Express Entry 2024 Insights: ITA Trends by Occupation, Work Experience, and Country

The Canada Express Entry 2024 highlights the importance of foreign work experience for permanent residence in Canada. In 2024, CEC candidates received the majority of Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry, and the majority of the ITAs went to in-Canada candidates. By country of citizenship, Indians received the most number of ITAs.

Which Express Entry Program Issued the Most Invitations?

A look at Express Entry ITA statistics

Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws issued the highest number of ITAs (26,500 ITAs).  The French-language proficiency category issued the second-highest number of ITAs (23,000 ITAs) and had the lowest average CRS cut-off score among all Express Entry programs. The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws through Express Entry, issued 15,483 ITAs, and it had the highest average CRS cut-off, at 725 points.

In addition to the major draws, IRCC also conducted several other draws, such as

• General (all program) draw: Cut-off score 536, ITAs issued 14,445
• Healthcare Occupations: Cut-off score 443, ITAs issued 10,250
• STEM Occupations: Cut-off score 491, ITAs issued 4,500
• Trade Occupations: Cut-off score 435, ITAs issued 3,600
• Transport Occupations: Cut-off score 430, ITAs issued 975
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Occupations: Cut-off score 437, ITAs issued 150

As of 2025, December 15, the largest number of ITAs issued to date is in the French-language proficiency draw (42,000 ITAs issued), and the second largest is in the CEC draw.

Express Entry work experience trends

The 2024 Express Entry data reflects that applicants with a mix of both Canadian work experience and foreign work experience were most successful in receiving ITAs. More than half of the invited candidates (56%) were those who had two years of Canadian work experience or less, while only 1% of candidates with no foreign work experience or less than a year of experience were invited. This statistic shows even though long-term Canadian employment was not a prerequisite for getting an invitation, as Express Entry competition increased, both Canadian work experience and foreign experience became important for strengthening the CRS score.

It is interesting to note that 34% of candidates who received ITAs in 2024 had never worked in Canada at all.  These candidates were invited into a category-based draw, which required them to have only French-language proficiency at NCLC level 7 or at least six months of skilled work experience, either in Canada or in a foreign country in an eligible National Occupation Classification (NOC). Further, this experience had to be included alongside the standard eligibility requirements under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) or the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

In 2024, candidates without Canadian work experience were selected only through the general draws, which resulted in few ITAs, and applicants had to compete with CEC candidates. In 2025, IRCC has not conducted a single general Express Entry draw.

IT and healthcare professionals lead in receiving ITAs, but general work experience drives the selection process.
The most frequent invitees in 2024 were:

• Software engineers and designers
• Food service supervisors
• Software developers and programmers
• Administrative assistants

STEM and healthcare professions were given priority in the 2024 Express Entry occupation-based lists. The food service and administrative jobs were not in the 2024 Express Entry occupation-targeted lists, which indicates that they were invited through the general draws or CEC draws. Around two-thirds of ITAs went to other professions, which shows that more than specific work experience in a targeted NOC, selection was driven by overall profile strength.

India top source country Express Entry Invitations

The Express Entry invitations favoured in-Canada candidates (nearly 69% of candidates receiving invitations), reinforcing IRCC's focus on transitioning the temporary residents into permanent residents to address the labour shortage. By country of residence, after Canada (no. of ITAs issued – 67,817), the Federal Republic of Cameroon (no. of ITAs issued – 8,999), India (no. of ITAs issued – 3,104), Nigeria (no. of ITAs issued – 3,088), Morocco (no. of ITAs issued – 1,770), and Algeria (no. of ITAs issued – 1,621) topped the list. By citizenship, India leads, accounting for 43,004 ITAs for the third consecutive year, followed by the Federal Republic of Cameroon, Nigeria, China, and the Philippines.

Immilaw Global, can help the prospective immigrants by offering expert guidance on eligibility, methods to strengthen the profiles etc., by understanding the program priorities to improve the chances of receiving an ITA and achieving permanent residence in Canada.

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