Express Entry Year-End Report 2023

Contents

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acronym Glossary
• Overview of Express Entry
• How Express Entry Works
• Enhancements to Express Entry in 2023
• Who submitted an Express Entry profile?
• Who got into the Express Entry pool?
• Who was invited to apply for permanent residence through Express Entry?
• Who was eligible for category-based selection categories among the eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry?
• Who in the pool qualified for category-based selection in Express Entry?
• Who was invited to apply for permanent residence through category-based selection in Express Entry?
• Who applied for permanent residence through Express Entry?
• How long did it take to process Express Entry applications?
• Who was admitted through Express Entry and where is their intended destination?
• What were the economic outcomes of applicants?
• Conclusion

List of Figures

• Figure 1: How Express Entry works
• Figure 2: How category-based selection works in Express Entry
• Figure 3: Profile submissions to Express Entry, 2021-2023
• Figure 4: Median employment earnings (in 2021$) for Federal High Skilled by admission cohort and Canadians, 2017-2021
• Figure 5: Median employment earnings (in 2021$) for Provincial Nominees admitted under EE by admission cohort and Canadians, 2017-2021

List of Tables

• Table 1: Profile submitted to Express Entry, by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 1a: Number of ineligible and eligible profiles submitted, 2021-2023
• Table 2: Comprehensive Ranking System score distribution of total eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry, at time of submission, 2021-2023
• Table 3: Eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry by additional point type, 2021-2023
• Table 4: Eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry with no additional points by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 5: Eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry with additional points for Arranged Employment by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 6: Eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry with additional points for Education in Canada by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 7: Eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry with additional points for French-language proficiency by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 8: Eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry with additional points for Sibling in Canada by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 9: Comprehensive Ranking System Score Distribution of Candidates in the pool, as of December 1^st of 2021 to2023
• Table 10: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by economic immigration program by ITA date, 2023
• Table 10a: Invitations to apply issued in CBS rounds by program to date, 2023
• Table 11: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by economic immigration program – men, 2021-2023
• Table 12: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by economic immigration program – women, 2021-2023
• Table 13: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by age, 2021-2023
• Table 14: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by highest level of education, 2021-2023
• Table 15: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by first official language proficiency level, 2021-2023
• Table 16: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by amount of Canadian work experience, 2021-2023
• Table 17: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by amount of foreign work experience, 2021-2023
• Table 18: Invitations to apply issued to candidates assigned additional points (a) and invitations to apply issued to candidates that met relevant criteria of additional points (b) -not mutually exclusive, 2021-2023
• Table 19: Invitations to apply issued to candidates that met the criteria for Arranged Employment points by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 20: Invitations to apply issued to candidates that met the criteria for Education in Canada points by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 21: Invitations to apply issued to candidates that met the criteria for French-language proficiency points by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 22: Invitations to apply issued to candidates that met the criteria for Siblings in Canada points by gender, 2021-2023
• Table 23: Most common primary occupations, upon invitation to apply – total, 2021-2023
• Table 24: Most common primary occupations, upon invitation to apply – men, 2021-2023
• Table 25: Most common primary occupations, upon invitation to apply – women, 2021-2023
• Table 26: Most common occupations of candidates assigned Arranged Employment points, upon invitation to apply – total, 2021-2023
• Table 27: Most common occupations of candidates assigned Arranged Employment points, upon invitation to apply – men, 2021-2023
• Table 28: Most common Arranged Employment occupations, upon invitation to apply – women, 2021- 2023
• Table 29: Most common countries of residence among candidates who received an invitation to apply – total, 2021-2023
• Table 30: Most common countries of residence among candidates who received an invitation to apply – men, 2021-2023
• Table 31: Most common countries of residence among candidates who received an invitation to apply – women, 2021-2023
• Table 32: Most common countries of citizenship among candidates who received an invitation to apply-total, 2021-2023
• Table 33: Most common country of citizenship among candidates who received an invitation to apply– men, 2021-2023
• Table 34: Most common country of citizenship among candidates who received an invitation to apply– women, 2021-2023
• Table 35: Number and percentages of eligible profiles submitted by candidates who qualify CBS criteria by gender, 2023
• Table 36: Eligible profiles submitted by candidates who qualify CBS criteria by Age group, 2023
• Table 37: Number and percentages of candidates in the pool who qualify CBS criteria by gender, as of Jan 08, 2024
• Table 38: Candidates in the pool who qualify for CBS criteria by age group, as of Jan 08, 2024
• Table 39: Invitations to apply issued to candidates who qualify CBS categories by age group, 2023
• Table 40: Number and percentage of Invitations to apply issued to candidates who qualify CBS categories by gender, 2023
• Table 41: Number of Invitations to apply issued to candidates by program who qualify CBS categories, 2023
• Table 42: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by who qualify for CBS categories and General round criteria’s including PNP, June 28 – Dec 31, 2023
• Table 42a: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by who qualify CBS categories and General round criteria’s including PNP, 2023
• Table 43: Average total CRS points for CBS ITA rounds and progress against targets, 2023
• Table 44: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by top 10 country of citizenship who qualify CBS criteria, 2023
• Table 45: Invitations to apply issued to candidates by top 10 country of residence who qualify CBS criteria, 2023
• Table 46: Invitations to apply issued to candidates who qualify CBS criteria by first official language- CLB levels, 2023
• Table 47: Invitations to apply issued to candidates who qualify CBS criteria by intended destinations (Provinces and Territories), 2023
• Table 48: Number of Express Entry (EE) applications received as principal applicants for permanent residence between 2021 and 2023; broken down by immigration category and gender (in cases
• Table 49: Number of Express Entry (EE) applications received as principal applicants for permanent residence between 2021 and 2023; broken down by province/territory of destination (in cases
• Table 50: Processing times* of Express Entry applications finalized for permanent residence between 2021 and 2023, by Year and Immigration category (in months
• Table 51: Canada- Admissions of permanent residents through Express Entry by economic immigration program, 2021- 2023
• Table 52: Canada - Admissions of Permanent Residents through Express Entry by Economic Immigration Program, Principal Applicant and Gender - Men, 2021 - 2023
• Table 53: Canada - Admissions of Permanent Residents through Express Entry by Economic Immigration Program, Principal Applicant and Gender - Women, 2021 - 2023
• Table 54: Canada-Admissions of permanent residents through Express Entry by Top 15 country of citizenship, 2021-2023
• Table 55: Canada- Admissions of permanent residents through Express Entry by province/territory of intended destination, 2021-2023
• Table 56: Canada-Admissions of permanent residents through Provincial Nominee Program in Express Entry by province/territory of intended destination, 2021-2023
• Table 57: Canada-Admissions of Permanent Residents through the Federal High Skilled * in Express Entry by Province/Territory of Intended Destination, 2021-2023
• Table 58: Median Employment Earnings (2021$) 2 years after admission by Education in Canada attribute (i.e. including PNP
• Table 59: Median Employment Earnings (2021$) 2 years after admission by Arranged Employment attribute (i.e. including PNP
• Table 60: Median Employment Earnings (2021$) 2 years after admission by French-Speaker attribute (i.e. including PNP
• Table 61: Median Employment Earnings (2021$) 2 years after admission by Siblings in Canada attribute (i.e. including PNP

Acronym Glossary

CEC

Canadian Experience Class

CBS

Category-Based Selection

CLB

Canadian Language Benchmarks

CRS

Comprehensive Ranking System

EE

Express Entry

FHS

Federal High Skilled

FSTP

Federal Skilled Trades Program

FSWP

Federal Skilled Worker Program

GCMS

Global Case Management System

GoC

Government of Canada

IRCC

Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada

IRPA

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

ITA

Invitation to Apply

MI

Ministerial Instructions

NCLC

Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens

NOC

National Occupation Classification

PNP

Provincial/Territorial Nominee Program

STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

TEER

Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities

Overview of Express Entry

Launched in January 2015, Express Entry (EE) is Canada’s flagship application management system for three Federal High Skilled (FHS) permanent economic immigration programs (i.e. the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC)) and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). In addition to providing a pathway to permanent residence for prospective immigrants currently abroad, many temporary residents already in Canada also transition to permanent residence through EE, with Canada consistently being the top country of residence of individuals who receive an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence. As described below, EE provides the Government of Canada (GoC) with the means to manage the intake of applications for permanent residence under the key economic immigration programs listed above, while facilitating the selection of individuals who are most likely to succeed economically in Canada.

