Third Express Entry draw of the week invites 5,900 STEM candidates

Surya Rathee
[Published 09 Dec, 2023 | 05:17 AM]
About Author - 4 min read
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has conducted a new Express Entry draw.

The Express Entry latest draw held on December 08, 2023, issued 5,900 invitations in a category-based selection draw for candidates with professional experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Occupations. Candidates required a minimum CRS score of 481 to be considered for an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

Today’s draw is the third of the week. Yesterday, on December 7th, IRCC invited 1,000 candidates with a CRS of 470, in a targeted draw for the French Language Proficiency category. The day before (Dec 06) 4,750 candidates with a CRS score of 561 were invited in an All-Program draw.

This week's draws were the first Express Entry draws in more than a month.

Express Entry Eligibility Checker

Express Entry Draw #274

Type of draw: STEM Occupations (2023-1)

• Number of invitations issued: 5,900*
• Rank required to be invited to apply: 5,900 or above
• Date and time of round: December 08, 2023 at 03:02:52 UTC
• CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 481
• Tie-breaking rule: November 25, 2023 at 09:48:36 UTC

If more than one candidate has the lowest score, the cut-off is based on the date and time they submitted their Express Entry profiles.

*Invitations to apply to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades Program may be issued through this round of invitations.

STEM Occupations category eligibility

To be eligible to apply under the STEM Occupations category, you must:

• Meet the eligibility criteria of one of the Express Entry streams: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, or Canadian Experience Class.
• Have at least 6 months of full-time, continuous work experience within the past 3 years in Canada or abroad, in one of the 24 NOCs targeted for the STEM Occupations category.
• Meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round.

Professions targeted for the STEM Occupations category

This was the second STEM Occupations draw conducted by IRCC in 2023 since category-based selection draws were announced in May. The previous one #254 was held on July 05.

On May 31, former Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser announced the launch of category-based selection draws for candidates applying under the federal Express Entry system. STEM Occupations are one of the six newly announced categories for Express Entry draws to be conducted in 2023 and beyond.

At the end of 2022 Q4, the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services category had 56,915 job vacancies in Canada. Provinces like Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia had the greatest demand for professionals in STEM related fields. STEM professionals have emerged as pillars of Canada's evolving economy.

Source: canada.ca