Canada, on May 25, 2026, invited selected foreign nationals to apply for permanent residency in its latest Express Entry draw held under the Provincial Nominee Program. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued 334 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in a new Express Entry draw targeted at the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
The last PNP draw on May 11, which issued 380 ITAs at a cutoff of 798, was seven points below the minimal Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 805 points, as per immigration.ca.
This is the lowest number of PNP invitations since the Feb. 16 round, which sent out 279 invitations at a CRS score of 789. It is also the highest PNP cutoff in any Express Entry lottery in 2026.
When a provincial nominee's name appears in the Express Entry pool, they automatically receive a 600-point CRS bump. The lowest-ranked candidate invited had a base CRS score of roughly 205 prior to the provincial nomination being applied, according to a cutoff of 805.
A lesser number of fresh provincial nominations may have joined the Express Entry pool between the two May draws, based on the seven-point increase in the threshold and the 46-invitation decline.
The pool of nominees exceeds 601 contracts, the IRCC must contact fewer individuals, and the CRS floor increases when provinces provide fewer fresh nominations in a particular time frame.
This round's tie-breaking rule was set for October 16, 2025, at 18:16:33 UTC. Only candidates who submitted their Express Entry profiles before that date and time were invited if several candidates met the minimum CRS score of 805.
In 2026, this was the 28th Express Entry invitation round.
After receiving an ITA, candidates have sixty days to complete their application for permanent residency, which is normally processed within the six-month service standard.
There have been two PNP-only Express Entry draws and zero more general non-PNP rounds since May 2026. The last French-language draw took place on April 29 with 4,000 invites at CRS 400, and the final CEC lottery took place on April 28 with 2,000 invitations at CRS 514.
Since the trades draw on April 2, no occupation-based category draw-healthcare, trades, education, or otherwise-has been given out.
Similar pauses took place in May 2024 and May 2025, when IRCC halted category and CEC activities during planning windows before starting occupation-based rounds again and then going back to CEC.
In order to determine the threshold for each Express Entry draw, the Canadian federal government uses the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to classify candidates based on factors like age, educational background, employment experience, and language competency.
Canada removed 'job offer points' from the Express Entry pool's Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) on March 25, 2025. Both present and prospective candidates will be subject to this. Only those classified under Major Group 00 of the National Occupation Classification (such as senior management positions) (200 points) and in any other skilled occupation (50 points) will have their 'job offer points' removed from the Comprehensive Ranking System.
Candidates will forfeit their previously linked CRS points if they have eligible job offers on their Express Entry profiles. On the other hand, after March 25, 2025, those who currently hold a job offer will no longer be able to accrue more points.
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