(CANADA) — Canada issued 4,000 Invitations to Apply through Express Entry on April 29, 2026, targeting candidates with French-language proficiency in its fifth French-language draw of the year and the twenty-sixth selection round overall in 2026.

The round set a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score of 400 and required candidates to have submitted an Express Entry profile before April 7, 2026, at 8:13 p.m. UTC, the tie-breaking cutoff date.

Officials used that timestamp to separate candidates who held the same score at the threshold. Applicants invited in the round now have 60 days to submit complete permanent residence applications.

The 400-point cutoff marked a 19-point decrease from the previous French-language draw held on April 15, 2026. It was the lowest French-category threshold so far in 2026.

French-language proficiency draws began in 2023 as Canada sought to encourage immigration to Francophone minority communities outside Quebec. The category has remained one of the most active streams in this year’s Express Entry selections.

Through April 29, 2026, French-language rounds had issued a total of 26,000 ITAs in 2026. Among all categories, only the Canadian Experience Class had received more invitations.

The latest draw adds to a pattern that has kept French-speaking candidates near the front of the federal immigration system even as the overall number of draws in 2026 has been lower than historical patterns. Within that narrower calendar, French-language rounds have continued to produce large invitation counts.

Express Entry selects candidates from a pool and ranks them by score, with the Comprehensive Ranking System determining who receives invitations when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada runs a round. In this case, candidates needed both the French-language category fit and the score threshold to receive an invitation.

The lower cutoff in the April 29 round suggests that more candidates became reachable at a broader score range than in the draw two weeks earlier. A drop of 19 points can change the field materially in a system where a single point often decides who receives an invitation and who remains in the pool.

The timestamp attached to the tie-breaking cutoff date also mattered. Candidates with a score of 400 needed to have entered the pool before April 7, 2026, at 8:13 p.m. UTC to receive an invitation in the event of a tie at the threshold.

Invited candidates move next to the application stage, where they must file a complete permanent residence package within 60 days. Processing is typically completed within six months.

The April 29 selection round showed how central French-language draws have become in 2026: 4,000 Invitations to Apply in a single round, a 400 CRS threshold, and a running total of 26,000 ITAs for French-speaking candidates before May had begun.