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The Visa Tales

Live from IRCC

Latest Express Entry draw

Read and checked by Jay Sharma, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant R710507

19 Aug 2026
Updated

Minimum CRS score

382

French-language proficiency

French-language proficiency cut-off across the last 12 draws, from 408 to 382
Last 12 draws · 408 → 382
French-language proficiency cut-off score by round
RoundDateCRS cut-off
#382November 28, 2025408
#388December 17, 2025399
#394February 6, 2026400
#401March 4, 2026397
#405March 18, 2026393
#411April 15, 2026419
#414April 29, 2026400
#418May 28, 2026409
#425July 9, 2026420
#429July 22, 2026399
#433August 6, 2026391
#437August 19, 2026382
Invitations
5,000
Round
#437
Date
19 Aug 2026
Tie-break
1 Mar 2026

The most recent Express Entry draw was round #437, held on August 19, 2026. IRCC issued 5,000 invitations to apply under the French-language proficiency category, with a minimum CRS score of 382.

Eligible programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades Program.

Where you stand

That was one category. There are five.

Enter your score to see which categories would have invited you at their last draw, and how far you are from the ones that would not.

1 of 4 categories would have invited you.

The nearest one you miss is Healthcare and social services — 5 points away.

Get a free CRS assessment

Closing 5 points is usually possible.

Actively drawing Express Entry categories, sorted by how far each last cut-off sits from a CRS score of 470
CategoryLast cut-off24-mo trendYour gap
French-language proficiencyA draw every 32 days382-64 easier+88 clear
Healthcare and social servicesA draw every 65 days475+12 harder5 short
Trade occupationsA draw every 263 days477+44 harder7 short
Canadian Experience ClassA draw every 21 days523+16 harder53 short
Your score — 470

Provincial Nominee Program is left out on purpose: its cut-offs carry the 600 points a nomination is worth (last round 760), so without one you can never clear it and with one you always will.

4701/4 categories · Healthcare and social services is 5 awayFree assessment

The pool

The pool is a queue. Here is your place in it.

IRCC scores every candidate with the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and publishes how many hold each range. The bands below move with the score you set above — everything marked as ranking above you outranks you.

61,703 candidates rank above you. You are ahead of 73% of the pool.

Over the last 12 months, that score would have been invited in 25 of 76 rounds.

Express Entry candidates in the pool by CRS score range, as of August 16, 2026
CRS rangeRelative sizeCandidates
601-1200439
501-60018,657
451-50073,554
401-45060,631
351-40048,600
301-35017,269
0-3007,709
Total226,859

Pool as published by IRCC on August 16, 2026. These are IRCC’s own seven ranges; 451–500 and 401–450 are subtotals over five sub-ranges each.

Above 500
19,096

One in 12 of the pool.

Total in pool
226,859

As of August 16, 2026.

By category

How often are Express Entry draws held?

There is no published schedule, and since 2023 there has not been one queue but several. Provincial Nominee Program rounds run roughly every 15 days, Canadian Experience Class every 21 days, French-language proficiency every 32 days. Quoting a single national cut-off, as most sites still do, is misleading — the spread between categories is 141 points.
Actively drawing Express Entry categories, with cadence, last cut-off score and next expected draw
CategoryLast CRS24-mo trendEveryNext due
Provincial Nominee Program760+66 harder15 days1 Sept
Canadian Experience Class523+16 harder21 days8 Sept
French-language proficiency382-64 easier32 days20 Sept
Healthcare and social services475+12 harder65 days29 Aug
Trade occupations477+44 harder263 days21 Dec
5 categories that have all but stopped drawing
  • Education occupations — 2 draws in 24 months, last on 17 September 2025 at CRS 462.
  • Physicians — 2 draws in 24 months, last on 24 June 2026 at CRS 223.
  • Senior managers — 2 draws in 24 months, last on 10 July 2026 at CRS 392.
  • Skilled military recruits — 1 draw in 24 months, last on 23 July 2026 at CRS 368.
  • Transport occupations — 1 draw in 24 months, last on 7 August 2026 at CRS 470.

Read “next due” as a pattern, not a forecast. It is the last draw date plus that category’s average gap. IRCC announces no schedule and can change category, size and timing without notice.

Provincial Nominee Program cut-offs include the 600 points a provincial nomination carries, so 760 is closer to 160 on merit. That is why it is left out of the score comparison above — without a nomination you can never clear it, and with one you always will.

Inflow and outflow

How many people are in the Express Entry pool?

226,859 candidates, as of August 16, 2026. The more useful question is how fast that number moves — and IRCC does not publish it. Add the invitations issued to the change in pool size between two snapshots and a floor for the intake falls out: at least 12,774 new profiles enter the pool every month, against about 15,045 invitations issued.
New profiles / month
12,774+

A floor, not an estimate — derived, and expiries are unpublished.