As with previous reports, the EE Year-End Report 2023 provides an overview of EE and presents data from across all stages of the EE continuum, including profile submissions, candidates in the pool, ITAs, applications, processing times, admissions, and, economic outcomes of applicants. Since a new enhancement to Express Entry, referred to as category-based selection, was launched in June 2023, the report also provides a summary on the development and implementation of category-based selection and presents its results from June to December 2023. Throughout the report, historical and gender-disaggregated data^{Footnote 1} is presented alongside the 2023 figures to provide additional context. Data is operational and should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

How Express Entry Works

The EE system manages applications for permanent residence in two steps.

First, individuals express their interest in immigrating to Canada by completing an online profile, which is screened electronically to determine if the individual is eligible for at least one of the FHS immigration programs managed by the system. The profiles of individuals who meet the eligibility criteria for at least one of these FHS programs^{Footnote 2} are placed in the EE pool and assigned a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, based on information in their profile, including skills and experience, according to point criteria that is publicly available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) website. Candidates in the pool are ranked according to their CRS score. Potential candidates can estimate their scores prior to completing an online profile using a CRS tool, also available on the IRCC website^{Footnote 3}.

Second, Ministerial Instructions (MIs) are regularly published on IRCC’s website specifying the number of ITAs for permanent residence that have been sent to candidates in the EE pool on a specific date, known as an invitation round, the date of the round, the number of ITAs, and the lowest score that was issued an ITA. Invitation rounds are conducted, usually every two weeks to determine who receives an ITA. The number of ITAs that will be issued is determined for each round. The candidates with the highest CRS scores receive ITAs.

General invitation rounds are solely based on CRS scores, but some rounds select candidates who are eligible for one of the economic immigration program(s) and issue ITAs to the highest scorers.

Furthermore, some rounds may be category-specific. A “category” refers to a single, or a combination, of particular criteria (eg., official language skills, occupation specific work experiences, etc.) linked to an economic goal. Categories can then be used to target invitations to apply to candidates in the Express Entry pool that meet the given criteria. Further information related to category-based selection is provided in upcoming sections of the report. For each round, invitations are issued to candidates who are eligible to be invited in that round, in descending CRS score rank order, until the maximum number of invitations specified in the associated round is met. The score of the final invited candidate is published as the ‘cut off’ score for that round. The profiles of candidates who do not receive an invitation, or decline one, remain in the pool for up to 12 months.

Candidates that receive an ITA have 60 days to either submit an online application for permanent residence to IRCC or decline the invitation . The profile is returned to the pool if the ITA is declined. Candidates who receive an ITA but take no action within the 60-day period are withdrawn from the pool. Upon receipt of an application by IRCC, an immigration officer assesses it to verify the applicant’s CRS score, program eligibility, and admissibility.

Each candidate is invited to apply under a program for which they qualify. If a candidate qualifies for more than one program, the candidate is invited to apply for the first program they are eligible for, in the following order: CEC, FSW, FST. If the immigration officer is satisfied that all conditions have been met and that the applicant is admissible, 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 through EE is six months for 80% of cases. Processing times are measured from the day a complete application is received by IRCC until a final decision is made by an immigration officer.

The Comprehensive Ranking System

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is the backbone of the EE application management system. A CRS score comprises two components: core points and additional points. These factors help predict a candidate’s potential for success in the Canadian labour market. The maximum CRS score a candidate can achieve is capped at 1,200 points – 600 points under the core component and a maximum of 600 points under the additional points component. All information the candidate provides when submitting the profile, in order to receive a CRS score must be supported with appropriate documentation when they submit the application, or it could be refused.

A candidate’s human capital characteristics (e.g., age, education, official language proficiency, work experience) are scored in the core points.

A candidate who indicates they would apply with an accompanying spouse or common-law partner can receive a maximum of 560 points for their own core characteristics and is awarded a maximum of 40 points for the human capital characteristics of their spouse/common-law partner. A candidate without an accompanying spouse/common-law partner can receive a maximum of 600 points under the core component. 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 (25 or 50 points), or a sibling in Canada (15 points).^{Footnote 4}

Additional points increase the probability that a given candidate will receive an ITA, but cannot ensure it. However, the points for a Provincial/Territorial nomination, which are usually enough to guarantee an ITA, through either a general invitation or PNP-specific round.

Candidates in the EE pool can, and in some cases must, update their profile to reflect any change in circumstances. This may affect their CRS score. The system automatically updates some data. For example, age is updated on a candidate’s birthday and language levels are removed on the date language test expire. Other updates must be manually revised, such as steps candidates take to improve their CRS scores, thereby increasing their probability of receiving an ITA. This includes for example, increasing official language skills or securing arranged employment.

Enhancements to Express Entry in 2023

Overview of Category-Based Selection

On June 23, 2022, legislative amendments were made to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) that authorize the Minister of IRCC to invite foreign nationals to apply for permanent residence through EE on a new basis – their eligibility to be members of a category that supports an identified economic goal. This new authority, referred to as “category-based selection” increases flexibility to select candidates in the EE pool with the skills and attributes needed to respond to Canada’s evolving economic needs and Government priorities through a new invitation round type. Categories are based on key attributes, such as official language knowledge and work experience and will change over time.

IRPA sets out three key requirements respecting the use of category-based selection:

1. Economic goal: If the Minister establishes a category in an instruction […] the Minister shall set out, in the instruction, the economic goal that the Minister seeks to support in establishing the category.
2. Public consultation process: For the purpose of establishing categories of eligible foreign nationals […] the Minister must engage in a public consultation process with stakeholders, including provinces and territories, industry, unions, employers, workers, worker advocacy groups, settlement provider organizations and immigration researchers and practitioners, to obtain information, advice and recommendations in respect of the labour market conditions, including occupations expected to face shortage conditions, as well as on how categories can be formed to meet economic goals. 10.5 (2) The advice and recommendations from the public consultation process must be based on written submissions provided by relevant industry members and stakeholders.

3. Annual Reporting: Specified in subsection 10.5. (3) The Minister shall cause to be tabled before each House of Parliament […]following the end of each fiscal year, a report containing the list of the categories of eligible foreign nationals established […] and the selection criteria and the process applied for the establishment of those categories.

   Furthermore, specified in subsection 94 (2) (a.1) of IRPA, the Minister must, […]table in each House of Parliament a report […]the report shall include a description of any instructions given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h.2) that establish a category of eligible foreign nationals, the economic goal sought to be supported in establishing the category and the number of foreign nationals invited to make an application for permanent residence in respect of the category.

