EasyExpressEntry Intelligence / Updated September 30, 2026
Express Entry 2026: who's getting invited, and what it takes after the email arrives.
IRCC has sent 131,715 invitations to apply so far this year. That's more than all of 2025, with three months still to go. We went through IRCC's own draw data, year-end reports, and open data to see where those invitations went. Then we looked at the part nobody charts: the 60 days after.
131,715
invitations in 2026, to September 29
55,250
went to Canadian Experience Class draws
50,500
went to French-language draws
69%
of 2024 invitees already lived in Canada
01 / Volume
2026 has already beaten every full year since 2023.
In 2024, IRCC sent 98,903 invitations across 52 draws. In 2025 it sent 113,998. By September 29, 2026, the count stood at 131,715.
That's good news if you're in the pool. It also means more people than ever are racing the same 60-day deadline, emailing the same HR departments, and waiting on the same banks and police services.
Invitations to apply, by year
All Express Entry draws
Show the numbers
| Year | Invitations |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 110,266 |
| 2024 | 98,903 |
| 2025 | 113,998 |
| 2026 so far | 131,715 |
02 / Draw types
Two draw types took 80% of the invitations this year.
Canadian Experience Class draws sent 55,250 invitations in 2026. French-language draws sent 50,500. Together that's 80% of everything IRCC has issued this year.
General draws open to every program? None since 2024. STEM draws? None since 2024 either. Healthcare held steady, and trades came back with one draw of 3,000.
Invitations by draw type
2024, 2025, and 2026 to September 29
202420252026 to Sep 29
Show the numbers
| Draw type | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 to Sep 29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class | 26,500 | 35,850 | 55,250 |
| French language | 23,000 | 48,000 | 50,500 |
| Healthcare | 10,250 | 14,500 | 11,500 |
| Provincial nominee | 15,483 | 10,898 | 9,270 |
| General, all programs | 14,445 | 0 | 0 |
| STEM | 4,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Education | n/a | 3,500 | 0 |
| Trades | 3,600 | 1,250 | 3,000 |
03 / Cutoffs
The score you need depends on which draw you're in.
In 2026, CEC draws cut off between 507 and 523. French draws cut off between 382 and 420. Same pool, more than 100 points apart.
Healthcare sat at 467 to 475. Provincial nominee draws run far higher because a nomination is worth 600 points on its own.
CRS cutoff range by draw type, 2026
Lowest to highest cutoff in each draw type, to September 29
Show the numbers
| Draw type | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|
| Physicians (Cdn exp.) | 169 | 223 |
| French language | 382 | 420 |
| Senior managers (Cdn exp.) | 389 | 429 |
| Healthcare | 467 | 475 |
| Trades | 477 | 477 |
| Canadian Experience Class | 507 | 523 |
| Provincial nominee | 697 | 805 |
04 / In Canada vs abroad
Seven in ten invitations go to people already in Canada.
It's been that way three years running: 68% in 2022, 70% in 2023, 69% in 2024. In 2024 alone, 160,100 work permit holders became permanent residents.
Meanwhile the door for new temporary residents is closing. The 2026 to 2028 Levels Plan cuts new temporary resident arrivals to 385,000 in 2026, down from 673,650 in 2025. If you're here on a permit, PR is how you stay.
Where invitees lived
Share of all invitations to apply
Living in CanadaLiving outside Canada
Show the numbers
| Year | Living in Canada | All invitations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 31,661 | 46,539 | 68% |
| 2023 | 76,946 | 110,266 | 70% |
| 2024 | 67,817 | 98,903 | 69% |
05 / Countries
India first. Cameroon second, and climbing.
Among invited candidates who applied in 2025, India led with 21,920. Cameroon came second with 14,775, more than double Nigeria's 5,990.
Algeria, Morocco, France, and Ivory Coast all made the top ten. French-language draws are the reason.
Top 10 countries of citizenship, 2025
Candidates invited to apply who then applied
Show the numbers
| Country | 2025 |
|---|---|
| India | 21,920 |
| Cameroon | 14,775 |
| Nigeria | 5,990 |
| China | 3,005 |
| Algeria | 2,405 |
| Philippines | 2,055 |
| Morocco | 2,000 |
| France | 1,830 |
| Iran | 1,605 |
| Ivory Coast | 1,435 |
06 / Occupations
Software engineers went from #1 to #12.
In 2023 and 2024, software engineers and designers were the most common occupation among invitees. In 2025 IRCC took software, data science, and most IT codes out of the STEM category. That year secondary school teachers ranked first.
IT is still the biggest cluster overall, mostly through CEC. But health care and education are right behind it. And from 2026, category draws need a full year of experience in one listed occupation, up from six months.
Invitees by occupation group, 2025
Candidates invited to apply who then applied
Show the numbers
| Occupation group | 2025 |
|---|---|
| IT and software | 7,625 |
| Health care | 6,905 |
| Education | 5,545 |
| Food service and retail supervisors, cooks | 3,575 |
| Finance and accounting | 3,500 |
| Admin | 3,360 |
Software engineers and designers
Invitations per year, and rank among all occupations
Show the numbers
| Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7,259 | #1 |
| 2024 | 3,715 | #1 |
| 2025 | 1,395 | #12 |
07 / What changed
Five changes that reshaped the pool.
March 25, 2025
Job offers stopped earning CRS points. Invitations already issued on those points were kept.
2025
Education became a category. Transport was dropped. Software, data science, and most IT codes were removed from STEM.
November 2025
The 2026 to 2028 Levels Plan cut new temporary resident arrivals to 385,000 for 2026 and announced a one-time move of up to 33,000 work permit holders to PR over 2026 and 2027.
February 18, 2026
New categories for physicians, senior managers, and researchers with Canadian work experience, plus skilled military recruits. Transport came back for four aviation and mechanic codes. Minimum category experience went from six months to one year.
April 2026
IRCC opened a consultation on merging FSW, CEC, and FST into one program. It's a proposal. Nothing has changed yet.
08 / The gap
The number IRCC doesn't publish.
There's no official count of Express Entry applications sent back or refused because of documents. We looked. What IRCC does publish is the rule: what you claim in your profile has to be backed by documents when you apply, or your application could be refused.
IRCC's help centre lists what trips people up. Missing documents. Unsigned or incomplete forms. Not following the guide.
People get the basics wrong even before they're invited. Of the 468,073 profiles submitted in 2024, 128,452 were ineligible. That's 27%.
Every chart on this page ends in the same place: a 60-day window and a stack of letters you don't write yourself. That's the part we built a kit for.
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Sources and method
Every number on this page comes from Government of Canada sources, accessed September 30, 2026. IRCC hasn't published its 2025 Express Entry Year-End Report yet, so 2025 and 2026 invitation totals are our count of IRCC's official rounds data. The same count reproduces IRCC's published 2024 total exactly. We'll update this page when the 2025 report comes out.
- IRCC, Express Entry Year-End Report 2024
- IRCC, rounds of invitations data
- IRCC open data, Express Entry invited candidates
- Express Entry category-based selection
- 2026 categories backgrounder, February 18, 2026
- 2026 to 2028 Immigration Levels Plan
- 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration
- Ministerial Instructions 2025-1 (job offer points)
- 2026 Express Entry consultation