficient in French^{Footnote 7} (from 2% in 2017 to 4% in 2018) is at least partly a reflection of introducing these point types in June 2017.

Table 2: Eligible profiles submitted by additional point type, 2017 and 2018 (not mutually exclusive)

• The sum of profiles that claimed an additional point type is greater than the total number of eligible profiles submitted because a candidate may receive additional points for one or more reasons.
• Additional points for being a Provincial Nominee are not included as nominations are confirmed after a candidate successfully enters the pool.

Composition of the Express Entry pool

The distributions of CRS scores for candidate profiles in the pool on January 3, 2018, and on January 3, 2019, are presented in Table 3. On January 3, 2019, candidate CRS scores were concentrated in the 350 to 449 range. It’s important to note that the Express Entry pool is dynamic and the distribution of CRS scores changes every time an eligible profile is submitted, updated, or expires.

Table 3: CRS score distribution in the Express Entry pool

As displayed in Table 4, the majority of profiles in the pool as of January 3, 2019, had not claimed additional points. Most others had claimed only one type of additional points, most often for “siblings in Canada” or “education in Canada.” Less than 2% of profiles in the pool on this date claimed more than one additional point type. The CRS scores of profiles with only points for “arranged employment” were concentrated in a lower range (1-300) compared to the CRS scores of profiles with a other types of additional points.

Table 4: Total profiles in the pool as of January 3, 2019, by CRS score and additional point type (mutually exclusive)

Results of Express Entry 2018 Invitation to Apply rounds

As displayed in Table 5, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held 27 ITA rounds and issued 89,800 invitations in 2018. The increase in invitations issued in 2018 compared to 2017, when 86,022 invitations were issued, is in line with the rise in the Federal High Skilled admission target set out in the 2018 Immigration Levels Plan^{Footnote 8}.

In 2018, more than half of the total invitations issued were for the Federal Skilled Workers Program (53%), and about one third under the Canadian Experience Class (34%).

On May 30, 2018, only candidates from the Provincial Nominee Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program were invited. On September 24, 2018, only candidates from the Federal Skilled Trades Program were invited. These program‑specific ITA rounds were conducted in line with the associated Ministerial Instruction. Excluding these two ITA rounds, the CRS cut-off score ranged from 439 to 456 in 2018.

Table 5: Invitations issued to candidates in 2018 by economic immigration program

Socio-demographic characteristics of invited candidates

Invitations issued by socio-demographic characteristics remained relatively stable from 2017 (Table 6). Across both years, more than half of invitations were issued to candidates between the age of 20 and 29, which is the age category associated with the highest number of points under the CRS. In both years, a large majority of invitations were issued to candidates that had a post-secondary credential of three years or longer, a Master’s degree or entry-to-practice professional degree. There was a small increase in the proportion of invitations issued to candidates with less than one year of Canadian work experience.

Table 6: Invitations issued by socio-demographic factors, 2017 and 2018

The five most common countries of residence among invitations issued remained the same from 2017 (Table 7) to 2018 (Table 8). The proportion of invitations issued to candidates who indicated Canada as the country of residence declined by 5% since 2017, but continues to represent nearly half of all invitations issued.

Table 7: Invitations issued by most common countries of residence, 2017

Table 8: Invitations issued by most common countries of residence, 2018

As with country of residence, the five most common countries of citizenship among invitations issued did not change from 2017 (Table 9) to 2018 (Table 10). India remained the most common country of citizenship by a significant margin.

Table 9: Invitations issued by most common countries of citizenship, 2017

Table 10: Invitations issued by most common countries of citizenship, 2018

The most prevalent occupations among invitations issued also remained relatively consistent from 2017 (Table 11) to 2018 (Table 12). Occupations in information technology, and business and financial services continued to dominate, with about one third of invitations issued indicating an occupation in these areas.

Table 11: Most common occupations among invitations issued, 2017

Table 12: Most common occupations among invitations issued, 2018

Additional points claimed by candidates who received an ITA

Although nearly half of invitations issued were based on human capital attributes alone, additional points influenced the composition of invitations issued in 2018 (Table 13). Among eligible profiles,^{Footnote 10} 5% of CRS scores included education in Canada points; among invitations issued, 25% of CRS scores included this additional point type, which was the most commonly claimed. Five percent of eligible profiles were awarded Arranged Employment points, compared to 10% of invitations issued. Regarding additional points for proficiency in French, 4% of eligible profiles were awarded the points, compared to 5% of invitations issued. Eligible profiles and invitations issued were equally likely to claim points for having a sibling in Canada (12%). Twelve percent of invitations were for the Provincial Nominee Program.

