Over 5,000 Express Entry candidates invited at lowest cut-off score in the past year

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

The immigration department issued 5,500 ITAs in a draw for candidates with French-language proficiency.

To be considered in this draw, candidates needed to have

• A minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 397; and
• Created an Express Entry candidate profile before 6:18 p.m., Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) on October 10, 2025.

See how your competitive Express Entry profile is

Summary of Express Entry draws in 2026

Date	Draw Type	CRS cut-off score	ITAs issued
September 1	Canadian Experience Class	521	2,000
August 31	Provincial Nominee Program	697	562
August 19	French-Language proficiency	382	5,000
August 18	Canadian Experience Class	523	1,000
August 17	Provincial Nominee Program	760	442
August 7	Transport	470	300
August 6	French-Language proficiency	391	5,000
August 5	Canadian Experience Class	516	3,000
August 4	Provincial Nominee Program	768	507
July 23	Skilled Military Recruits	368	4
July 22	French-Language proficiency	399	5,000
July 21	Canadian Experience Class	516	2,000
July 20	Provincial Nominee Program	744	511
July 10	Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	392	500
July 9	French-Language proficiency	420	5,000
July 7	Canadian Experience Class	517	2,000
July 6	Provincial Nominee Program	708	534
June 25	Healthcare and social services	475	4,000
June 24	Physicians with Canadian Work Experience	223	271
June 23	Canadian Experience Class	516	4,000
June 22	Provincial Nominee Program	730	955
May 28	French-Language proficiency	409	4,500
May 27	Canadian Experience Class	518	3,000
May 25	Provincial Nominee Program	805	334
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 is only the second French category-based draw of the year, and the fourteenth Express Entry selection of 2026 in total. It also features the lowest CRS score for this category in more than a year. Of all Express Entry draws within the last year, only the recent Express Entry draw for Physicians with Canadian work experience has seen a lower cut-off score.

Express Entry draws in 2026 have seen Canada's immigration department focus largely on immigration candidates within the country, particularly those with provincial nominations and Canadian work experience.

Draw Type	Number of Draws
Provincial Nominee Program	17
Canadian Experience Class	15
French-Language proficiency	10
Physicians with Canadian work experience	2
Healthcare and social services	2
Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	2
Trades	1
Transport	1
Skilled Military Recruits	1

Despite only seeing two draws this year, candidates in Express Entry's French language-proficiency category have already received 14,000 invitations, the second most of any program or category this year.

In 2026 thus far, IRCC has issued 39,112 ITAs across the following draw types:

Draw type	ITAs Issued
Canadian Experience Class	51,250
French-Language proficiency	50,500
Provincial Nominee Program	7,961
Healthcare and social services	8,000
Trades	3,000
Transport	300
Physicians with Canadian work experience	662
Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	750
Skilled Military Recruits	4

See how your competitive Express Entry profile is