Express Entry in 2026 So Far: What Nine Months of Draws Tell You About Your PR Plans
Canada has already issued more Express Entry invitations this year than in all of 2025. Here is where they went, what the pattern suggests, and why the invitation is now the easy part.
Every few weeks, the same questions fill our inbox. Is Express Entry slowing down? Is it about to pause? Which draws are actually inviting people? Should I wait, or should I file now?
The best way to answer those questions is not to guess. It is to look at what Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has actually done this year. So we went through every Express Entry round from January to September 2026 and compared it with the last two years.
Express Entry is not slowing down. It is changing shape. And for the thousands of people now holding an Invitation to Apply (ITA), the real test has moved from getting invited to filing an application that holds up.
Holding an ITA right now, or expecting one soon? Book a consultation with our licensed team before your 60 days start running out.
Nine months of Express Entry, by the numbers
Between January 1 and September 30, 2026, IRCC held 58 Express Entry draws and issued 131,715 invitations. That is already more than the roughly 114,000 invitations issued in the whole of 2025, according to CIC News.
The comparison with previous years is striking:
Period | Invitations issued |
January to September 2024 | about 84,900 |
January to September 2025 | 65,838 |
January to September 2026 | 131,715 |
In other words, IRCC issued twice as many invitations in the first nine months of 2026 as in the same period of 2025, and well over half again as many as in 2024.
The pace has not been even. The year started fast, with about 55,800 invitations from January to March. It slowed to about 33,200 from April to June, then picked up again to about 42,600 from July to September. September itself was quieter, at 11,288 invitations. A quieter month is not the same as a pause, and nothing in IRCC's pattern this year points to one.
Where the invitations actually went
Not all draws are equal. This is how the 131,715 invitations were split between January and September 2026:
Draw type | Draws | Invitations | Lowest CRS cut-off range |
Canadian Experience Class | 17 | 55,250 | 507 to 523 |
French-language proficiency | 10 | 50,500 | 382 to 420 |
Healthcare and social services | 3 | 11,500 | 467 to 475 |
Provincial Nominee Program | 19 | 9,270 | 697 to 805 |
Trades | 1 | 3,000 | 477 |
Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 3 | 1,000 | 389 to 429 |
Physicians with Canadian work experience | 3 | 891 | 169 to 223 |
Transport | 1 | 300 | 470 |
Skilled military recruits | 1 | 4 | 368 |
A few things stand out.
Category-based draws now carry about half the volume. Once you set aside Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws, roughly 67,000 invitations, about 51%, went out through targeted categories. French-language proficiency alone accounted for more than a third of all invitations.
French remains the most generous door. French-language draws invited 5,000 candidates at a time for most of the year, and the cut-off fell from 420 in July to 382 on August 19. For candidates who reach the required level, that is a score many could never reach in a general draw. If French is part of your profile, our post on francophone immigration outside Quebec explains the requirements.
CEC is getting harder, not easier. CEC still issued the most invitations, but the draws have been shrinking. They went from 8,000 and 6,000 invitations in January to 2,000 in most recent rounds, while the cut-off climbed from 507 in March to between 518 and 523 in August and September.
PNP draws are steady and predictable. A provincial nomination remains worth 600 points, which is why PNP cut-offs sit between roughly 700 and 800. These draws came about every two weeks, usually around 500 invitations each.
New categories are small but real. Physicians, senior managers, trades, transport and military recruits all had dedicated rounds this year. Three published categories, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), education and researchers with Canadian work experience, had not seen a draw by the end of September.
What the pool tells you
IRCC also publishes the score distribution of everyone in the pool. As of September 27, 2026, there were 229,904 candidates.
CRS score range | Candidates |
601 to 1200 | 728 |
501 to 600 | 21,070 |
451 to 500 | 73,131 |
401 to 450 | 62,611 |
351 to 400 | 47,298 |
301 to 350 | 17,359 |
0 to 300 | 7,707 |
Only about 21,800 candidates have more than 500 points. Another 73,131 sit between 451 and 500. That crowded middle band explains a lot: when CEC draws invite 2,000 people at a time, the cut-off settles above 515 because there simply are not that many candidates above it.
For most of the pool, the realistic routes in 2026 have been a category draw, a provincial nomination, or a higher score through language results.
The practitioner view: the invitation is now the easy part
Most coverage of Express Entry stops at the draw. In our experience, that is where the real risk begins.
An ITA gives you 60 days to submit a complete application for permanent residence. If you do not apply or decline within that time, the invitation expires and your profile is removed from the pool. Your upfront immigration medical exam, police certificates, reference letters, proof of funds where required, and every claim in your profile all have to line up inside that window.
An invitation is based on what you declared. The application is where you prove it. Reference letters that do not match the National Occupational Classification (NOC) you claimed, employer names that differ across payslips and tax slips, language results that expired, or work experience that does not meet the category rules can all lead to a refusal, even when the score was comfortably above the cut-off. We have written about real files where exactly this happened, including an employer name mismatch on a CEC application and a reapplication after an Express Entry refusal.
