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

Draw date	Draw Type	CRS cut-off score	ITAs issued
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	6
Canadian Experience Class	5
French-Language proficiency	3
Physicians with Canadian work experience	1
Healthcare and social services	1
Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	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	28,000
French-Language proficiency	18,000
Healthcare and social services	4,000
Provincial Nominee Program	2,583
Physicians with Canadian work experience	391
Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience	250

See how your competitive Express Entry profile is