Express Entry Draw #349 – June 04, 2025 – Healthcare and social services occupations
Express Entry Draw Update: Healthcare and Social Services Occupations – June 4, 2025
Canada continues its commitment to strengthening the healthcare and social services sectors with another targeted Express Entry draw held on June 4, 2025. This is the second draw for this stream in 2025. The draws focused specifically on healthcare and social services occupations, reaffirming the country’s prioritization of essential workers amid ongoing workforce shortages.
Draw Highlights
- Category: Healthcare and Social Services Occupations (Version 2)
- Date and Time: June 4, 2025
- Number of Invitations Issued: 500
- CRS Score of Lowest-Ranked Candidate Invited: 504
- Rank Required to be Invited: 500 or above
- Tie-Breaking Rule Applied: March 31, 2025, at 06:47:23 UTC
What This Means
This draw is part of Canada’s category-based selection draws, a program introduced in 2023 to meet specific labour market needs. By focusing on occupations such as nurses, physicians, social workers, and allied health professionals, IRCC is directly targeting applicants with skills urgently needed across the country.
A CRS cut-off score of 504 indicates a moderately competitive pool. While it is higher than in some general draws, it’s notably lower than previous thresholds for Federal Skilled Worker-only invitations, making it a significant opportunity for healthcare professionals.
Why Healthcare and Social Services?
Canada is facing an acute shortage in the healthcare workforce, particularly in rural and aging communities. Provinces have consistently highlighted the need for international healthcare professionals to fill gaps in:
- Registered nursing
- Home support and personal care work
- Licensed practical nursing
- Social work
- Mental health and counselling services
This targeted draw ensures skilled professionals are prioritized for permanent residency, helping to stabilize and support Canada’s healthcare infrastructure.
Tie-Breaking Explained
The tie-breaking rule ensures fairness when multiple candidates have the same CRS score. In this round, candidates with a score of 504 were only invited if they submitted their Express Entry profile on or before March 31, 2025, at 06:47:23 UTC.
What to Do If You’re Eligible
If you work in a healthcare or social services role and are considering permanent residence in Canada:
- Ensure your Express Entry profile is active and accurate.
- Select your NOC code properly under the updated TEER system.
- Gather supporting documents such as proof of education, employment letters, and language test results.
- Monitor future category-based draws—IRCC might continue to invite candidates in high-demand occupations.
What’s Next?
With only 500 invitations in this round, competition remains high. However, the recurring nature of occupation-specific draws signals more opportunities ahead. IRCC is expected to continue regular category-based selections throughout 2025 across sectors including:
- Healthcare
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
- Skilled trades
- Education occupations
- Agriculture and agri-food
Conclusion
The June 4, 2025 draw once again highlights Canada’s strategy to prioritize long-term economic and social needs through immigration. For healthcare professionals worldwide, this is a call to action—Canada needs you, and now is the time to position yourself for permanent residency through the Express Entry system.
Want to know more?
If you want to know more about Express Entry’s eligibility and requirements, please call Makeway Immigration at 778-385-2294