How Does Category-Based Selection Work in Express Entry?

Category-based selection allows IRCC to use the Express Entry system to identify candidates with specific skills or attributes most needed in Canada, and supplements general and program invitation rounds by inviting applicants whose selection would help achieve an economic goal established by the Minister. Candidates in the pool who meet a category’s eligibility criteria are still ranked according to their Comprehensive Ranking System score, and the top among them are invited to apply. Figure 2 below illustrates how category-based selection works in Express Entry.

As seen in Figure 2, individuals still need to submit an expression of interest, meet the minimum entry criteria for one of the programs to enter the Express Entry Pool and receive a CRS score. At the time of a category invitation round, candidates who are considered to be eligible members of the category will be ranked against one another based on their CRS score. During the invitation rounds, those with the highest CRS scores will be invited to apply for permanent residence.

Development of Categories for Category-Based Selection in 2023

Category-based selection is an enhancement to the Express Entry system and offers more flexibility in Canada’s immigration response to changing economic and labour market needs. The development of categories are informed by data, labour market information, engagement with Federal, Provincial and Territorial partners as well as stakeholder consultations.

From late November 2022 to January 2023, the Department held a public consultation on enhancing Express Entry through category-based selection. An online survey was made available to the public on IRCC’s website, and 2,960 organizations across Canada were invited by email to take part. In addition, a number of stakeholders were invited to attend two virtual information sessions that offered an overview of category-based selection in Express Entry, as well as IRCC’s proposed priorities and categories for implementation in 2023. A summary of input received from IRCC stakeholders is available on IRCC’s website, and includes a list of participating organizations. Findings from these consultations supported the use of category-based selection to address structural labour market shortages. Some of the greatest needs were perceived to be in transport, trades, healthcare, agriculture and agri-foods, and information technology occupations. Supporting Francophone immigration and economic growth in Francophone minority communities was also supported by the majority of participants. In parallel, IRCC engaged on potential priorities, needs, and categories with Provincial and Territorial representatives through the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration.

Following these consultations, the Minister established six categories designed to support economic growth through Francophone immigration outside Quebec and help address long-term labour market shortages.

Candidates with French-language proficiency or with work experience in the occupations that were eligible under the following categories were invited to apply for permanent residence through category-based selection in 2023:

1. French-language proficiency
2. Healthcare occupations
3. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
4. Trade occupations
5. Transport occupations
6. Agriculture and agri-food occupations

In order to qualify for the French-language proficiency rounds, candidates needed to have French language test results demonstrating a competency of Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 7 or above in all four language abilities. For the occupation-based categories, candidates needed to have continuous experience, obtained over a period that meets or exceeds six months in the past three-year period, in one of the eligible occupations that were part of the categories.

Changes to Eligibility Criteria for Physicians

In 2023, IRCC improved physicians’ ability to gain permanent residence in Canada. Many physicians currently working in the Canadian healthcare system were not eligible for EE because they charge on a “fee-for-service” basis and are considered “self-employed.” These physicians may have arranged employment and/or work experience in Canada that would not meet the programs’ requirements due to the structure of their work. To remove these barriers, as of April 25, 2023, physicians who work in a fee-for-service model with public health authorities, became exempted from certain requirements of the program so that they can access permanent residence and help address labour shortages in the healthcare sector.

Who submitted an Express Entry profile?

In 2023, 488,571 EE profiles were submitted through the system, which represents an increase of 14% from 2022 but an increase of 10% from 2021 (Figure 3). The proportion of profiles submitted in 2023 that were eligible for at least one of the FHS immigration programs managed by EE (70%) slightly decreased from that observed in 2022 (74%).

Text version: Profile submissions to Express Entry, 2021-2023

In 2021, 443,003 Express Entry profiles were submitted, including 326,257 eligible profiles and 116,746 ineligible profiles. In 2022, a total of 428,391 Express Entry profiles were submitted, including 318,828 eligible profiles and 109,563 ineligible profiles. In 2023, a total of 488,571 Express Entry profiles were submitted, including 343,875 eligible profiles and 144,696 ineligible profiles.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

As displayed in Table 1, in 2023, more profiles were submitted by men (275,985) than women (212,372). The proportion of total profile submissions by men (56%) and women (44%) was unchanged from 2022. The proportion of profile submissions that was eligible for at least one program has decreased for men (67%) and women (75%) in 2023 when compared to 2021 and 2022. Overall, women have consistently submitted a slightly higher proportion of eligible profiles, by approximately 7-12 percentage points compared to men. As seen in Table 1a, the number of ineligible and eligible profile submissions have increased since 2021. In 2023, 70% of the submitted profiles were eligible for Express Entry versus 30% which were ineligible.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Who got into the Express Entry pool?

The distributions of CRS scores for eligible candidate profiles at the time of submission are presented in Table 2. In each year, the CRS scores consistently remain concentrated in the 301-500 range even as the total number of eligible profiles submitted slightly increased in 2023. It is important to note that the EE pool is dynamic, and that the distribution of CRS scores change as eligible profiles are submitted, updated, invited or expire.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

As seen in Table 3, among individuals who submitted eligible profiles in 2023, a large portion (47%) did not meet the criteria for any additional points at the time of submission. This is a gradual reduction since 2021 (58%) and 2022 (55%), meaning an increasing number of candidates are eligible for at least one type of additional point.^{Footnote 5} Most often, candidates who claimed additional points continued to meet criteria for Education in Canada (30%) and Siblings in Canada (15%) points. The proportion of eligible profiles that received Education in Canada points has grown more and been higher than other additional point types since 2021. While the proportion of candidates in the EE pool who met additional points criteria for French-language proficiency^{Footnote 6} remained stable between 2021 and 2023, the proportion of candidates who met additional points criteria for Arranged Employment and for Siblings in Canada slightly increased.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers
N/A - Breakdown by category exceeds annual total as candidates may be eligible for multiple additional point types (non mutually exclusive)

As displayed in Table 4, in 2023, a higher number and proportion of men (86,515, 53%) than women (76,458, 47%) did not meet criteria for any additional points at the time of submitting an eligible profile, although this gap has diminished somewhat, from 8 percentage points to 6 between 2021 and 2023.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers

Tables 5 to 8 further explore additional point breakdowns by gender, and show that Education in Canada and Siblings in Canada were the most common additional point types for both men and women in 2023. Similar to the trend seen in 2021 and 2022, a considerably higher proportion of men (66%) than women (34%) continued to meet the criteria for Arranged Employment in 2023. While there was a higher proportion of men (53%) who met the criteria for Education in Canada than women (47%) in 2023, the difference has somewhat remained stable since 2021. In regards to additional points for French-language proficiency, there was an equal distribution (both at 50%) between men and women in 2023. As in 2022, the proportion of women (51%) meeting Siblings in Canada criteria slightly exceeded men (49%) in 2023. Table 9 displays the CRS score distribution of eligible candidates in the pool. It can be seen that the CRS scores of eligible candidates in the pool consistently remain concentrated in the 301-500 range.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN as of January 08, 2024
Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers

Source: MBR_ FACT_EE_POOL as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Note that the data is operational and may vary a bit compared to previous years reported numbers

Who was invited to apply for permanent residence through Express Entry?

