Current to round 444 · 19 September 2026

Express Entry draws in 2026.

Every round IRCC has held this year, with the CRS cutoff, the number of invitations, and what the pattern actually shows. Figures come straight from the IRCC dataset, unadjusted.

Latest round
Round
444
Date
16 Sep 2026
Stream
Senior managers with Canadian work experience
Invitations
250
CRS cutoff
389
54
rounds held in 2026
128,227
invitations issued
9
streams drawn from
0
all-program rounds
What the numbers show

French is the cheapest door into Canada right now.

French-language proficiency rounds account for 59,000 of 128,227 invitations this year, roughly 46 percent of everything IRCC has issued. They have run at cutoffs between 382 and 420. Over the same period the Canadian Experience Class has run between 507 and 523.

At today's numbers that is a 137 point gap. The same candidate, same age, same degree, same work history, needs 137 fewer points if they can prove French at the required level. Nothing else in the system moves a file that far.

The second largest channel is the Canadian Experience Class at 45,250 invitations, then healthcare and social services at 11,500. Between them, French and the Canadian Experience Class account for four out of every five invitations issued in 2026.

By stream

Where the 128,227 invitations went.

Every invitation issued in 2026, grouped by the stream that issued it.

Express Entry invitations issued by stream in 2026 Horizontal bar chart. French-language proficiency leads with 59,000 invitations. Full figures are in the table below. French-language proficiency French-language proficiency: 59,000 invitations across 11 rounds 59,000 Canadian Experience Class Canadian Experience Class: 45,250 invitations across 15 rounds 45,250 Healthcare and social services Healthcare and social services: 11,500 invitations across 3 rounds 11,500 Provincial Nominee Program Provincial Nominee Program: 7,282 invitations across 16 rounds 7,282 Trades occupations Trades occupations: 3,000 invitations across 1 round 3,000 Senior managers Senior managers: 1,000 invitations across 3 rounds 1,000 Physicians Physicians: 891 invitations across 3 rounds 891 Transport occupations Transport occupations: 300 invitations across 1 round 300 Skilled military recruits Skilled military recruits: 4 invitations across 1 round 4
Invitations issued per stream, 1 January to 16 September 2026. Source: IRCC rounds of invitations.
Current cutoffs

Where each stream sits today.

The most recent cutoff for every stream IRCC has drawn from this year, with the full range it has moved through.

StreamLatest cutoffLatestRange in 2026RangeRoundsInvitationsInvitesLast round
French-language proficiency382382 to 4201159,00019 August 2026
Canadian Experience Class519507 to 5231545,25015 September 2026
Healthcare and social services475467 to 475311,5004 September 2026
Provincial Nominee Program734697 to 805167,28214 September 2026
Trades occupations47747713,0002 April 2026
Senior managers389389 to 42931,00016 September 2026
Physicians198169 to 22338913 September 2026
Transport occupations47047013007 August 2026
Skilled military recruits3683681423 July 2026

Provincial Nominee Program cutoffs include the 600 points a provincial nomination adds. A cutoff of 734 means a base score near 134. Do not compare that column to the others without making that adjustment.

The trend

The Canadian Experience Class cutoff has been climbing.

It opened the year at 509 and has spent the second half of 2026 above 515.

Canadian Experience Class CRS cutoff through 2026 Line chart of 15 Canadian Experience Class rounds. The cutoff moves from 509 in January to 519 in September, peaking at 523. Full figures are in the table below. 500 510 520 530 21 Jan 17 Mar 28 Apr 7 Jul 18 Aug 15 Sep 21 January 2026: CRS 509, 6,000 invitations 17 February 2026: CRS 508, 6,000 invitations 3 March 2026: CRS 508, 4,000 invitations 17 March 2026: CRS 507, 4,000 invitations 31 March 2026: CRS 509, 2,250 invitations 14 April 2026: CRS 515, 2,000 invitations 28 April 2026: CRS 514, 2,000 invitations 27 May 2026: CRS 518, 3,000 invitations 23 June 2026: CRS 516, 4,000 invitations 7 July 2026: CRS 517, 2,000 invitations 21 July 2026: CRS 516, 2,000 invitations 5 August 2026: CRS 516, 3,000 invitations 18 August 2026: CRS 523, 1,000 invitations 1 September 2026: CRS 521, 2,000 invitations 15 September 2026: CRS 519, 2,000 invitations 523 519 509
CRS cutoff at each Canadian Experience Class round in 2026. Source: IRCC rounds of invitations.

The low point was 507 in March. The high was 523 in August. It sits at 519 now. That is a tight band, but it moves in one direction, and a candidate sitting at 505 in January is further from an invitation today than they were then.

Full history

Every 2026 round.

All 54 rounds, newest first. Scroll the table on a phone.

