Latest Express Entry Draws & Cutoff History

Through mid-April 2026, IRCC has run 59 Express Entry rounds, a pace well above the 2024 average. Three patterns stand out in the data on this page.

French-language draws dominate recent volume. Five of the largest 2026 rounds have been French-language proficiency (Version 2), each issuing between 4,000 and 8,500 ITAs with cutoffs ranging from 393 to 419. For candidates with strong French (NCLC 7 or higher across all four skills), this continues to be the most accessible pathway in the current system. The cutoff sitting in the high 390s to low 420s is meaningfully below the ~500-point threshold that general Canadian Experience Class rounds require.

Canadian Experience Class cutoffs have softened as round sizes grew. Through late 2025, small CEC rounds of 1,000 invitations cleared the bar at CRS 531–534. As invitation sizes expanded in early 2026 (2,000 to 8,000 ITAs per round), cutoffs dropped into the 507–515 range, revealing an inverse relationship candidates can plan around: larger rounds reach deeper into the pool. If you score in the low 500s, it is worth tracking round sizes rather than only recent cutoffs.

New category-based rounds have emerged in 2026. IRCC introduced three new 2026-version categories: Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience, Physicians with Canadian Work Experience, and Trades Occupations (Version 3). The Physicians round on February 19, 2026 invited 391 candidates at a CRS cutoff of 169, an unusually low floor that reflects narrow eligibility rules and a profession-specific bonus. Candidates who do not meet the credential requirements cannot benefit from that floor, but the data point illustrates how aggressively category-based selection can depart from general-round dynamics.

Provincial Nominee Program rounds remain the highest-score category. PNP cutoffs in 2026 have ranged from 710 to 802. These numbers look intimidating but reflect the automatic 600-point nomination bonus; a candidate's pre-nomination CRS is typically in the 100s to 200s. The PNP pathway is effectively a separate game: once nominated, the Express Entry cutoff becomes a formality.

The pool composition tells the rest of the story. As of September 27, 2026, 229,904 candidates were in the pool, with the 451–500 band being the most populated (73,563 candidates, nearly one-third of the pool). Another 66,952 sit in the 401–450 band. This concentration in the 400–500 range explains why general CEC cutoffs have settled around 507–534: each round has to reach into a dense cohort, and the cutoff moves by only a few points per thousand invitations. For candidates scoring below 450, category-based rounds (especially French, Healthcare, and Trades) are the realistic near-term pathways. Use the CRS score calculator above to identify the highest-impact factor in your own profile.