If you’re a STEM professional hoping to immigrate to Canada through Express Entry in 2025, you may be wondering when the next STEM draw will happen. The short answer: it could not happen in 2025.
While category-based draws for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers were introduced with a lot of optimism in 2023, they’ve been rare ever since. In 2023, there were just two STEM draws, followed by a single one in 2024, and so far in 2025, none at all.
The 2025 Immigration Levels Plan, published at the end of 2024, confirmed that STEM was not selected as a priority category for 2025. Instead, IRCC is focusing on other selection categories such as health care, trades (although we haven’t seen a trade draw either) and French proficiency.
That doesn’t mean STEM candidates are out of options. Far from it. Thousands of STEM professionals continue to receive ITAs each year, just not necessarily through STEM-specific draws. And there’s good news on the horizon: recent consultations suggest STEM will return as a category in 2026.
