8 top Canada immigration trends for 2025

Image credit: Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

If you are planning to immigrate to Canada under the Canadian Experience Class, here are some trends that you might wish to pay attention to – especially with a new government in charge in Ottawa.

1. The Express Entry draw in May this year required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 547, the highest cut-off so far in 2025.

2. This comes against the backdrop of Canada’s diminished permanent residency target, down from 485,000 in 2024 to 395,000 this year.

3. IRCC is likely to focus on candidates already in Canada, such as those who possess in-demand skills or have provincial nominations.

4. Based on current Canadian workplace needs, nearly 40,000 spots are expected to be allotted to category-based draws targeting candidates with work experience in occupations such as trades, education, STEM and healthcare.

5. Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-offs are likely to hold steady in 2025.

6. Draws focused on Francophone candidates are expected grow larger. It’s to be noted that French-profiency draws required lower CRS) cut-off – 379 in March this year. In comparison, the Healthcare and Education draws in May this year required a CRS cut-off of 510 and 479 respectively.

7. As of March 2025, no additional CRS points are being offered for a job offer.

8. Canada has over 852,700 permanent residency applications in the pipeline. That’s two years worth of IRCC targets. So Canada is in no hurrry and is paying attention to candidates who fit in with the government’s socio-economic objectives.