As displayed in Table 10, IRCC held 42 rounds, and issued 110, 266 invitations in 2023, a 136% increase from the 46, 539 issued in 2022. There were 19 general rounds, 5 PNP rounds, 1 FSWP and 17 category-based selection rounds. The majority of ITAs (40,052) were issued to candidates under the CEC, followed by the PNP (26, 445). There were 17,898 ITAs issued under the FSWP (Table 10) and 8 ITAs issued under the FSTP (Table 12). It is important to note that when a candidate qualifies for more than one program, there is a processing hierarchy in place (CEC, FSW, FST). As a result, if a candidate qualifies for FST and CEC for example, they will be invited to apply under the Canadian Experience Class.

In terms of candidates invited to apply in other rounds, CRS cut-off scores in 2023 ranged from 691 to 791 for PNP-specific rounds (median = 748), and from 481 to 561 for general rounds (median = 496). It is worth noting that candidates who are nominated through the PNP automatically receive 600 points through the process.

The CRS cut-off scores of general rounds could be seen to increase in mid-year, as they were mainly above 500 once category-based selection was implemented on June 28th. All rounds of invitations were conducted in line with the associated Ministerial Instructions.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

As seen in Table 10a, IRCC held category-based selection rounds from June 28, 2023 to December 21, 2023. The Department issued 25,870 ITAs through category-based selection rounds, representing 23% of the total number of ITAs issued in 2023. There were 12,073 candidates who qualified for CBS and received an ITA through CEC, followed by 13,790 candidates through FSWP and 7 candidates through FSTP.

There were 17 category-based selection rounds, with 6 French language-proficiency rounds yielding to 8,700 ITAs issued, 3 healthcare occupations rounds (5,600 ITAs), 2 STEM occupations rounds (6,400 ITAs), 2 trades occupations rounds (2,500 ITAs), 2 transport occupation rounds (1,670 ITAs) and 2 agriculture and agri-food occupations rounds (1,000 ITAs).

For the French language-proficiency rounds, the CRS cut-off scores ranged from 375 to 486 (median = 455) while for the healthcare occupation rounds, the CRS cut-off scores ranged from 431 to 476 (median = 463). For the STEM occupation rounds, the CRS cut-off scores ranged from 481 to 486 (median = 484) and from 354 to 386 (median = 370) for the agriculture and agri-food occupation rounds. Lastly, while the CRS cut-off scores remained at 435 for both of the transportation occupation rounds, it ranged from 388 to 425 (median = 407) for the trades occupation rounds. As a reminder, the ‘cut off’ score is simply the score of the last candidate invited in a category, and is a function of the number of invitations and the scores of those candidates eligible for a particular category.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Overall, when comparing Tables 11 and 12, it can be seen that men received the majority (57%) of invitations issued in 2023. When looking at the program type, men were issued higher proportions of invitations than women in both CEC (52% vs 46%, respectively) and PNP (26% and 21%, respectively). Furthermore, in contrast to 2022, where there was a somewhat similar proportion and number of invitations issued to men under CEC (42%) and PNP (43%), these proportions and number of invitations increased for CEC (52%) and decreased for PNP (26%) in 2023. Similar trend was seen for women as 39% of invitations were issued under CEC and PNP in 2022, while there was an increase in proportion for CEC (46%) and decrease in PNP (21%) in 2023.

Similar to 2022, women were issued a higher proportion (33%) of invitations than men (22%) under the FSWP. There were no invitations issued under the FSTP in 2022 for both genders while there were 8 invitations issued in 2023.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Tables 13 to 17 display the socio-demographic characteristics of candidates invited to apply for permanent residence, and show shifting trends between 2021 and 2023, largely attributable to the divergent invitation round strategies over previous years, including focusing on CEC and PNP eligible candidates in 2021, temporary pauses of general rounds in fall of 2021 and 2022 and the introduction of category-based selection in 2023.

In terms of the age of candidates invited to apply, the share of invitations issued to those aged 20-29 (the age category associated with the highest number of points under the CRS) remained the largest group in 2023 (54%), but experienced a decline from 2021 (64%) and slight increase from 2022 (50%). Those aged 30-34 represented the second largest age group and saw a slight decrease in 2023 (27%) from 2022 (29%).

Looking at the highest level of education of those invited to apply, in 2023, the largest proportion of invitations (46%) was issued to candidates with post-secondary credential of three years or longer, demonstrating an increase of 6 percentage points from 2022 (40%). This was followed by candidates with master’s degree and entry-to-practice professional degree (43%), which decreased from 2022 (46%). The proportion of candidates with one or two year post-secondary credential as well as high school or less decreased in 2023 from 2021 and those with PhDs increased slightly in proportion over the same period. Overall candidates who received ITAs remained highly educated, with 92% claiming to hold a post-secondary educational credential of at least three years, which was a slight increase from 2022 (90%).

When considering the first official language proficiency of candidates invited to apply, general skill level slightly decreased in 2023. In 2022, the most common Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)/Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level was 9 (33%) followed by level 10 (21%). Whereas in 2023, the most common CLB/NCLC level was 9 (31%) followed by level 7 (24%). However, when compared to 2021, these are higher proficiency levels than 2021, where the most common CLB/NCLC level of candidates invited were 7 (41%) and 8 (22%).

Looking at Canadian work experience (Table 16), in 2023, a majority of candidates invited to apply (63%) had at least one year of eligible Canadian work experience. This is a slight increase from 2022 (62%), but a decline from 2021 where a significant proportion (92%) of candidates invited to apply had at least one year of eligible Canadian work experience. This can be attributed to the Department’s ITA strategy in 2021 as 87% (Table 11) of the ITAs were issued under the CEC, a program that requires Canadian work experience. In 2023 (Table 16), 36% of invitations went to candidates with at least one year of eligible Canadian work experience followed by 33% of invitations being issued to candidates with no Canadian work experience. The proportion of candidates with 3 or more years of foreign experience in 2023 (56%) was somewhat similar to the proportion in 2022 (58%) (Table 17). The similarity in proportions (27% in 2022 versus 28% in 2023) were also seen in the proportion of candidates with no foreign work experience or less than one year foreign work experience.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Table 18 provides information on (a) invitations issued to candidates who were assigned additional points in each category and (b) invitations issued to candidates who met relevant criteria for the category but were not necessarily assigned points.^{Footnote 7} A maximum of 600 total additional points can be assigned under the CRS, meaning candidates assigned 600 points for a provincial nomination cannot be assigned other additional points, even if they meet the criteria. For example, in 2023, while 20,716 ITAs were issued to candidates who met criteria for Arranged Employment points, only 17,881 of these candidates were assigned the points in their CRS scores. Data are provided for both candidates who met criteria for and were assigned additional points to facilitate comparison, as well as to reflect the fuller characteristics of candidates who were invited to apply for permanent residence.^{Footnote 8} In 2023, less than one half of ITAs (34%) were issued on the basis of human capital attributes alone (i.e., to candidates who did not meet criteria for any additional points).