RoundDateStreamCRS cutoffCRSInvitationsInvites
44416 Sep 2026Senior managers389250
44315 Sep 2026Canadian Experience Class5192,000
44214 Sep 2026Provincial Nominee Program734576
4414 Sep 2026Healthcare and social services4753,500
4403 Sep 2026Physicians198229
4391 Sep 2026Canadian Experience Class5212,000
43831 Aug 2026Provincial Nominee Program697562
43719 Aug 2026French-language proficiency3825,000
43618 Aug 2026Canadian Experience Class5231,000
43517 Aug 2026Provincial Nominee Program760442
4347 Aug 2026Transport occupations470300
4336 Aug 2026French-language proficiency3915,000
4325 Aug 2026Canadian Experience Class5163,000
4314 Aug 2026Provincial Nominee Program768507
43023 Jul 2026Skilled military recruits3684
42922 Jul 2026French-language proficiency3995,000
42821 Jul 2026Canadian Experience Class5162,000
42720 Jul 2026Provincial Nominee Program744511
42610 Jul 2026Senior managers392500
4259 Jul 2026French-language proficiency4205,000
4247 Jul 2026Canadian Experience Class5172,000
4236 Jul 2026Provincial Nominee Program708534
42225 Jun 2026Healthcare and social services4754,000
42124 Jun 2026Physicians223271
42023 Jun 2026Canadian Experience Class5164,000
41922 Jun 2026Provincial Nominee Program730955
41828 May 2026French-language proficiency4094,500
41727 May 2026Canadian Experience Class5183,000
41625 May 2026Provincial Nominee Program805334
41511 May 2026Provincial Nominee Program798380
41429 Apr 2026French-language proficiency4004,000
41328 Apr 2026Canadian Experience Class5142,000
41227 Apr 2026Provincial Nominee Program795473
41115 Apr 2026French-language proficiency4194,000
41014 Apr 2026Canadian Experience Class5152,000
40913 Apr 2026Provincial Nominee Program786324
4082 Apr 2026Trades occupations4773,000
40731 Mar 2026Canadian Experience Class5092,250
40630 Mar 2026Provincial Nominee Program802356
40518 Mar 2026French-language proficiency3934,000
40417 Mar 2026Canadian Experience Class5074,000
40316 Mar 2026Provincial Nominee Program742362
4025 Mar 2026Senior managers429250
4014 Mar 2026French-language proficiency3975,500
4003 Mar 2026Canadian Experience Class5084,000
3992 Mar 2026Provincial Nominee Program710264
39820 Feb 2026Healthcare and social services4674,000
39719 Feb 2026Physicians169391
39617 Feb 2026Canadian Experience Class5086,000
39516 Feb 2026Provincial Nominee Program789279
3946 Feb 2026French-language proficiency4008,500
3933 Feb 2026Provincial Nominee Program749423
39221 Jan 2026Canadian Experience Class5096,000
39120 Jan 2026French-language proficiency3988,500
Read it properly

Three things this table does not tell you.

A cutoff is not a target

It is the score of the lowest ranked person invited on that day. It is set after the fact by how many people IRCC decided to invite, not before it by a rule. It tells you what happened, not what will happen.

Small categories swing hard

The physicians rounds cleared at 169 and 223 because the eligible pool is tiny. One quiet month changes that number more than any policy does. Read the small categories as noisy.

The door may not be open at all

No all-program round and no Federal Skilled Worker round has run in 2026. If a candidate is outside the Canadian Experience Class, a provincial nomination and the nine categories, Express Entry has had nothing for them this year.

Questions

Express Entry draws, answered.

What CRS score do I need for Express Entry right now?

It depends entirely on which stream invites you. In 2026 the Canadian Experience Class has run between 507 and 523 and sits at 519 today. French-language proficiency rounds have run between 382 and 420. Physicians rounds have gone as low as 169. There is no single number, which is why the table on this page is broken out by stream.

Why are Provincial Nominee Program cutoffs above 700?

A provincial nomination adds 600 points to a profile. So a PNP cutoff of 734 usually means a base score near 134. PNP cutoffs are not comparable to Canadian Experience Class or category cutoffs and should never be quoted side by side without that adjustment.

Has IRCC run any all-program Express Entry draws in 2026?

No. All 54 rounds so far in 2026 have been Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nominee Program, or one of the category-based selections. There have been no all-program rounds and no Federal Skilled Worker rounds. A candidate who falls outside those streams has had no route through Express Entry this year.

Which Express Entry category issued the most invitations in 2026?

French-language proficiency, by a wide margin. It accounts for 59,000 of 128,227 invitations, roughly 46 percent of everything issued this year, at cutoffs well below the Canadian Experience Class.

How often does IRCC hold Express Entry draws?

There is no fixed schedule. In 2026 rounds have arrived in clusters, often two or three on consecutive days, followed by a gap of two to three weeks. IRCC announces each round after it happens and does not publish the date in advance.

Where does the data on this page come from?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Every figure is taken from the official rounds of invitations dataset that IRCC publishes and updates after each round. We do not adjust or estimate any of it.

Source and method

Every figure on this page comes from the rounds of invitations dataset published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which IRCC updates after each round. We reproduce it without adjustment, estimate or interpolation. Where we draw a conclusion from the numbers, the numbers are on this page so you can check it.

IRCC rounds of invitations · Current to round 444, 19 September 2026. We refresh this page after each round.

Nova System Inc. builds software for Canadian immigration firms. We are not a licensed immigration representative and nothing on this page is legal or immigration advice. For advice on your own file, speak to an RCIC or a Canadian immigration lawyer.

Your firm should not be reading this table by hand.

Meridian watches every round, tells you which clients just became competitive, and drafts the follow up. See it on a real case.

More on Meridian Intelligence

Join the waitlist

We are not adding new firms until the next version is ready to release. Tell us about your practice and you go on the list. You hear from us first when it opens, with a walkthrough on a real file.

You are on the list.

We have your details. You will hear from us first when the next version opens.