Express Entry competition eases as over 4,000 top-scoring profiles leave the pool

Competition has finally begun to ease in the Express Entry pool, in the face of large draws and consistent candidate selections.

Over the last month, the number of top-scoring profiles (501 - 1200) has dropped by 4,928 profiles, down 18.2% from a high of 27,110 profiles just one month ago.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been able to remove 8,404 candidate profiles from the Express Entry pool—more than half of which (4,622 profiles) came from the 501-600 score range.

This reduction in the highest score bands marks a significant decrease in the current competitiveness of the pool.

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As a result, the total number of profiles in the Express Entry pool now stands at 237,302—the lowest number of candidates since March of this year.

This article will cover

The current composition of the Express Entry pool;
How your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score ranks against other candidates in the Express Entry pool; and
The draws that took place and the number of invitations to apply (ITAs) issued over the last month.

What is the current composition of the Express Entry pool?

The current distribution of profiles in the Express Entry pool is presented in the table below. For reference, the number of profiles is compared to the distribution on November 9, 2025 (the most recent data available before December 14).

CRS score range	Number of candidates as of December 14	Change in number of profiles as of November 9
0–300	8,069	51
301–350	18,829	-275
351–400	52,574	214
401–410	13,595	-454
411–420	12,367	-1,347
421–430	12,750	-126
431–440	14,244	-76
441–450	13,992	12
451-460	14,842	90
461–470	14,535	-1,295
471–480	14,859	-183
481–490	12,149	-166
491–500	12,315	79
501-600	21,792	-4,622
601–1,200	390	-306
Total	237,302	-8,404

As the data reveals, significant reductions were made across most of the top-scoring CRS score bands, with the greatest being at the 501-600, 461-470, and 411-420 ranges.

Reductions in these three score categories accounted for 86% of all profiles that were removed from the pool over the last month.

These three score bands were likely targeted by different draw types, which saw frequent, large selections over the last month.

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How does your Express Entry profile rank in the new candidate pool?

The following table shows both the percentage of candidates at each score band and the percentile ranking of each score band (as a range) relative to the rest of the pool.

These percentile ranges indicate the proportion of the pool that is below a given score range (for example, if a score band has a percentile score of between 95-99%, that means that candidates within that score range are in between the top 1-5% of all candidates in the pool). Percentile ranges are given based on the upper and lower bounds of each CRS score range.

This information can help candidates better understand how they are positioned within the pool.

CRS score range	Number of candidates	Percentage	Percentile range
0–300	8,069	3.40%	0.00% – 3.40%
301–350	18,829	7.93%	3.40% – 11.33%
351–400	52,574	22.15%	11.33% – 33.49%
401–410	13,595	5.73%	33.49% – 39.22%
411–420	12,367	5.21%	39.22% – 44.43%
421–430	12,750	5.37%	44.43% – 49.80%
431–440	14,244	6.00%	49.80% – 55.81%
441–450	13,992	5.90%	55.81% – 61.70%
451–460	14,842	6.25%	61.70% – 67.96%
461–470	14,535	6.13%	67.96% – 74.08%
471–480	14,859	6.26%	74.08% – 80.34%
481–490	12,149	5.12%	80.34% – 85.46%
491–500	12,315	5.19%	85.46% – 90.65%
501–600	21,792	9.18%	90.65% – 99.84%
601–1200	390	0.16%	99.84% – 100.00%

Which draws took place between November 9 and December 17?

Between November 9 and December 17, 2025, IRCC held 12 Express Entry draws, issuing a total of 32,513 Invitations to Apply (ITAs)—marking one of the busiest periods for the Express Entry system in 2025.

Over this period, there were:

Four Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws totaling 13,000 ITAs, with cut-off scores ranging from 515 to 533.
Four Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws totaling 3,013 ITAs, all with very high CRS cut-offs between 699 and 738, reflecting the additional 600 points that PNP candidates receive;
Two occupation category-based draws for healthcare and social services occupations, together issuing 4,500 ITAs, with CRS cut-offs of 462 and 476.
Two French language proficiency draw, which invited a combined 12,000 candidates with a relatively low cut-off score of 408 and 399. The latter draw was the lowest CRS cut-off of any draw during this period.

Overall, this period was dominated by CEC and French-language category invitations, with PNP rounds continuing to invite smaller but high-scoring cohorts. Invitation issuances for the healthcare category were also slightly elevated during this period.

Date	Round type	Invitations issued	CRS cut-off score
December 17, 2025	French language proficiency	6,000	399
December 16, 2025	Canadian Experience Class	5,000	515
December 15, 2025	Provincial Nominee Program	399	731
December 11, 2025	Healthcare and social services occupations	1,000	476
December 10, 2025	Canadian Experience Class	6,000	520
December 8, 2025	Provincial Nominee Program	1,123	729
November 28, 2025	French language proficiency	6,000	408
November 26, 2025	Canadian Experience Class	1,000	531
November 25, 2025	Provincial Nominee Program	777	699
November 14, 2025	Healthcare and social services occupations	3,500	462
November 12, 2025	Canadian Experience Class	1,000	533
November 10, 2025	Provincial Nominee Program	714	738

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