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The latest Canada Express Entry draw invited 733 provincial nominees to apply for permanent residence on September 28, 2026, making it the largest round for this category since late June. Candidates needed a Comprehensive Ranking System score of at least 725 to make the cut, and only those who created an Express Entry profile before September 17 at 1:36 a.m. UTC were eligible.
Inside the September 28 Draw
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada runs Express Entry draws targeting different pools: some rounds are open to all candidates, others target specific programs such as the Canadian Experience Class, and this one focused exclusively on the Provincial Nominee Program. A provincial nomination adds 600 points to a candidate’s CRS score, which is why PNP-specific draws tend to pull from a narrower, higher-scoring pool than general rounds, as detailed by CIC News.
The 725 cutoff reflects that dynamic. Candidates without a provincial nomination rarely reach that score, so this round was effectively a call to people who had already secured one from a province or territory and were simply waiting for IRCC to issue the formal invitation to apply.
How the Canada Express Entry Draw Works
Once invited, candidates have 60 days to submit a complete application for permanent residence, including proof of funds, medical exams and police certificates where required. Missing that window means losing the invitation and having to re-enter the pool, so applicants who were nominated by a province should already have most of their documents ready before an invitation lands.
This draw brought Canada’s 2026 total to 57 Express Entry rounds and more than 129,715 invitations issued year-to-date, underlining how central the program remains to the country’s overall immigration intake even as individual draw sizes fluctuate month to month.
Who Made the Cut
Because every invited candidate already held a provincial nomination, this round skews toward people with a specific job offer, in-demand occupation, or regional connection that a province wanted to retain. It also tends to favor candidates already living and working in Canada, since many provincial nominee streams prioritize applicants with Canadian work experience or a job offer from a local employer.
For candidates already in Canada on a valid work permit, a successful application can come with a Bridging Open Work Permit, which lets them keep working while IRCC processes their permanent residence application rather than facing a gap in status.
Provincial nominations themselves come from a patchwork of programs run independently by each province and territory, each with its own criteria tied to local labor market needs. A nomination from Ontario’s tech-focused stream, for example, looks very different on paper from one issued by an Atlantic province prioritizing healthcare or skilled trades workers, even though both carry the same 600-point boost once a candidate enters the federal Express Entry pool.
What’s Ahead for Canada’s Express Entry Pool
With 57 rounds already run this year, IRCC shows no sign of slowing its PNP-focused approach, which has consistently favored candidates with provincial or Canadian ties over general high-CRS candidates without either. Anyone in the pool without a nomination should treat a provincial nomination as the most reliable way to improve their odds, rather than waiting for score inflation to work in their favor.
Watch for the next general draw to clarify whether IRCC is easing cutoffs for candidates without a nomination, or continuing to prioritize PNP and CEC rounds through the rest of the year.
Candidates still waiting in the pool without a provincial nomination should treat this draw as a data point rather than a reason to panic. General draws targeting the full Express Entry pool typically run at lower CRS cutoffs than PNP-specific rounds, so a 725 threshold here says more about this particular draw’s target group than about where the overall pool is trending.
Express Entry Draw: Your Questions Answered
How many invitations were issued?
733 invitations went out on September 28, 2026, exclusively to Provincial Nominee Program candidates.
What was the minimum CRS score?
725, reflecting the 600-point boost a provincial nomination adds to a candidate’s score.
How long do invited candidates have to apply?
60 days from the date of invitation to submit a complete application.
Can candidates in Canada keep working while they wait?
Those already in Canada on a valid work permit may qualify for a Bridging Open Work Permit during processing.
How many invitations has Canada issued in 2026 so far?
More than 129,715 across 57 Express Entry rounds, as of this draw.
Related Coverage on Tamara News
For more on how Canada’s visa system is shifting this year, see our coverage of Canada’s new study permit proof-of-funds requirement and the delayed October 2026 US visa bulletin for a look at how processing timelines compare across countries.
Sources
- CIC News — Canada invites 733 provincial nominees to apply for permanent residence. https://www.cicnews.com/2026/09/canada-invites-733-provincial-nominees-to-apply-for-permanent-residence-0980374.html
- Government of Canada — Check Express Entry processing times. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html
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