Table 13: Number of invitations issued claiming additional points by type, 2018 (not mutually exclusive)*

• The sum of invitations issued with each additional point type is greater than the total number of invitations issued because a candidate may receive additional points for one or more reasons.

Among those who did receive additional points, most invitations issued to candidates claiming only one type of additional points (Table 14). In addition, the 745 invitations issued to candidates who had a CRS score below 400—which would include only those individuals eligible for the Federal Skilled Trades Program—were more likely to have claimed one or more additional point types (88%) compared to all others (53%). Arranged employment was the most common additional point type claimed.

Table 14: Invitations issued by CRS score and additional point type (mutually exclusive), 2018

Additional points: Arranged employment

Table 15 and Table 16 show the most common occupations among invitations issued to candidates who claimed arranged employment points and were invited to apply in 2017 and 2018, respectively. In both years, no single occupation is dominant and there is a mix of occupations with respect to the level of education required.

Table 15: Most common occupations among arranged employment points holders upon invitation, 2017

Table 16: Most common occupations among arranged employment points holders upon invitation, 2018

Additional points: Canadian education points

Table 17 displays the number of invitations issued to candidates who claimed additional points for education in Canada according to the level of study. The number of invitations issued to candidates who claimed points for having completed a one or two-year post-secondary credential (11,248) was roughly the same as the number that received points for having a higher level of Canadian education (11,649).

Table 17: Invitations issued by education in Canada points and level of study, 2018

Additional points: French-language proficiency

Table 18 displays the number of invitations issued to candidates who received an invitation to apply for permanent residence and who received additional points for being a French Speaker. Most candidates did not present evidence to indicate that they spoke French at or above Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 and were therefore unable to claim points in this area. Among those who did claim points in this area, there were roughly twice as many invitations issued to candidates proficient in French who also spoke English at a CLB 5 level or above (3,082) than those who also spoke English at a CLB 4 level or below (1,541).

Table 18: Invitations issued by French Speaker points, 2018^{Footnote 12}

Applications for permanent residence through Express Entry

A grand total of 122,247 applications for permanent residence were sourced through Express Entry in 2018 (Table 19). This number includes principal applicants and their accompanying family members.

Table 19: Applications for permanent residence through Express Entry, 2018

As displayed in Table 20, more than half of the candidates who submitted an application for permanent residence through Express Entry in 2018 indicated Ontario as the province of destination, while nearly one fifth indicated British Columbia.

Table 20: Applications received for permanent residence through Express Entry by province of destination, 2018

Express Entry processing times

In 2018, IRCC met the Express Entry processing standard of finalizing 80% of all applications sourced via Express Entry within six months. The processing time was measured from the day a complete application is received until the time a final decision is made by an immigration officer. Table 21 displays the average time (months) that IRCC took to process applications under each Program.

Table 21: Processing Times for Express Entry applications finalized by year and immigration category, in months

• Processing times refer to the time in which 80% of applications were finalized by IRCC.

Admissions

In 2018, 92,231 applicants and their families were admitted into Canada as permanent residents through Express Entry (Table 23). By comparison, 65,423 applicants and their families were admitted in 2017 (Table 22). This increase was the result of a large number of Federal High Skilled clients who were processed in 2017 but admitted in 2018, as well as additional Provincial Nominee clients processed and admitted in 2018 In line with the intentions cited among applicants, more than half of persons admitted in 2018 were destined for Ontario and about one fifth were destined for British Columbia.

Table 22: Admissions (total persons) through Express Entry, 2017

Table 23: Admissions (total persons) through Express Entry, 2018

The most common countries of citizenship among total people admitted to Canada (Table 24 and Table 25) generally mirrors those of invited candidates (as displayed in Table 9 and Table 10). Nearly half of all people admitted in 2018 had Indian citizenship (Table 25).

Table 24: Admissions (total persons) by most common 10 countries of citizenship, 2017

• Ranking based on the combined total for 2017 and 2018.

Table 25: Admissions (total persons) by most common 10 countries of citizenship, 2018

• Ranking based on the combined total for 2017 and 2018.

Gender analysis

This section provides 2018 Express Entry data, disaggregated by gender. As for the previous section, the data tables are ordered by stages along the Express Entry continuum, from profile submission, to invitation, application, and admission.