With invitation volumes this high, the competition is no longer only for the invitation. It is for a clean, consistent file that an officer can approve.
Got your ITA? Let a licensed team review your file before you submit.
Invitations and targets: what the numbers can and cannot tell you
Under IRCC's 2026 to 2028 Immigration Levels Plan, Canada aims to admit 109,000 permanent residents through federal high-skilled programs in 2026, rising to 111,000 in 2027 and 2028. The Provincial Nominee Program has its own target of 91,500 in 2026.
It is tempting to compare 131,715 invitations with the 109,000 target, but they measure different things. The target counts people admitted, including spouses and children. An invitation counts one principal applicant, and not every invitation becomes an application. PNP-linked invitations also count toward the provincial target, not the federal one. And many invitations issued late in the year become admissions the following year.
What the numbers do show is intent. IRCC is inviting at a far faster pace than in 2025, and in 2025 its busiest month for invitations was December. A year-end stop has not been the recent pattern. That is a signal, not a promise, and draw sizes and categories can change at any time.
The bigger change coming
In its Forward Regulatory Plan published in April 2026, IRCC announced plans to repeal the Federal Skilled Worker Class, the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Class, and replace them with a single new class with streamlined eligibility. Consultations were planned for spring 2026 and IRCC has shared few details so far.
Nobody outside IRCC knows yet exactly how the new class will work or when it will take effect. What we do know is that rules for current candidates can change. If you are eligible today, waiting for a new system is a gamble, not a strategy.
What this means if you are...
Holding an ITA right now
Your clock is running. Use the 60 days to check every document against your profile before you submit, not after. If something changed since you created your profile, such as a job, a language result or your marital status, recalculate your score first.
In the pool with a score between 450 and 500
You are in the most crowded part of the pool. Look honestly at what could move you into a category or raise your score: a stronger language result, French testing, a provincial nomination, or category eligibility through your occupation.
A French speaker
French-language draws have been the largest and lowest-scoring draws of 2026. You need at least NCLC 7 in all four abilities to be eligible for the French category, according to IRCC.
In healthcare, trades or another category occupation
Category draws require at least 12 months of full-time work experience, or the equivalent part time, in an eligible occupation within the last three years. Make sure your reference letters clearly show the duties of the occupation you are claiming.
Applying from outside Canada
CEC draws require Canadian work experience, so most candidates abroad rely on category, French-language or PNP draws. That makes category eligibility and language results even more important.
What to do now
Check your current CRS score and compare it with this year's cut-offs for the draw types you qualify for.
Confirm which categories you are eligible for, if any, based on your occupation and language results.
Make sure your language test results will still be valid when you are invited and when you apply.
If you hold an ITA, gather and cross-check your documents now, including your upfront medical exam.
Speak with a licensed team before you submit, not after a procedural fairness letter arrives.
Bottom line
Express Entry in 2026 is busy, category-driven and moving fast. The candidates who benefit most are not always the ones with the highest scores. They are the ones whose applications are ready and consistent when the invitation arrives.
Got questions about where you stand? Our Licensed team can help you figure it out.
Frequently asked questions
How many Express Entry invitations has Canada issued in 2026?
Between January 1 and September 30, 2026, IRCC issued 131,715 invitations across 58 Express Entry draws. That is already more than the roughly 114,000 invitations issued in all of 2025.
Is Express Entry slowing down in 2026?
Not overall. Invitations dipped in the spring and again in September, but draws have continued about every two weeks. What has changed is the mix, with more invitations going through category-based and French-language draws and smaller Canadian Experience Class draws.
What is the CRS cut-off for CEC draws in 2026?
Canadian Experience Class cut-offs ranged from 507 to 523 between January and September 2026. They rose over the year as draw sizes fell from 6,000 or more invitations to about 2,000.
Which Express Entry draw has the lowest CRS score in 2026?
Excluding the small physician and military rounds, French-language proficiency draws have had the lowest cut-offs, falling as low as 382 in August 2026. Candidates need at least NCLC 7 in all four language abilities to be eligible.
How long do I have to apply after receiving an ITA?
You have 60 days to submit your application for permanent residence. If you do not apply or decline within that time, the invitation expires and your profile is removed from the pool, so you would need to create a new profile.
Will Express Entry change in 2027?
IRCC has announced plans to replace the Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience and Federal Skilled Trades classes with a single new class. Details and timing have not been confirmed, so candidates should plan around the rules in place today.
How InfoPlace Canada can help
Express Entry PR applications: full licensed representation from ITA to approval, for CEC, Federal Skilled Worker and category-based invitations.
Pre-submission reviews: we catch NOC, employer name, date and document inconsistencies before IRCC does.
Profile strategy: where your score sits, which categories you may qualify for and what could move you up.
Refusals and procedural fairness letters: a clear read on what the officer raised and what to do next.
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This article is general information about Canadian immigration and is not legal advice. Figures are based on IRCC data and CIC News reporting at the time of writing (draws to September 30, 2026; pool distribution as of September 27, 2026) and may change. Every file turns on its own facts, outcomes vary, and no result is guaranteed. Speak with a licensed representative about your situation.
