08/21/2026
🇨🇦 From August 17 to 19, IRCC conducted 3 Express Entry draws — for PNP candidates, Canadian Experience Class candidates, and candidates with French-language proficiency. IRCC issued a total of 6,442 ITAs over three days.
📌 PNP — 442 invitations, CRS 760
On August 17, IRCC conducted the 16th PNP draw of 2026.
Compared with the previous draw, the number of invitations decreased from 507 to 442, while the CRS cut-off dropped by 8 points — from 768 to 760. Since the beginning of 2026, PNP draws under Express Entry have issued 7,399 ITAs. This represents about 6.2% of all Express Entry ITAs issued this year.
📌 CEC — smallest draw of the year and highest CRS
On August 18, IRCC invited only 1,000 Canadian Experience Class candidates with a minimum CRS score of 523.
This was the smallest CEC draw of 2026 by number of invitations and, at the same time, the highest CRS cut-off for CEC this year.
For comparison, on August 5, IRCC issued 3,000 ITAs at CRS 516. In just two weeks, ITAs fell by two-thirds, while the cut-off increased by 7 points.
A total of 14 CEC draws have been conducted in 2026, issuing 49,250 ITAs. This represents approximately 41.1% of all Express Entry invitations issued this year.
📌 French-language proficiency — another 5,000 ITAs
On August 19, IRCC conducted its 10th French-language proficiency draw of 2026.
The number of invitations remained unchanged from the previous. However, the CRS cut-off decreased from 391 to 382. CRS 382 is the lowest cut-off recorded in a French-language proficiency draw in 2026.
Across 10 such draws this year, IRCC has issued 50,500 ITAs—about 42.1% of all Express Entry invitations.
📌 2026 has already set a record
As of August 19, IRCC has conducted 49 draws and issued 119,865 ITAs. For comparison, IRCC issued 113,998 invitations in all of 2025. This means the 2025 total has already been surpassed by 5,867 ITAs, or approximately 5.1%, before the end of August.
CEC and French-language proficiency draws together account for 99,750 ITAs — approximately 83.2% of all invitations issued this year. Together with PNP draws, these three types of selection account for nearly 90% of all ITAs issued in 2026.