The Express Entry profile builder requests a candidate’s personal details, such as gender and date of birth, as shown on the candidate's passport, travel document, or national identity document. When candidates create their MyCIC account, they indicate their gender from among three different response options: male, female, and unspecified. Unspecified gender is only reported for initial Express Entry stages from profile submission to invitation. There is no single interpretation of unspecified gender as it may be selected for a variety of reasons but could include a non-binary gender.

Profiles Submitted to the Express Entry Pool

As displayed in Table 26 to Table 29, in 2018, more profiles were submitted by men (169,114) than women (109,410). Women submitted a slightly higher proportion of total profiles in 2018 (39%) compared to 2017 (36%). A higher proportion of profiles submitted by women were eligible for at least one program (74%) compared to those submitted by men (68%) but it is unclear if this is due to a single person submitting more than one profile.

Table 26: Profiles submitted to the Express Entry for men by year

Table 27: Profiles submitted to the Express Entry for women by year

Table 28: Profiles submitted to the Express Entry for people of unspecified gender by year

Table 29: Profiles submitted to the Express Entry by year, total for all gender labels

Composition of Express Entry pool

As of January 3, 2019, there were 94,977 candidate profiles in the Express Entry pool (Table 27). Of these, 41% (39,273) were submitted by women, 59% (55,690) were submitted by men while <1% of profiles were submitted with an unspecified gender. The highest concentration of CRS scores was between 350 and 449 for both men and women.

Table 30: CRS score distribution of profiles in the Express Entry pool on January 3, 2019, by gender

Tables 31 to Table 34 display the number of profiles submitted by gender who were in the Express Entry pool, in 2018, with and without additional points, by CRS score. Men and women claimed no additional points for their profiles 71% of the time. Education in Canada and siblings in Canada were the most common additional point type claimed by both men and women.

Table 31: Eligible profiles submitted by additional point type for women, 2018 (not mutually exclusive)

• The sum of profiles that claimed an additional point type is greater than the total number of eligible profiles submitted because a candidate may receive additional points for one or more reasons. Additional points for being a Provincial Nominee are not included as nominations are confirmed after a candidate successfully enters the pool.

Table 32: Eligible profile submitted by additional point type for men, 2018 (not mutually exclusive)

• The sum of profiles that claimed an additional point type is greater than the total number of eligible profiles submitted because a candidate may receive additional points for one or more reasons. Additional points for being a Provincial Nominee are not included as nominations are confirmed after a candidate successfully enters the pool.

Table 33: Eligible profile submitted by additional point type for people of unspecified gender, 2018 (not mutually exclusive)

• The sum of profiles that claimed an additional point type is greater than the total number of eligible profiles submitted because a candidate may receive additional points for one or more reasons. Additional points for being a Provincial Nominee are not included as nominations are confirmed after a candidate successfully enters the pool.

Table 34: Eligible profile submitted by additional point type, total of all gender labels, 2018 (not mutually exclusive)

• The sum of profiles that claimed an additional point type is greater than the total number of eligible profiles submitted because a candidate may receive additional points for one or more reasons. Additional points for being a Provincial Nominee are not included as nominations are confirmed after a candidate successfully enters the pool.

Results of Express Entry Invitation Rounds

Tables 35 to Table 38 show the distribution of invitations issued by gender in each economic program under Express Entry in 2018. Overall, men received more than half of invitations issued (58%). The invitation by program pattern was similar for men and women—both genders received invitations under Federal Skilled Workers Program most often and under Federal Skilled Trades Program least often. Men received more invitations than Women in every economic program; this difference was especially pronounced under the Federal Skilled Trade Program and least pronounced under the Federal Skilled Workers Program. Invitations issued to candidates with an unspecified gender were mostly under the Federal Skilled Workers Program. A candidate may receive more than one invitation in a year but the vast majority only receive one.

Table 35: Invitations issued in 2018, by economic immigration program, women

Table 36: Invitations issued in 2018, by economic immigration program, men

Table 37: Invitations issued in 2018, by economic immigration program, unspecified gender

Table 38: Invitations issued in 2018, by economic immigration program, total for all gender labels

In 2018, among invitations issued, a higher proportion of men (56%) than women (44%) did not claim an additional points-type (Table 39 and Table 40). Among invitations issued to men and women who claimed additional points, the most common type of points claimed was for having Education in Canada. The largest proportional gender difference between men and women in terms of additional point types claimed was for Arranged Employment (claimed by 72% of men and 28% of women) and for being a Provincial Nominee (claimed by 64% of men and 36% of women).

