Express Entry Draws 2026 — Live Tracker

This table shows the 20 most recent Express Entry rounds of invitations. The data comes from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and updates automatically after each round.

• Draw: IRCC’s sequential round number.
• Date: the day the invitations were issued.
• Category: the type of round: provincial nominee, Canadian Experience Class, or a category such as French-language proficiency.
• Invitations: how many people received an invitation to apply (ITA) in that round.
• CRS cut-off: the CRS score of the lowest-ranked person invited in that round.

Read the last column carefully. The cut-off is not a threshold anyone applies to meet. IRCC starts at the top of the ranked list and works down until the invitations run out; the last person’s score becomes the figure in this column. It is known after the round, not before, and the next round can close higher or lower.

Why do the numbers differ so much?

Every round invites from the same pool, but each round sees only part of it. IRCC first decides who is eligible for that round, then invites the highest scores among them. So 760 in one row and 382 two rows below it is not a contradiction; it is two separate competitions with two different populations.

The table shows three kinds of round: provincial nominee, Canadian Experience Class and category-based. IRCC can also hold a general round, which invites eligible candidates from all three programs together; none was held between 24 June and 3 September 2026. Every figure below comes from the rounds in that window.

Provincial nominee rounds: why above 700?

A provincial nomination adds 600 points. A candidate nominated with 100 points sits in the pool at 700. That is why the cut-off in provincial nominee rounds ran between 697 and 768 in this window. Without a nomination the highest possible score is 695 (600 in the core section plus the other 95 additional points), so nobody without a nomination reaches these rows, or competes in them.

Canadian Experience Class rounds

Only candidates eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) count in these rounds: at least one year of skilled work inside Canada within the past three years. The cut-off ran between 516 and 523 in this window. If you are outside Canada, these rows are not for you either; not because your score is low, but because you are not in this competition at all.

Category-based rounds

Here the competition is limited to one category and the cut-off drops noticeably. The 2026 categories IRCC has announced:

• French-language proficiency
• Healthcare and social services occupations
• Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations
• Trade occupations
• Education occupations
• Transport occupations
• Physicians with Canadian work experience
• Senior managers with Canadian work experience
• Researchers with Canadian work experience
• Skilled military recruits

The effect shows in the table: French-language proficiency rounds closed between 382 and 420 in this window, transport occupations at 470 and healthcare at 475. The physicians category went as low as 198, but that category is open only to physicians with Canadian work experience.

Two points. First, the list is not fixed: agriculture and agri-food, a category in earlier years, is no longer on it. The details are in Express Entry categories: the current list. Second, an invitation in a category needs two things: eligibility for one of the three Express Entry programs, and every requirement of that round. In the occupation categories, that means at least 12 months of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time) within the past three years in one of the occupations on that category’s list. A related job on its own is not enough.

What does this table say about your score?

The right way to read it: first cross out the rows you are not eligible for, then compare your score with the rest, across several consecutive rounds rather than one.

For someone outside Canada with no nomination, no Canadian work experience and no French, the provincial, CEC, French-language and “with Canadian work experience” rows are all crossed out. What remains is the category rounds tied to their occupation: healthcare, STEM, trades, education or transport. If their occupation is in none of those, there is no row in this table for them yet. That has to be said plainly, because planning around the wrong rows wastes years.

If the gap between you and your own rows is a few dozen points, language is usually the fastest way to close it: CLB 9 in all four abilities gives direct points and opens the skill transferability blocks. If the gap is more than 100 points, three real paths remain: French to NCLC 7 in all four abilities, which gives up to 50 additional points and opens the French-language rows; a provincial nomination; or reaching Canada first on a study or work permit and building Canadian work experience.

Job offer points no longer exist

Since 25 March 2025 a job offer carries no CRS points: neither the 50 for skilled occupations nor the 200 for senior management. The change also applied to candidates already in the pool. If the number in your head was calculated with a job offer, recalculate without it. A job offer still carries weight elsewhere: the 67-point grid for entry to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, many provincial streams, and work permits. We explain this in job offer CRS points removed: what changed and what to do now.

