Canada Invites 562 Provincial Nominees in August 31 Express Entry Draw

Canada has invited 562 Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates to apply for permanent residence in an Express Entry round held on August 31, 2026. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score required was 697.

This was the 438th Express Entry round overall and the 50th of 2026. At 697, it is the lowest cut-off score of any PNP-specific round this year — and the lowest since March 3, 2025.

Full Details of the August 31 Provincial Nominee Program Draw

Candidates needed a CRS score of at least 697 to be invited. Where more than one candidate sat at 697, the tie-breaking rule applied: only those who submitted their Express Entry profile before 04:32:26 UTC on April 12, 2026 received an invitation.

That tie-break date reaches back more than four months before the round itself. It points to a cluster of long-standing profiles sitting at exactly the cut-off, with profile age — not score — deciding who was picked up. It is a marked change from the August 17 PNP round, where the tie-break window was just ten days.

Why the Cut-Off Fell to 697

PNP-specific rounds normally produce the highest cut-off scores of any draw type, because every candidate invited already holds a provincial nomination worth an automatic 600 CRS points. Cut-offs in the 740–800 range have been the norm through most of 2026.

The August 31 round broke that pattern for two reasons. First, it was the largest PNP round since June, at 562 invitations. Second, the nominated pool was comparatively thin: as of August 30, 2026, the Express Entry pool held just 559 candidates scoring 601 or above out of a total of 226,673 profiles. Issuing 562 invitations against a top band that size meant reaching down to the bottom of the nominated group, which is what pushed the floor to 697.

For nominated candidates, the practical read is straightforward. A 697 cut-off does not signal a tougher program — it signals that IRCC cleared out the backlog of nominees waiting in the pool. Anyone holding a nomination who was not invited on August 31 should expect to be picked up in an early autumn round.

Express Entry PNP Rounds in 2026

A Record August for Express Entry

The August 31 round closed out the busiest month of the year so far. IRCC held eight Express Entry rounds in August 2026 and issued 15,811 invitations in total.

That brings the 2026 running total to 120,427 invitations across 50 rounds, already well beyond any previous full year of Express Entry operations.

The Express Entry Pool as of August 30, 2026

What a Provincial Nomination Does for Your CRS Score

An enhanced provincial nomination adds 600 points to a candidate’s CRS score. In practice this guarantees an invitation to apply in a subsequent PNP-specific round, since no unnominated candidate can realistically reach the scores these draws require.

Candidates pursuing this route need to be nominated by a province or territory under the enhanced (Express Entry-aligned) portion of its nominee program, and must already hold a valid Express Entry profile and be eligible for one of the three programs managed through the system. Details of each round are published on the Government of Canada’s rounds of invitations page.

If your CRS score is below 697 and you are not yet nominated, a provincial nomination is the single largest score increase available to you. Use our free CRS score calculator to work out your Comprehensive Ranking System score, see where you sit against the 226,673 profiles currently in the pool, and find out what 600 nomination points would do to your total.