Table 39: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by additional point type, women (mutually exclusive)

Table 40: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by additional point type, men (mutually exclusive)

Table 41: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by additional point type, unspecified gender (mutually exclusive)

Table 42: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by additional point type, total of all gender labels (mutually exclusive)

Table 43 displays the number of invitations issued to women with and without additional points, by CRS score. Table 44 and Table 45 display the same information for men and unspecified respectively.

Table 43: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by CRS score and additional point type, women (mutually exclusive)

Table 44: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by CRS score and additional point type combination, men (mutually exclusive)

Table 45: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates with and without additional points, by CRS score and additional point type, unspecified (mutually exclusive)

Tables 46 to Table 48 display the country of residence for invitations issued in 2018 for women, men, and people of unspecified gender respectively. The pattern of most common country of residence was similar for men and women, although a higher proportion of men resided in Canada and the United States, whereas a slightly higher proportion of women resided in India and Nigeria.

Table 46: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates by their most common country of residence, women

Table 47: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates by their most common country of residence, men

Table 48: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates by their most common country of residence, unspecified gender

Tables 49 to51 display the country of citizenship for invitations issued for women,men and people of unspecified gender respectively, in 2018. The pattern of most common country of citizenship was similar for men and women, although a higher proportion and absolute number of men than women had Indian citizenship, and a slightly higher proportion and absolute number of women than men had Chinese and Nigerian citizenship.

Table 49: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates by their most common country of citizenship, women

Table 50: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates by their most common country of citizenship, men

Table 51: Invitations issued in 2018 to candidates by their most common country of citizenship, unspecified gender

Table 52 to Table 54 display the number of invitations issued according to their occupation, to women, men and unspecified, respectively. The most common occupation among women invited to apply for permanent residence was administrative assistant; among men, software engineers and designers was most common whereas administrative officer was the most common occupation claimed for unspecified individuals. Although the different prevalence of occupations among invited men and women is interesting, it is important to note that the occupations listed in these tables capture the occupations of only a minority of invited women (32%) and men (36%).

Table 52: Invitations issued in 2018 by occupation, women

Table 53: Invitations issued in 2018 by occupation, men

Table 54: Invitations issued in 2018 by occupation, unspecified

Applications for Permanent Residence through Express Entry

Table 55 and Table 56 display the number of people represented in applications received for permanent residence (including principal applicants and any accompanying family members), by economic program, by annual quarter, and by the applicant’s gender.

Table 55: Permanent residence applications received through Express Entry for women (total persons) by economic immigration program

Table 56: Permanent residence applications received through Express Entry for men (total persons) by economic immigration program

Admissions

In line with the gender breakdown for invitations to apply, men represented 60% of all principal applicant admissions in 2018 (Table 61), compared to 64% in 2017 (Table 58). The largest gender difference in principal applicant admissions in 2017 and in 2018 was under the Federal Skilled Trades Program; the smallest gender difference was under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Table 57: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by economic immigration program in 2017, women

Table 58: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by economic immigration program in 2017, men

Table 59: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by economic immigration program in 2017, total for men and women

Table 60: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by economic immigration program for women, 2018

Table 61: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by economic immigration program for men, 2018

Table 62: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by economic immigration program, total for men and women, 2018

As displayed in Table 63, among the principal applicants admitted to Canada in 2018, men and women were most likely to be destined for Ontario and least likely to be destined for Yukon. The gender difference was largest among principal applicants who planned to live in Newfoundland and Labrador (70% men; 30% women) although a very small proportion of principal applicants were destined for the province (less than 1%).

Table 63: Admissions of principal applicants under Express Entry by province and gender, 2018

As displayed in Table 64, Indian citizenship was most common among both men and women admitted to Canada in 2018 as principal applicants, and a considerably larger proportion of all Indian principal applicants were men (66%). The gender difference among principal applicants admitted to Canada in 2018 was largest among those who held citizenship from Pakistan (71% men) and smallest among those who held citizenship from Nigeria (50% men). For each country of citizenship listed, men represented a greater proportion of principal applicant admissions compared to women, with the exception of Jamaica (67% women), the Philippines (61% women), China (55% women), and Korea (51% women).

Table 64: Principal applicant admissions by most common country of citizenship and gender, 2018

Conclusion

As demonstrated through this report, Express Entry continues to provide a pathway to permanent residence for a range of highly skilled candidates, in a timely manner. IRCC will continue to monitor Express Entry results, at the same time as it maintains its focus on improving and innovating processes and policies, with the aim of ensuring that Canada continues to benefit from immigrants with the diverse skills and experience needed to grow our economy.