What is a CRS score made of?

The ceiling is 1,200, divided like this:

The core subtotal never goes above 600, even with an accompanying spouse. The additional section is also capped at 600, and a provincial nomination alone gives that 600; the other items add up to 95. The detailed grid for each section is on the CRS calculator page.

What score do I need for Express Entry?

There is no fixed number. There are two separate stages. First, becoming eligible: for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, one year of skilled work experience and language at CLB 7, plus at least 67 points out of 100 on the selection grid; for the Canadian Experience Class, one year of skilled work inside Canada within the past three years (see Canada Express Entry: CRS points and eligibility). Then ranking by CRS in the pool. At that second stage, the score you “need” is the cut-off of the rounds you are eligible for, and that number changes every round.

The practical answer has four steps:

1. Calculate your CRS score without a job offer.
2. Work out which rounds you belong in: a provincial nomination? Canadian work experience? French at NCLC 7 in all four abilities? An occupation in one of the categories?
3. Compare your number only with the rows of those rounds, across several recent rounds.
4. Measure the gap and choose the lever: language for a small gap; French, a nomination or Canadian experience for a large one.

When should I enter the pool?

When you are eligible and the documents are ready: a valid language test result and an educational credential assessment. Entering early has two advantages. First, if several people tie at the cut-off, the date and time the profile was submitted decides, and updating the profile does not change that date. Second, rounds are held through the year at irregular intervals, as the dates in the table show, and only someone who is in the pool at that moment is invited.

Once in the pool, every change (a new language test, a new credential, a marriage) must be recorded in the profile. A profile stays in the pool for at most 12 months; if you are not invited in that time it expires, and to stay in the pool you must create a new one. After an invitation you have only 60 days to submit a complete permanent residence application; if that passes, the invitation lapses and the profile is removed from the pool.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum Express Entry score?

There is no fixed figure. Each round’s cut-off is the score of the last person invited in that round, and it depends on the type of round. In the rounds from 24 June to 3 September 2026 it ranged from 198 in the physicians with Canadian work experience round to 768 in a provincial nominee round. The number that matters to you is the cut-off of the rounds you are eligible for.

Why are provincial nominee cut-offs above 700?

Because a provincial nomination adds 600 points. Without a nomination the highest possible score is 695, so these rows are filled only by people who hold one.

Can I be invited with a score around 400?

Only in a category-based round you are eligible for. In the rounds from 24 June to 3 September 2026, the rows that closed around that level or lower were French-language proficiency (382 to 420), senior managers with Canadian work experience (392), skilled military recruits (368) and physicians with Canadian work experience (198 and 223). Without one of those, 400 has no row in this table. And nobody knows future rounds in advance.

Does a job offer still carry CRS points?

No. Since 25 March 2025 both the 50 and the 200 points are gone, for candidates already in the pool as well. A job offer still counts for eligibility, in provincial programs and for a work permit.

How long do I have after an invitation?

60 days. Within that time you must submit a complete permanent residence application with all documents. If you neither decline nor submit, the invitation expires and the profile is removed from the pool; to return, you must create a new profile.

Before comparing yourself with this table, get your real number: calculate your CRS score with the Aval Visa calculator, with no job-offer field and based on IRCC’s official grid.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and it describes IRCC’s published rules rather than any individual case. Hadi Imani is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, licence R522575, practising in Toronto; that licence covers Canadian immigration only.

Related reading

• Canada Express Entry: CRS points and eligibility
• Express Entry categories: the current list and the shift behind it
• Job offer CRS points removed: what changed and what to do now

Sources

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Express Entry rounds of invitations, Government of Canada. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Category-based selection, Government of Canada. Retrieved 4 September 2026.