In 2020, the number of additional points for French-language proficiency was increased. However, in 2021, fewer invitations were sent to candidates who were assigned and met criteria for that points category; this is likely due to the shift to CEC-specific rounds, as historically, most French-speaking candidates have been eligible to be invited under the FSWP but not the CEC. In 2022, with the recommencement of invitations under the FSWP, there was a considerable increase in ITAs issued to French-speaking candidates. In 2023, this trend continued as the number of invitations that were sent to candidates who were assigned and met criteria for French-language proficiency points doubled when compared to 2022 invitation numbers, in part thanks to the launch of the French-proficiency category.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Tables 19 to 22 provide information on invitations issued to men and women who met the criteria to receive each additional point type. Education in Canada (50,987) and Sibling in Canada (20,823) were the most common additional point types for which both men and women met criteria in 2023. While Education in Canada (29,975) and Arranged Employment (13,551) remained as the most common additional point type for men, the most common additional point type for women was Education in Canada (21,006) and Siblings in Canada (10,325) in 2023. The share of additional points for Arranged Employment for both genders remained stable over the last three years, with men meeting the criteria at a higher proportion (65%) than women (35%). There number of ITAs issued to men for meeting the criteria for Siblings in Canada (10,497) was somewhat similar to those issued to women (10,325). Furthermore, women (51%) met the criteria for French-language proficiency points at a slightly higher proportion to men (49%) in 2023.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

As seen in Table 23, in 2023, there were some shifts from previous years in the most common primary occupations among candidates invited to apply for permanent residency through EE. While in 2021, the shift to CEC- and PNP-specific rounds of invitations resulted in a significantly higher number of candidates with TEER 2 occupations (i.e., occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations), candidates with TEER 1 occupations (occupations that usually require a university degree) made-up a significant proportion of ITAs in 2022 and 2023. While in 2022, software engineers and designers, information systems specialists and computer systems developers and programmers, which are related mainly to the technological field, were the most common occupations and made-up a significant proportion of the candidates invited to apply through EE, there were some shifts in 2023. Individuals with primary occupation as software engineers and designers, software developers and programmers and food service supervisors made-up a significant portion of the candidates in 2023. When considering the “other” most common primary occupations among the candidates invited, there is an increasing diversity in occupations throughout the last three years, as candidates with “other” primary occupations made 48% of the ITAs in 2021, 59% in 2022 and 64% in 2023.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TEER Definition
TEER 0: Management occupations examples Advertising, marketing and public relations managers, financial managers
TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree, examples - Financial advisors, Software engineers
TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations
TEER 3: Occupations that usually require, a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training

As seen in Table 24 and 25, there were differences in the 15 most common primary occupations at the time of invitation for men and women in 2023. While the most common primary occupation at the time of invitation in 2023 were identical (software engineers and designers), men and women’s other top occupations differed to some extent. For example, almost half of the primary occupations were shared among both genders although their order of precedence differed. In addition, for women, ten primary occupations were TEER 1 whereas for men, nine occupations were TEER 1.

The top 15 occupations amongst men that were not in the top 15 for women include: computer and information systems managers, user support technicians, computer systems developers and programmers, data scientists, transport truck drivers, welders and related machine operators, business systems specialists, civil engineers and retail sales supervisors.

The top 15 occupations amongst women that were not in the top 15 for men include: administrative assistants, professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations, administrative officers, dentists, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, accounting technicians and bookkeepers, early childhood educators and assistants, general practitioners and family physicians, and university professors and lecturers.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TEER Definition
TEER 0: Management occupations examples Advertising, marketing and public relations managers, financial managers
TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree, examples - Financial advisors, Software engineers
TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations
TEER 3: Occupations that usually require, a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TEER Definition
TEER 0: Management occupations examples Advertising, marketing and public relations managers, financial managers
TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree, examples - Financial advisors, Software engineers
TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations
TEER 3: Occupations that usually require, a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training

Table 26 displays the most common occupations among candidates invited to apply who were assigned Arranged Employment points. Candidates most likely to have Arranged Employment remained software engineers and designers in both 2022 and 2023. In 2023, there was a greater diversity among the TEER categories of the top 15 occupations, including three TEER 0 occupations, five TEER 1 occupations, two TEER 2 occupations and four TEER 3 occupations.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TEER Definition
TEER 0: Management occupations examples Advertising, marketing and public relations managers, financial managers
TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree, examples - Financial advisors, Software engineers
TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations
TEER 3: Occupations that usually require, a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training

Table 27 and 28 show the most common occupations for candidates with Arranged Employment points who received ITAs, broken down by gender. The most common occupations among invited men (6) with Arranged Employment points included slightly more TEER 1 occupations in comparison to their female counterparts (5). Women’s top occupation, food service supervisors, remained the same from 2021 to 2023. Similarly, men’s top occupation remained software engineers and designers from 2021 to 2023. The top six occupations changed for men from 2022 to 2023 as there was a shift towards a mix of TEER 0, 1 and 2 occupations when compared to 2022, where the top six occupations consisted of only TEER 1 and TEER 0 occupations. There were also some modest changes to the top six occupations for women from 2022 to 2023 where senior managers-financial, communications and other business services dropped from the top six occupations and administrative officers joined the top six in 2023. There was also a higher proportion of candidates in TEER 1 occupations, followed by TEER 3, and TEER 2.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TEER Definition
TEER 0: Management occupations examples Advertising, marketing and public relations managers, financial managers
TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree, examples - Financial advisors, Software engineers
TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations
TEER 3: Occupations that usually require, a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TEER Definition
TEER 0: Management occupations examples Advertising, marketing and public relations managers, financial managers
TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree, examples - Financial advisors, Software engineers
TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of 2 or more years, or supervisory occupations
TEER 3: Occupations that usually require, a college diploma, including occupations that require apprenticeship training of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training

Table 29 shows that the three most common countries of residence among candidates who received an ITA changed slightly from 2022 to 2023. While Canada has consistently been the top country of residence of candidates who receive an ITA, the proportion of ITAs issued to this group remained about the same at 70% (2023) compared to 68% (2022). Over the same period, the proportion of invited candidates who indicated India as their country of residence decreased slightly from 8% in 2022 to 7% in 2023. While Nigeria was among the top three most common countries of residence in 2022, Cameroon took over the spot in 2023.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

As displayed in Tables 30 and 31, the most common countries of residence varied slightly for both men and women in 2022 and 2023. While Canada and India were the top two common countries of residence for both genders, the top third common country was Cameroon for men and Nigeria for women. In 2023, a smaller proportion of women (63%) than men (75%) indicated Canada as their country of residence.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change

As displayed in Table 32, the top five countries of citizenship among candidates who received an ITA remained the same in 2022 and 2023. While India remained the most common country of citizenship by a significant margin, the margin increased slightly in 2023 (47%) compared to 2022 (45%). India and the People’s Republic of China remained in the top three countries of citizenship since 2021.

Looking at the top 10 most common countries of citizenship among candidates who received an ITA, notable changes from 2022 to 2023 include:

Philippines moved up from ninth to sixth most common country of citizenship; France fell out of the top 10 from 2022 to 2023;

Brazil and Algeria entered among the top 10 most county of citizenship in 2023; Morocco dropped from seventh to eight most common country of citizenship from 2022 to 2023; and,

Pakistan moved up from tenth to seventh most common country of citizenship from 2022 to 2023.

From 2022 to 2023, the proportion of citizenships outside the top 10 (i.e. “Other in Table 32) decreased from 28% in 2022 to 25% in 2023.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Tables 33 and 34 display the gender breakdown by most common country of citizenship among candidates who received ITAs. The tables show that India, the People’s Republic of China, and Nigeria were the most common countries of citizenship for both men and women who were invited to apply for permanent residence in 2023. Men with Indian citizenship (52%) continued to have a greater proportion of ITAs then women (41%). Women with Chinese citizenship (6%) and Nigerian citizenship (9%) had a slightly larger proportion of ITAs issued than men with Chinese (4%) and Nigerian (5%) citizenship. There were some differences in the top 10 countries amongst men and women in 2023. For example, Brazil and United Kingdom and Overseas Territories were in the top 10 countries for men, but not women, while Algeria and France were in the top 10 countries for women, but not men.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Who was eligible for category-based selection categories among the eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry?

