Canada to Prioritize In-Canada Applicants in 2025 Express Entry Category-Based Draws

IRCC announced Express Entry 2025 priority categories to fill Canada’s long-term labour shortage. They have also added one more category, Education, under the Category-based Express Entry selection.

The following are all the categories eligible under Category-based Express Entry selection:

• French-language proficiency
• Healthcare and social services occupations
• Trade occupations
• Education occupations
• Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations (deprioritized)
• Agriculture and agri-food occupations (deprioritized)

Key Highlights of the Announcement

• More In-Canada Applicants: According to the new announcement, IRCC will focus more on inviting candidates who are already in Canada. Thus, we can expect more draws of CEC (Canadian Experience Class).
• Priority Categories: To meet up with Canada’s labour shortage, IRCC will conduct draws of major categories such as health care, construction and education.
• French Language Proficiency: IRCC will continue giving preference to candidates with strong French language skills, to support and strengthen Francophone communities outside Quebec.
• New Category Added: IRCC also added a new category i.e. Education, to the category-based draws list.

What happened with deprioritized STEM and Agriculture categories?

We can still see these categories on the IRCC website’s Category-based selections page, which means it's still possible that we would see draws from these categories, but these are not the top prioritized picks of IRCC for 2025.

What Are Express Entry Category-Based Draws?

Under category-based Express Entry draws, IRCC sends invitations to candidates with specific work experience, communication ability in the French language and education. These draws help to meet labour shortages in high-demand occupations.

If there are already enough candidates invited for a listed category, IRCC would not conduct another round of invitations for that category until demand arises.

Recent Category-Based Draws

The following are the recent category-based draws that happened within the last few months:

The majority of the recent category-based draws are for French language skills, so it’s best to learn French, to get invited under these category-based draws. There are many online websites/apps that you can use to learn French. ​​Duolingo is one of the famous ones.

Healthcare and social services - Eligible occupations

The following is the list of all eligible occupations under the Healthcare and social services category:

Trade - Eligible occupations

The following is the list of all eligible occupations under the Trade category:

Education - Eligible occupations

The following is the list of all eligible occupations under the Education category:

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) - Eligible occupations

The following is the list of all eligible occupations under the Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) category:

Agriculture and agri-food - Eligible occupations

The following is the list of all eligible occupations under the Agriculture and agri-food category:

Final Thoughts

Canada's 2025 Express Entry plans present more invitations to in-Canada skilled workers to achieve permanent residency faster. This approach will address labour shortages and strengthen Canada's economy.

If you're planning to apply for Express Entry in 2025, now is the time to gain Canadian work experience, improve your language skills, learn French and target in-demand occupations.

Stay tuned for more updates on Canada's latest immigration news and application tips!

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