Is Canada losing its reputation as a top attraction for immigrants? These stats tell you it's the opposite

Canada remains a top choice for immigrants around the globe, thanks to its breathtaking landscapes and high quality of life.

Reflecting this growing interest, Canada issued 1,10,266 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) over 42 Express Entry draws between January 11 and December 21, 2023, marking a significant increase of 136 per cent over 2022’s 46,539, according to the newly released Express Entry Year-End report for 2023.

More than double the number of ITAs were issued in Express Entry draws in 2023 compared to 2022.


Overall, there were 4,88,571 profiles submitted. Of these 3,43,875 (67%) were eligible while 1,44,696 (33%) were not, says CIC report.

Express Entry is an application management system designed to facilitate expedited processing for economic immigration applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP). It uses the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to score and rank candidates, assigning each candidate a score out of 1200. Those with high scores are the most likely to receive an ITA.

Further, 2023 saw the introduction of category-based selection draws. These draws consider candidates from all Express Entry programs but target them based on their occupation, or language ability.

India, the biggest source of Express Entry ITA recipients
India is the biggest source country of Express Entry ITA recipients by citizenship, followed by Nigeria and China.

As seen in 2022, most candidates who received ITAs in 2023 listed Canada as their country of residence (76,791). India once again fell into the second spot (7,394), as per the report. These numbers measure country of residence, not country of citizenship.

Meanwhile, Pakistan received 1,173 ITAs despite not appearing in the top 10 countries in 2022.

Based on occupation:
A candidate's work experience influences their eligibility for Express Entry, with certain occupations being in higher demand or having a greater chance of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA).

“In 2023, A significant number of ITAs went to Express Entry candidates in computer, tech, and finance occupations. However, 48% of all ITAs went to candidates in “other” occupations not listed in the report.”

For the second time in a row, software engineers and designers were the most likely to receive an ITA (7,259) followed by software developers and programmers (5,183).

The report says, among the 15 occupations listed in the report, 10 of them are classified as TEER 1 under the National Occupation Classification (NOC) system. These occupations typically require a university degree.