As seen in Figure 2, there were 343,875 eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry in 2023.

Table 35 and 36 display the number and percentages of eligible profiles submitted by candidates who qualify for CBS criteria, disaggregated by gender and age. As seen in Table 35, there were 134,918 individuals, representing 39% of all eligible profiles submitted, who qualified for CBS criteria. Among the eligible profiles submitted to Express Entry, 23% qualified for the STEM category, 6% qualified for the French-language proficiency category, around 6% qualified for the healthcare category, 2% for transport category and trade category and around 0.5% for agriculture category.

While the proportion of men (50%) and women (50%) who qualified for French-language proficiency was the same, there were more men who qualified for the agriculture category (61% for men and 39% for women), the STEM category (68% for men and 32% for women), the trades category (88% for men and 12% for women) and the transport category (92% for men and 8% for women). On the other hand, women had a higher proportion of qualifying for healthcare category as 74% met the healthcare category criteria, compared to 26% of men.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
Totals include those profiles indicating 'another gender'

As seen in Table 36, across all categories, except for French-language proficiency category, the highest proportion of category eligibility among eligible profiles was seen in those who were aged between 20-29, followed by those aged between 30-34. For French-language proficiency category, the share of age groups were somewhat similar as 32% were between 30-34 years of age, 30% between 20-29, and 25% between 35-39 years of age.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Who in the pool qualified for category-based selection in Express Entry?

Table 37 and Table 38 display the number and percentages of candidates in the pool who qualified for CBS criteria. As seen in Table 37, there were a total of 210,859 candidates in the pool who qualified for CBS criteria. When compared to women, there was a higher proportion of male candidates in the pool who qualified for the STEM category (27% for men and 15% for women), the trades category (3% for men and 1% for women) and the transport category (4% for men and <1% for women). On the other hand, there were more women in the pool who qualified for French-language proficiency category (4% for women and 3% for men) and healthcare category (7% for women and 2% for men). Although there was a higher number of men who qualified for agriculture category, the proportions (<1%) was the same for both genders.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

In regard to the age groups, across all categories, except for French-language proficiency category, the highest proportion of category eligibility among eligible profiles was seen in those who were aged between 20-29 years of age, followed by those between 30-34 years old. For STEM category, the share of age groups were somewhat similar as 35% were between 20-29 years of age and 34% of those between 30-34 years old. A similar case was also seen for the agriculture category, where 32% were between the ages of 20-29 and 28% were between the ages of 30-34, and the healthcare category, where 35% were between the ages of 20-29 and 32% were between the ages of 30-34. On the other hand, the trades and transport categories had significant differences in the proportions between age groups. 69% of candidates in the pool who qualified for the trades category were between the ages of 20-29 and 15% were between the ages of 30-34, a similar proportion was seen for the transport category as 67% of the candidates were between the ages of 20-29 and 15% were between the ages of 30-34. Lastly, for the French-language proficiency category, the highest proportion of candidates in the pool were between the ages of 30-34 (30%) followed by 35-39 (29%).

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_MAIN_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Who was invited to apply for permanent residence through category-based selection in Express Entry?

As previously noted (Table 10), there were a total of 25,870 candidates invited to apply for permanent residence through category-based selection rounds in 2023. Among those who received an ITA, apart from the French-language proficiency category, the majority of the candidates were between the ages of 20-29, followed by the age group 30-34 (Table 39) across all categories. For the French-language proficiency category, the opposite was seen, as 34% of the candidates were between the ages of 30-34 and 32% were between the ages of 20-29.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
Data includes PNP

As seen in Table 40, men received a higher proportion of ITAs than women for the STEM category (36% for men and 20% for women), the trades category (6% for men and 1% for women) and the transport category (3% for men and 1% for women). On the other hand, women received a higher proportion of ITAs than men, for the healthcare category (4% for men and 16% for women). While both genders received an equal proportion of ITAs for agriculture category (1%), women had a slightly higher proportion of ITAs issued for the French-language proficiency category (12% for men and 17% for women).

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Table 41 demonstrates the number of ITAs issued to candidates by program who qualify for CBS categories in 2023, but did not necessarily get invited through a CBS invitation round. For example, PNP nominees would not receive a CBS invitation as these invitations only apply to eligible candidates who have not been nominated by a province or territory. For the agriculture and agri-food category, a great portion of the candidates received an ITA through FSWP (48%) followed by CEC (41%), PNP (10%) and FSTP (<1%). A similar trend was also seen for French-language proficiency as a significant portion of the candidates received an ITA through FSWP (83%), followed by CEC (11%), PNP (5%) and FSTP (1%) and healthcare category as a great portion of candidates received an ITA through FSWP (46%), followed by CEC (34%), and PNP (20%). On the other hand, STEM, trade and transport categories had a significant portion of candidates who received ITAs through CEC. For the STEM category, 54% of the ITAs were issued to candidates who qualified for CEC, followed by 25% for PNP, and 22% for FSWP. For the transport category, a great portion of the candidates received ITAs through CEC (61%), followed by FSWP (21%), PNP (18%) and FSTP (<1%). Lastly, similar trend was seen for the trades category as 62% of the candidates received ITAs through CEC, followed by PNP (30%), FSWP (8%) and FSTP (1%).

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Between June 28^th, 2023, when the first category-based selection round was launched, and December 31, 2023, there were 51,218 invitations to apply issued through category-based selection, general, and PNP rounds. Of those, 25,870 ITAs were issued to candidates who qualified for CBS categories, 23,800 ITAs were issued to candidates through general rounds and 1,548 ITAs were issued to candidates through PNP rounds (Table 42). When looking at all of 2023 (Table 42a), there were 110,226 ITAs issued through 42 FSWP, general, CBS and PNP rounds. In 2023, a significant portion of the ITAs were issued through general rounds (70%), followed by CBS rounds (23%).

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Table 43 captures the Department’s 2023 ITA targets for category-based selection and its progress against the targets, along with the average total CRS points for CBS ITA rounds. Candidates contribute to a category target as long as they meet the category criteria, regardless of which round type they were invited under to apply for permanent residence. Some candidates may qualify for more than one category if they meet the criteria of each category. Furthermore, PNP ITAs counts are also excluded from being counted towards CBS targets.

In 2023, the average total CRS points for CBS ITA rounds ranged from 427 to 498. Furthermore, the Department had varying ITA targets for each category, which included 28-31% for STEM, 11-15% for French-language proficiency, 9-13% for healthcare, 2-4% for trades and 1-2% for both agriculture and agri-food and transport categories. As seen in the table, the Department achieved its 2023 ITA targets for each category and even surpassed its target for the French-language proficiency category.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

As displayed in Table 44, the top 10 most common country of citizenship varied across the categories. However, India was the most common country of citizenship by a significant margin for all categories, except for the French-language proficiency rounds where Cameroon was the most common country of citizenship. Nigeria remained among the top three most common countries of citizenship for five categories, except for French-language proficiency category. For the agriculture and agri-food category, the top three countries of citizenship were India (39%), Nigeria (32%) and People’s Republic of China (3%). Similarly, these three countries were among the top three most common country of citizenship (India at 54%; People’s Republic of China at 8%; Nigeria at 5%) for the STEM category. For the French-language proficiency category, the top 10 most common countries of citizenship were represented by countries where there is a common use of the French language. The top three most common countries of citizenship for this category included Federal Republic of Cameroon (27%), Morocco (13%) and Algeria (10%). For both healthcare and trades occupations category, the top three countries of citizenship included India, Philippines and Nigeria. For the trades category, India was the most common country of citizenship by a significant margin (74%), followed by Philippines (3%) and Nigeria (2%). For the healthcare occupations category, the most common country of citizenship was India (39%) followed by Nigeria (12%) and Philippines (6%). Lastly, the top three most common countries of citizenship for the transport category were India (71%), Nigeria (7%) and Pakistan (2%).

