Latest Express Entry Draw

Think of the pool as everyone who has an Express Entry profile that is still active. You only land in the pool if you qualify for one of the three programs run through Express Entry. Those three are: federal skilled workers, federal skilled trades, and the Canadian experience class.

IRCC pulls candidates out of the pool in rounds spread over the year. IRCC describes these steps for each round:

1. First it settles on how many candidates to invite.
2. Then it chooses the top-ranked people in the pool that fit the round type.
3. Then it invites them to apply for permanent residence.

Rounds are not all alike. A general round pulls in top-ranking people no matter which of the three programs they qualify under. A program-specific round sticks to one program only, so a Provincial Nominee Program round reaches just the candidates who qualify under that program.

With a category-based round, IRCC targets people in the pool who belong to a category the Minister has set to serve an economic goal. You still have to meet the basic Express Entry criteria. Inside the category itself, the invitations go to the highest CRS scores first.

IRCC lists these categories:

• French-language proficiency
• Jobs in healthcare and social services
• Science, technology, engineering and math occupations
• Jobs in the trades
• Jobs in education
• Jobs in transport
• Doctors with Canadian work experience
• Managers with work experience in Canada (senior level)
• Researchers who have worked in Canada
• Military recruits with skilled training

To qualify for the French-language category, your test results must show a 7 or better in each of the four language abilities on the NCLC. That scale is Canada's yardstick for measuring French ability. A number of the occupation categories ask for a year or more of full-time work within the past three years. Part-time work counts too, as long as it adds up to the same amount, and the work does not have to be continuous.

There are times when IRCC skips a category round. That happens when general or program-specific rounds have already invited enough of the top-ranking people in that category. Each year IRCC tells Parliament which categories it picked and how many invitations it issued for each category.

This snapshot shows the spread of CRS scores in the pool on 12 October 2026, based on the figures IRCC publishes.

Many people sit close to the latest cut-off of 435. On 12 October, 13,474 people had scores between 431 and 440, and 13,749 had scores between 441 and 450. You can check where your own score lands with our CRS calculator, which also scores you under the rules that start on 3 November 2026.

After you are invited and you apply, the current IRCC processing times vary by program.

Keep in mind that these figures shift over time. They give you a picture of things as they stand today, not a promise of how long one particular application will take. This page gives information, not immigration advice.