between two attributes is not a comment — it parses as an expression attribute, and Astro then mangles the rest of the component silently: the pool table below collapsed from seven rows to one and the build still reported success. The tell was `astro check` suddenly calling half the frontmatter "declared but never read", because the template that used it had been eaten. */Express Entry Draw #429: CRS 399, 5,000 Invitations — 22 July 2026 | The Visa TalesSkip to content
The Visa Tales

French-language proficiency · 22 July 2026

Express Entry draw #429

On 22 July 2026, IRCC issued 5,000 invitations to apply in the French-language proficiency category. The lowest-ranked candidate invited scored 399 on the Comprehensive Ranking System, 21 points below the previous French-language proficiency round 13 days earlier. That was the 3rd lowest of the 14 French-language proficiency rounds held in the year to that date, which together issued 70,000 invitations at cut-offs between 393 and 481.

Read and checked by Jay Sharma, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant R710507, licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Round #429 is reproduced from IRCC's official rounds feed and has not been edited.

Minimum CRS score

399

French-language proficiency

Previous French-language proficiency round: #425 on 09 Jul 2026 at 420 (-21)

5,000
Invitations issued
#429
Round
22 Jul 2026
Date
November 19, 2025
Tie-break

Programs eligible

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

Candidates tied on 399 were separated by how long they had been in the pool. The tie-break was set at November 19, 2025 at 21:21:56 UTC — a profile submitted before that moment was invited, one submitted after it was not.

The pool that week

Where 399 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 399 cut-off of round #429
CRS rangeCandidatesShare of poolAgainst the cut-off
601–12005110.2%All invited
501–60018,1337.8%All invited
451–50072,57931.3%All invited
401–45063,87727.6%All invited
Cut-off — CRS 399
351–40051,10722.1%Split by the cut-off
301–35017,4907.6%Below the cut-off
0–3007,8363.4%Below the cut-off

155,100 candidates sat in bands entirely at or above 399 — 67.0% of the pool.

A further 51,107 sat in the 351–400 band, which 399 falls inside. IRCC does not publish scores more finely than this, so how many of them cleared 399 is not knowable from the data.

In context

French-language proficiency rounds in the year to 22 Jul 2026

A cut-off means little on its own. Against its own category’s previous twelve months, this one was the 3rd lowest of 14.
399
393
Lowest cut-off
481
Highest cut-off
14
Rounds
70,000
Invitations

Reading this today

This is a record, not the current bar

Round #429 was held on 22 July 2026. IRCC has run 9 rounds since, and the current cut-off for this category is not 399.

Free CRS assessment

Would this round have taken you?

The table above says where 399 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 #429, 22 July 2026; pool as published on July 19, 2026.

Three fields · about 30 seconds