Invitations / month
15,045

180,543 across 76 rounds.

Pool, 12 months ago
254,113

As of August 17, 2025.

Net change
-27,254

The pool is shrinking, not growing.

Why “at least”. The intake is what is left when you account for invitations and the change in pool size. Profiles also leave the pool by expiring — every one lapses twelve months after it is created — and IRCC does not publish that figure. Each expiry means one more profile arrived than this calculation sees, so the true intake is higher than 12,774, never lower.

Why it matters: a shrinking pool with steady invitation volume is what pulls cut-off scores down. It is also why the French-language category has moved 64 points in 24 months while Canadian Experience Class has not — the pressure is not spread evenly.

Draw history

The last 15 Express Entry draws

These are the most recent. Every round IRCC has held since 2015 — 438 of them, and 1,037,113 invitations — is in the full draw archive, searchable by round number, year and category.
The 15 most recent Express Entry rounds of invitations
RoundDateCategoryInvitationsCRS
#43719 Aug 2026French-language proficiency5,000382
#43618 Aug 2026Canadian Experience Class1,000523
#43517 Aug 2026Provincial Nominee Program442760
#43407 Aug 2026Transport occupations300470
#43306 Aug 2026French-language proficiency5,000391
#43205 Aug 2026Canadian Experience Class3,000516
#43104 Aug 2026Provincial Nominee Program507768
#43023 Jul 2026Skilled military recruits4368
All 438 rounds since 2015Would your score have been invited?

Tie-break

What is the Express Entry tie-break rule?

When more candidates share the cut-off score than there are invitations left, the score alone cannot decide who gets one. IRCC breaks the tie with a timestamp: only candidates who had already submitted their profile at that moment are invited. Everyone else on the same score waits.

It is the reason two people with identical scores can get different outcomes from the same draw — and the reason submitting a complete profile early is worth more than it looks.

Round #437 tie-break

March 1, 2026 at 18:34:05 UTC

A candidate sitting exactly on 382 was invited only if their profile was in the pool before this moment. Submitted a minute later, at the same score — not invited.

Common questions

Express Entry draws, answered

Six questions this page gets asked, answered from the same record everything above is read from.
What was the latest Express Entry draw?

The most recent Express Entry draw was round #437, held on August 19, 2026. IRCC issued 5,000 invitations to apply under the French-language proficiency category, with a minimum CRS score of 382.

How often are Express Entry draws held?

There is no fixed schedule, and the cadence differs by category. Over the last 24 months, Provincial Nominee Program draws ran roughly every 15 days, Canadian Experience Class draws every 21 days, and French-language proficiency draws every 32 days. Across all categories IRCC held 76 rounds in the last 12 months.

What is a good CRS score in 2026?

It depends entirely on the category you qualify for. The last Canadian Experience Class draw cut off at 523, while the last French-language proficiency draw cut off at 382 — a gap of 141 points for the same pool. Of the 226,859 candidates in the pool, 19,096 hold a score above 500.

How many people are in the Express Entry pool?

IRCC last published a pool of 226,859 candidates, as of August 16, 2026. At least 12,774 new profiles enter each month — a floor rather than an estimate, because profiles also expire twelve months after they are created and IRCC does not publish how many. Against about 15,045 invitations issued a month, that is why the pool shrank by 27,254 over the last year.

What is the Express Entry tie-break rule?

When more candidates share the cut-off score than there are invitations left, IRCC uses a timestamp as the tie-breaker: only candidates who submitted their profile before that moment are invited. For round #437 the tie-break was March 1, 2026 at 18:34:05 UTC. A candidate sitting exactly on 382 who submitted after that timestamp was not invited.

Can I predict the next Express Entry draw?

Not reliably. IRCC announces no schedule and can change category, size and frequency without notice. Historical cadence gives a reasonable expectation window — and this page shows one per category — but it is a pattern in past data, not a forecast, and it should never be the basis of a decision about when to submit a profile.

Free CRS assessment

A score is a starting point, not a verdict.

The queue position above tells you where you stand today. What moves it is a different question — language retakes, a provincial nomination, a spouse’s credentials, or the 64-point gap the French category has opened up.

Send us your score and we will come back with the routes actually open to you, and what each would take. No charge, and we will tell you if the answer is to wait.

Jay Sharma

RCIC™ & Founder, Canada · R710507

Your file is handled by a consultant licensed to represent you before IRCC, and the licence is verifiable on the CICC public register. That is the difference between advice and representation.

Three fields · about 30 seconds

Data: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Figures reflect round #437 and the pool published on August 16, 2026.