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
Data includes PNP

As seen in Table 45, the top 10 most common countries of residence varied across the categories. Nevertheless, Canada was the most common country of residence by a significant margin for all categories, except for the French-language proficiency rounds where Cameroon was the most common country of residence. India remained among the top three most common countries of citizenship for five categories, except for French-language proficiency category. For the agriculture and agri-food, trades, healthcare and transport categories, the top three most common countries of residence were Canada, Nigeria and India, although the percentages differed for each category. For the French-language proficiency category, the top three countries of residence were Cameroon (24%), Canada (16%) and Morocco (11%). The top three common countries of residence were Canada (75%), India (6%) and United States of America (5%) for the STEM category.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
Data includes PNP

When considering the first official language proficiency of candidates who received an ITA and who qualified for CBS criteria in 2023 (Table 46), most candidates were at CLB/NCLC level of 9 (21,799 candidates) and CLB/NCLC level of 8 (15,052 candidates). STEM, healthcare and French-language proficiency categories had a higher level of proficiency in the first official language when compared to other CBS categories. While STEM and healthcare category had the most number of candidates who were at CLB/NCLC level of 9 and 8, French-language proficiency candidates had a slightly higher level of first official language proficiency than the latter two categories, with the most number of candidates being at CLB/NCLC level of 9 and 10.

On the other hand, both the agriculture and agri-food and transport categories had the highest number of candidates who were at CLB/NCLC level of 7 and 9. Lastly, for the trades category, the highest number of candidates were at CLB/NCLC level of 7 and 6.

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

Although the order slightly varied, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta were the most common provinces of intended destination among candidates who received an ITA and who qualified for the healthcare, STEM, trades, transportation, and agriculture and agri-food occupation categories (Table 47). For the French-language proficiency category, the top three province of intended destination were Ontario (60%), New Brunswick (13%) and Alberta (12%).

Source: MBR_FACT_EE_ITA_CBS as of January 08, 2024
Data is operational and as such should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
Data includes PNP

Who applied for permanent residence through Express Entry?

Excluding accompanying family members (i.e., considering only principal applicants), total applications sourced through the EE in 2023 (80,862) was significantly higher than 2022 (34,976) but slightly lower than 2021 (102,152),as seen in Table 48. The proportion of the applications somewhat remained the same over the last three years between men and women, with a greater distribution of applications submitted by men (56%) than women (44%). As Table 48 displays, there were some differences in the breakdown of application by program between men and women. The number of applications submitted by men under the CEC (22, 024) was higher than those submitted by women (16,025) for all three years. The same trend was seen for the PNP under EE with more applications being made by men (13,192) compared to applications submitted by women (7,946) for the last three years. On the other hand, women (11,644) submitted higher proportion of application for the FSWP than men (10,023) in the last three years. There was fewer than 5 applications submitted for Another gender for CEC and fewer than 5 applications CEC and for PNP for Unknown.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR) extracted as of February 08, 2024
Data compiled by: OPP-DART-2024-24798

As displayed in Table 49, in 2023, Ontario (48,664) remained the most popular province of intended destination, followed by British Columbia (15,227), and Alberta (8,403). These have been the top provinces of destination over the past three years. There was a significant increase in the number of applications received through EE for candidates intending to settle in Ontario, from 16,919 in 2022 to 48,664 in 2023, British Columbia from 6,958 to 15,227 and Alberta 4,363 to 8,403 over the same period.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR) extracted as of February 08, 2024
Data compiled by: OPP-DART-2024-24798

How long did it take to process Express Entry applications?

Table 50 displays the time, in months, that IRCC took to process 80% of applications under each program. While in 2022, IRCC did not meet the processing standard of finalizing 80% of all applications sourced via EE within six months, the Department met its processing standard of 6 months for CEC and FSW. This is a significant decrease from 2022 (22 months), hence demonstrating IRCC’s operations and processing capacity’s recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. PNP EE has seen a reduction from 12 months at the end of 2022 to 8 months in 2023. The processing times for all EE programs except FSTP decreased from 2021 to 2023.

Data source: COGNOS (MBR) extracted as of January 29, 2024
Data compiled by: OPP-DART-2024-24798

Who was admitted through Express Entry and where is their intended destination?

As seen in Table 51, in 2023, 120,770 principal applicants and their accompanying family members were admitted into Canada as permanent residents through EE. By comparison, 116,375 principal applicants and their accompanying family members were admitted in 2022 and 155,845 in 2021.

In 2023, 41,865 EE-sourced admissions were through the CEC, a significant increase from 28,335 of EE-sourced in 2022. Additionally, in 2023, admissions under the PNP (43,290) saw a slight decrease from 2022. Individuals admitted under the FSWP also saw a slight decrease from 40,860 in 2022 to 35,500 in 2023. There were also 110 admissions under the FSTP, which is a considerable decrease from 500 in 2021 and 450 from 2022.

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

As displayed in Tables 52, male principal applicants were most often admitted under the CEC (17,255) and least often admitted under the FSTP (35) in 2023. Similarly, women principal applicants were most often admitted under the CEC (12,175) and least under the FSTP (5) in 2023 (Table 53).

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

As reported in Table 54, India has remained, by a large margin, the most common country of citizenship among principal applicants and their accompanying family members admitted to Canada through EE. The proportion of individuals admitted through EE who held Nigerian citizenship increased from 4% in 2021 to 8% in 2023, while the proportion of Chinese nationals slightly decreased from 7% in 2021 to 4% in 2023. When compared to 2022, the top 15 country of citizenship were very similar in 2023 apart from minor changes. This included France making it to the list of top 15 most common countries of citizenship of admitted individuals through EE, while Republic of Korea dropped from the list in 2023.

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

Similar to the pattern observed at the application stage, and as in 2021 and 2022, the majority of persons admitted in 2023 were destined for Ontario followed by British Columbia and Alberta (Table 55). Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan saw a slight decrease in 2023 when compared to 2022.

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

The concentration of admitted individuals destined for Ontario was considerably less pronounced among the individuals who were selected through the PNP (Table 56), compared to those who were admitted through the FSWP, the CEC, and the FSTP (Table 57). On the other hand, similar to 2022, Atlantic provinces (i.e. Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) have a greater number of admitted individuals through the PNP than through the FSWP, the CEC and the FSTP in 2023.

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

Source: IRCC RDB Permanent Residents data, December 31, 2023
Note:
Data are preliminary estimates and are subject to change.
Please note that all values are rounded to the closest multiple of 5. This is done to prevent individuals from being identified when IRCC data is compiled and compared to other publicly available statistics. As a result of rounding, data may not sum to the totals indicated.

