🇨🇦 Draw History & CRS Analysis

Express Entry draws (also called "rounds of invitations") are the mechanism IRCC uses to select candidates from the pool for permanent residence. During each draw, IRCC sets a minimum CRS score cutoff and invites all candidates at or above that score to apply.

When two or more candidates share the same CRS score at the cutoff, IRCC uses a tie-breaking rule — typically the date and time the candidate submitted their Express Entry profile. Candidates who entered the pool earlier are invited first.

After receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA), candidates have 60 days to submit a complete permanent residence application with supporting documents. Candidates who are not invited remain in the pool for up to 12 months and are considered in future draws.

In 2025, IRCC issued 113,998 Invitations to Apply across 58 draws — up from 98,803 ITAs across 52 draws in 2024. December was the busiest month with 19,522 ITAs (17% of the annual total), while April was the slowest with just 1,246 ITAs.

The shift toward category-based selection was nearly complete: 98% of all invitations were issued through targeted draws rather than general rounds. French-language and CEC draws dominated, together accounting for 73% of all ITAs issued.

For 2026, Canada has set a Federal High Skilled landing target of 109,000 and added 5 new selection categories while retiring agriculture and education categories.