After nearly a year, the first trades draw for Express Entry was held on September 18th 2025. This draw has allowed 1,250 candidates from Express Entry’s trade category to apply for their Permanent Residency (PR).
The minimum CRS points were stated to be 505, which makes it higher compared to other category-based Express Entry draws. Given such circumstances, the department has announced that more draws will take place before the end of the year to boost the chances of receiving an ITA.
Recent ATIP reveals that IRCC planned to give out 3,300 invitations to apply (ITAs) during the second half of 2025, meaning that although not guaranteed 2,050 applicants remain for the next draw(s).
Profiles Eligible for an ITA
To build a profile eligible for Express Entry draws, CRS points surpassing the cut-off and minimum requirement need to be collected. Here are a list of factors that play a critical part in increasing your CRS points.
| CRS Scoring Factor | Estimated Amount of Points | Explanation |
| Age | ~110 | Younger candidates get more points. Points decrease with age, especially after 29. |
| Education | ~150 | Higher degrees (Master’s, PhD) get more points. Lower education gets fewer points. |
| Official languages proficiency (English) | ~136 | Higher language test scores (IELTS, CELPIP, TEF) give more points. Moderate or low scores reduce points. |
| Canadian Work Experience | ~80 | More years of skilled Canadian work experience earn more points. Less experience earns fewer points. |
| Education in Canada | ~30 | Completing a Canadian diploma, degree, or certificate adds extra points. |
| Brother or sister living in Canada | ~15 | Having a sibling (18+ years, citizen or PR) in Canada adds points. |
| Skill Transferability* | Estimated Amount of Points | Explanation |
| Post-secondary degree + Language ability | ~50 | Combines your education level with your language test results. Higher language scores with higher degrees = max points. |
| Canadian work experience + post-secondary degree | ~50 | Rewards having both Canadian work experience and a post-secondary degree. More years/levels give more points. |
| Foreign work experience + Language proficiency | ~50 | If you have skilled work experience outside Canada and high language scores, you get additional points. Low scores reduce points. |
| Foreign work experience + Canadian work experience | ~50 | Combines international and Canadian work experience. Longer experience in both = higher points. |
| Certificate of qualification + Official language ability | ~50 | For trades applicants: having a Canadian certificate in your trade plus good language ability increases points. |
*Note that skill transferability can only be a total of 100 points, meaning even if an individual gets 50 in all criteria, only a 100 can be submitted.