What were the economic outcomes of applicants?

Figure 4 compares Canadian median employment earnings with the median employment earnings for EE Federal High Skilled principal applicants admitted to Canada between 2016 and 2020. As seen, there is a generally positive trend line for all EE Federal High Skilled admission cohorts for most years, meaning an annual increase in employment earnings. At one year since being admitted to Canada, applicants in the 2016 admission cohort had median employment earnings of $58,400 in 2017 which reached $76,800 at five years since admission in 2021. Those who were admitted in 2017 had median employment earnings of $54,900 at one year since admission in 2018 and reached a high of $73,800 at four years since admission in 2021. Following a similar pattern, those who were admitted in 2018 had median employment earnings of $55,200 at one year since being admitted to Canada in 2019 which increased to $70,800 at three years since admission in 2021. Applicants in the 2019 admission cohort had median employment earnings of $52,100 at one year since admission in 2020, which increased to $61,700 in 2021. The 2019 admission cohort has slightly lower than the median employment earnings at one and two year since admission for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 admission cohorts. COVID-19 and the associated impacts on the labour market may be the potential cause of the difference in the median employment earnings at one and two year since admission for the 2019 admission cohort. Lastly, for the 2020 admission cohort, the median employment earnings were $ 58,800 at one year since admission in 2021. When compared to the Canadian median employment earnings, all EE admission cohorts have significantly higher median employment earnings.

Text version: Median employment earnings (in 2021$) for Federal High Skilled by admission cohort and Canadians, 2017-2021

For the 2016 cohort, median employment income was $58,400 at one year since admission in 2017, $65,200 at two years since admission in 2018, $69,900 at three years since admission in 2019, $72,600 at four years since admission in 2020, and at $ 76,800 at five years since admission in 2021. For the 2017 cohort, median employment income was $54,900 at one year since admission in 2018, $62,600 at two years since admission in 2019, $67,300 at three years since admission in 2020 and $ 73,800 at four years since admission in 2021.For the 2018 cohort, median employment income was $55,200 at one year since admission in 2019, $63,600 at two years since admission in 2020 and $ 70,800 at three years since admission in 2021. For the 2019 cohort, median employment income was $52,100 at one year since admission in 2020 and $ 61,700 at two years since admission in 2021. For the 2020 cohort, median employment was $58,900 at one year since admission in 2021. The Canadian median employment income was $38,006 in 2017, $38,531 in 2018, $38,482 in 2019, $38,325 in 2020, $40,870 in 2021.

Source: IMDB, 2021 update

As Figure 5 displays, the median employment earnings for PNP admission cohorts ranged between mid $40,000 range to low $50,000 at one year since admission between the admission cohorts. It was seen that 2016,2017 and 2018 admission cohorts had somewhat similar median employment earnings at three years since admission, ranging from low-to-mid $60,000. Of those in the 2016 cohort, median employment earnings was $73,300 at five years since admission in 2021. For the 2019 admission cohort, similar to those admitted under the FHS programs in EE, they had lower median employment earnings ($44,900) at one year since admission in 2020, which increased to $52,500 in 2021. The median employment earnings for the 2020 admission cohort were $51,700 at one year since admission in 2021. In general, candidates admitted through the PNP had lower median employment earnings than those admitted under FHS programs in EE. Similar to FHS admission cohorts under EE, when compared to the Canadian median employment earnings, PNP admission cohorts under EE have a significantly higher median employment earnings.

Text version: Median employment earnings (in 2021$) for Provincial Nominees admitted under EE by admission cohort and Canadians, 2017-2021

For the 2016 cohort, median employment income was $47,900 at one year since admission in 2017, $55,400 at two years since admission in 2018, $61,700 at three years since admission in 2019, $67,700 at four years since admission in 2020 and at $ 73,300 at five years since admission. For the 2017 cohort, median employment income was $50,100at one year since admission in 2018, $58,800 at  two years since admission in 2019, $64,200 at three years since admission in 2020 and at $ 70,300 at four years since admission in 2021. For the 2018 cohort, median employment income was $47,900 at one year since admission in 2019, $54,400 at two years since admission in 2020 and at $ 61,100 at three years since admission in 2021. For the 2019 cohort, median employment income was $44,900 at one year since admission in 2020 and at $52,500 at two years since admission in 2021. The Canadian median employment income was $38,006 in 2017, $38,531 in 2018, $38,482 in 2019, $38,325 in 2020, $40,870 in 2021.

Source: IMDB, 2021 update

Table 58 demonstrates the median employment earnings two years after admission by Education in Canada attribute for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 admission cohort. Applicants admitted to Canada in 2019 who had three years or more post-secondary credential ($69,000) had slightly higher median employment earnings than those admitted in 2017 ($65,400) and 2018 ($67,700). Similar trend was seen among those applicants who had one or two years of post-secondary credential. On the other hand, applicants admitted to Canada in 2019 without Canadian a post-secondary credential ($61,100) had slightly lower median employment earnings when compared to 2017 ($67,600) and 2018 ($64,700) admission cohorts.

Source: IMDB, 2021 update

Although the Arranged Employment additional points were reduced from 600 points to 50 or 200 points in November 2016, due to processing times and lag between visa issuance and admission, there were small numbers of applicants who received 600 points for Arranged Employment for the 2017 and 2018 admission cohorts. As Table 59 demonstrates, applicants in senior manager roles admitted to Canada in 2017 ($236,300), 2018 ($262,100) and 2019 ($216,300) with arranged employment had a significantly higher median employment earnings two years after their arrival than those applicants with arranged employment in other occupations. Among the applicants with arranged employment, those admitted to Canada in 2016 ($55,500) and 2017 ($53,900) had higher median employment earnings than those admitted in 2015 ($50,300). However, the 2018 admission cohort had slightly lower median employment earnings ($49,600) than the 2015, 2016 and 2017 admission cohorts. Lastly, the 2019 admission cohort ($59,100) has the lowest median employment earnings among the admission cohorts that did not have Arranged Employment.

Source: IMDB, 2021 update

As seen in Table 60, bilingual applicants in the 2017 admission cohort had a higher median employment earnings than unilingual French language speakers two years after admission. However, unilingual French language speakers in the 2018, and 2019 admission cohorts had a slightly higher median employment earnings two years after admission than their bilingual counterparts (Table 60). Moreover, it was also seen that applicants without siblings in Canada (Table 61) had a higher median employment earnings two years after admission than their counterparts with siblings in Canada.

Source: IMDB, 2021 update

Source: IMDB, 2021 update

Conclusion

In 2023, in the eighth year of its operation, the EE application management system continued to provide a pathway to permanent residence for a range of highly-skilled candidates who demonstrated the potential to successfully integrate and contribute to Canada’s economy. The EE system will continue to be a key component of IRCC’s Strategy to Expand Transitions to Permanent Residency, which was tabled in Parliament on September 20, 2022 and supports the achievement of the Minister’s mandate commitment to expand permanent residence pathways for international students and temporary foreign workers to strengthen Canada’s ability to meet a range of labour needs and address long-term labour shortages.

Since category-based selection enhancements were only implemented in June 2023, this year’s EE Year-End Report reported on the early, partial year category-based selection results for the six categories launched to help address labour shortages and support economic growth through Francophone immigration. The Department will continue to monitor EE and category-based selection and to explore ways the system could be used to ensure that Canada continues to derive maximum benefit from economic immigration in a rapidly evolving environment.