The immigration minister wants Canada would attract foreign nationals with specific in-demand work experience and proficiencies.
In 2024, IRCC has chosen to prioritize candidates with the following work experience and language proficiencies through category-based draws:
- Healthcare occupations
- Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) occupations
- Trades occupations
- Transport occupations
- Agriculture and Agri-Food occupations
- French-language proficiency
While IRCC chose all six of these categories as priorities for this new draw type, the number of ITAs issued to candidates in each category also varied greatly in the last year.
- Healthcare: 9,100 ITAs
- STEM: 10,900 ITAs
- Trades: 2,500 ITAs
- Transport: 2,645 ITAs
- Agriculture and Agri-Food: 1,150 ITAs
- French-language proficiency: 21,100 ITAs
What’s ahead for the rest of 2024?
In April, IRCC had already outlined its overall plan for ITA distribution between these six categories for 2024 as follows:
- Healthcare: 15%
- STEM: 25%
- Trades: 5%
- Transport: 3%
- Agriculture and Agri-Food: 0.5%
- French-language proficiency: 30%
IRCC also indicated that 78.5% of all Express Entry ITAs will be issued to category-based draw candidates while the remaining 21.5% of ITAs will be issued in general draws throughout the year.