How many candidates ranked above the cut-off in draw #428?

On July 19, 2026, the Express Entry pool held 231,533 candidates. 511 of them sat in score bands entirely at or above the 516 cut-off. A further 18,133 sat in the 501-600 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 516 is not knowable from the data.

Canadian Experience Class · 21 July 2026

Express Entry draw #428

Q: What was the CRS cut-off for Express Entry draw #428?

The cut-off for round #428, held on 21 July 2026, was 516. It was a Canadian Experience Class round and it issued 2,000 invitations to apply, 1 point below the previous Canadian Experience Class round 2 weeks earlier. Candidates who tied at 516 were ranked by the date they entered the pool, with the cut-off timestamp set at May 26, 2026 at 17:33:03 UTC.

On 21 July 2026, IRCC issued 2,000 invitations to apply in the Canadian Experience Class category. The lowest-ranked candidate invited scored 516 on the Comprehensive Ranking System, 1 point below the previous Canadian Experience Class round 2 weeks earlier. That was the 10th lowest of the 20 Canadian Experience Class rounds held in the year to that date, which together issued 62,250 invitations at cut-offs between 507 and 534.

Read and checked by Jay Sharma, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant R710507, licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Round #428 is reproduced from IRCC's official rounds feed and has not been edited.

Minimum CRS score

516

Canadian Experience Class

Previous Canadian Experience Class round: #424 on 07 Jul 2026 at 517 (-1)

2,000
Invitations issued: #428
Round: 21 Jul 2026
Date: May 26, 2026
Tie-break

Programs eligible

Canadian Experience Class

Candidates tied on 516 were separated by how long they had been in the pool. The tie-break was set at May 26, 2026 at 17:33:03 UTC — a profile submitted before that moment was invited, one submitted after it was not.

The pool that week

Where 516 fell through the pool

IRCC published the Express Entry pool’s shape alongside this round. On July 19, 2026 it held 231,533 candidates, and the cut-off ran through them here.

Express Entry candidates by CRS range on July 19, 2026, against the 516 cut-off of round #428
CRS range	Candidates	Share of pool	Against the cut-off
601–1200	511	0.2%	All invited
Cut-off — CRS 516
501–600	18,133	7.8%	Split by the cut-off
451–500	72,579	31.3%	Below the cut-off
401–450	63,877	27.6%	Below the cut-off
351–400	51,107	22.1%	Below the cut-off
301–350	17,490	7.6%	Below the cut-off
0–300	7,836	3.4%	Below the cut-off

511 candidates sat in bands entirely at or above 516 — 0.2% of the pool.

A further 18,133 sat in the 501–600 band, which 516 falls inside. IRCC does not publish scores more finely than this, so how many of them cleared 516 is not knowable from the data.

In context

Canadian Experience Class rounds in the year to 21 Jul 2026

A cut-off means little on its own. Against its own category’s previous twelve months, this one was the 10th lowest of 20.

516

507
Lowest cut-off: 534
Highest cut-off: 20
Rounds: 62,250
Invitations

Reading this today

This is a record, not the current bar

Round #428 was held on 21 July 2026. IRCC has run 10 rounds since, and the current cut-off for this category is not 516.

The latest draw and the current pool All 438 rounds

Free CRS assessment

Would this round have taken you?

The table above says where 516 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 #428, 21 July 2026; pool as published on July 19, 2026.

Three fields · about 30 seconds