French Proficiency Likely to Continue Leading in Express Entry Category-Based Draws

IRCC has released new summary data on category-based Express Entry draws, alongside a public survey on future priorities.

To make the data clearer, we visualized the share of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) by category for 2023 and 2024.

What stands out is that in 2024, 49% of all category-based ITAs went to French-speaking candidates, compared to 24% for healthcare professionals. This marks a significant increase from 2023, when 30% of ITAs went to French-speaking candidates.

Looking ahead, Canada’s immigration plan increases French-language targets to 8.5% of overall PR admissions in 2025, 9.5% in 2026, and 10% in 2027. Even with the possible introduction of new categories, such as senior managers, researchers, scientists, or members of the Canadian Armed Forces, French-proficiency candidates appear likely to maintain the strongest advantage in category-based selection.