What was the CRS cut-off for Express Entry draw #397?

The cut-off for round #397, held on 19 February 2026, was 169. It was a Physicians round and it issued 391 invitations to apply. Candidates who tied at 169 were ranked by the date they entered the pool, with the cut-off timestamp set at January 03, 2026 at 03:25:14 UTC.

How many candidates ranked above the cut-off in draw #397?

On February 15, 2026, the Express Entry pool held 235,695 candidates. 227,412 of them sat in score bands entirely at or above the 169 cut-off. A further 8,283 sat in the 0-300 band, which the cut-off runs through — IRCC does not publish scores at a finer resolution than these bands, so how many of that group cleared 169 is not knowable from the data.

Physicians · 19 February 2026

Express Entry draw #397

On 19 February 2026, IRCC issued 391 invitations to apply in the Physicians category. The lowest-ranked candidate invited scored 169 on the Comprehensive Ranking System.

Read and checked by Jay Sharma, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant R710507, licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Round #397 is reproduced from IRCC's official rounds feed and has not been edited.

Minimum CRS score

169

Physicians

391
Invitations issued: #397
Round: 19 Feb 2026
Date: January 03, 2026
Tie-break

Programs eligible

Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades Program

Candidates tied on 169 were separated by how long they had been in the pool. The tie-break was set at January 03, 2026 at 03:25:14 UTC — a profile submitted before that moment was invited, one submitted after it was not.

The pool that week

Where 169 fell through the pool

IRCC published the Express Entry pool’s shape alongside this round. On February 15, 2026 it held 235,695 candidates, and the cut-off ran through them here.

Express Entry candidates by CRS range on February 15, 2026, against the 169 cut-off of round #397
CRS range	Candidates	Share of pool	Against the cut-off
601–1200	280	0.1%	All invited
501–600	16,559	7.0%	All invited
451–500	73,609	31.2%	All invited
401–450	64,305	27.3%	All invited
351–400	53,650	22.8%	All invited
301–350	19,009	8.1%	All invited
Cut-off — CRS 169
0–300	8,283	3.5%	Split by the cut-off

227,412 candidates sat in bands entirely at or above 169 — 96.5% of the pool.

A further 8,283 sat in the 0–300 band, which 169 falls inside. IRCC does not publish scores more finely than this, so how many of them cleared 169 is not knowable from the data.

Reading this today

This is a record, not the current bar

Round #397 was held on 19 February 2026. IRCC has run 41 rounds since, and the current cut-off for this category is not 169.

The latest draw and the current pool All 438 rounds

Free CRS assessment

Would this round have taken you?

The table above says where 169 fell through the pool. Whether your own score reaches a category, and what would move it — a language retake, a provincial nomination, a spouse’s credentials — is a different question, and it is the one worth answering.

Data: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Round #397, 19 February 2026; pool as published on February 15, 2026.

Three fields · about 30 seconds