Canada holds second-largest Canadian Experience Class draw in history

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued more invitations to apply (ITA) through the Express Entry system.

The immigration department issued 8,000 ITAs in a draw for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates.

To be considered in this draw, candidates needed to have

• A minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 511; and
• Created an Express Entry candidate profile before 3:59 p.m., Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) on June 10, 2025.

See how competitive your Express Entry profile is

Summary of Express Entry draws in 2026

Date	Draw Type	CRS cut-off score	ITAs issued
May 11	Provincial Nominee Program	798	380
April 29	French-Language proficiency	400	4,000
April 28	Canadian Experience Class	514	2,000
April 27	Provincial Nominee Program	795	473
April 15	French-Language proficiency	419	4,000
April 14	Canadian Experience Class	515	2,000
April 13	Provincial Nominee Program	786	324
April 2	Trades	477	3,000
March 31	Canadian Experience Class	509	2,250
March 30	Provincial Nominee Program	802	356
March 18	French-Language proficiency	393	4,000
March 17	Canadian Experience Class	507	4,000
March 16	Provincial Nominee Program	742	362
March 5	Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	429	250
March 4	French-Language proficiency	397	5,500
March 3	Canadian Experience Class	508	4,000
March 2	Provincial Nominee Program	710	264
February 20	Healthcare and social services	467	4,000
February 19	Physicians with Canadian work experience	169	391
February 17	Canadian Experience Class	508	6,000
February 16	Provincial Nominee Program	789	279
February 6	French-Language proficiency	400	8,500
February 3	Provincial Nominee Program	749	423
January 21	Canadian Experience Class	509	6,000
January 20	Provincial Nominee Program	746	681
January 7	Canadian Experience Class	511	8,000
January 5	Provincial Nominee Program	711	574

Today's draw marks the second-largest CEC draw ever, dwarfed only by the massive pandemic-era draw, which invited more than 27,000 candidates. In addition, this draw features a lower CRS cut-off score than was seen for any Express Entry draw in 2025. Prior to today, the lowest cut-off score for a CEC draw was 509, on September 19 2024.

This is also the second Express Entry selection of the year, and follows a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw on January 5.

IRCC has started the year by continuing to prioritize candidates in Canada, and those who have experience with the Canadian labour market, or who have been nominated by a province:

Draw Type	Number of Draws
Provincial Nominee Program	10
Canadian Experience Class	8
French-Language proficiency	5
Physicians with Canadian work experience	1
Healthcare and social services	1
Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	1
Trades	1

Despite being only into the first full week of 2026, Canada's immigration department has already issued more than 8,500 ITAs:

Draw type	ITAs Issued
Canadian Experience Class	34,250
French-Language proficiency	26,000
Provincial Nominee Program	4,116
Healthcare and social services	4,000
Trades	3,000
Physicians with Canadian work experience	391
Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	250

January is typically a time marked by increased Express Entry activity, as IRCC looks to issue more invitations that can count towards its admissions (or landings) target through federal pathways for that year.

Due to lag times from ITA issuance to an immigrant landing in Canada (in the form of application processing and wait times), admissions are usually anticipated a minimum of six months after an ITA is delivered.

See how competitive your Express Entry profile is