The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) has issued 474 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs) for permanent residence in Expression of Interest (EOI) Draw #280, held on September 24, 2026.
This was the 19th MPNP selection round of 2026. Its largest component targeted top-scoring candidates working in Manitoba in natural and applied sciences, which accounted for 417 of the 474 LAAs at a minimum ranking score of 760.
Draw Breakdown
Draw #280 combined four separate selections across two MPNP streams.
| Selection | LAAs issued | Minimum ranking score |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker in Manitoba — top-scoring, Broad Occupational Category 2 (natural and applied sciences) | 417 | 760 |
| Skilled Worker Stream — strategic recruitment initiatives | 40 | Not published |
| Skilled Worker in Manitoba — Francophone selection | 16 | Not published |
| Skilled Worker in Manitoba — occupation-specific (NOC 31102) | 1 | Not published |
| Total | 474 |
Of the 474 LAAs issued, 148 went to candidates who declared a valid Express Entry profile number and job seeker validation code, or just under a third of the round.
Science and Technology Workers Drive the Round
The main selection considered top-scoring profiles declaring current employment in Manitoba in Broad Occupational Category 2 — natural and applied sciences and related occupations. It issued 417 LAAs at a minimum ranking score of 760.
Broad Occupational Category 2 under the National Occupational Classification covers professional and technical occupations in the physical and life sciences, engineering, architecture, mathematics and computing, including software developers, engineers, and engineering and science technicians and technologists.
The 760 cut-off sits between the thresholds of Manitoba’s two previous large rounds. Draw #279 on September 10 cut off at 825 for its Manitoba-graduate selection, and Draw #278 on August 27 cut off at 731 for its top-scoring trades selection.
Francophone and Occupation-Specific Selections
A Francophone selection invited 16 candidates who declared French as their language of communication with the MPNP and held a valid French language test result, up from 11 in Draw #279.
An occupation-specific selection considered profiles declaring current employment in Manitoba as general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102), and issued a single LAA.
Skilled Worker Stream — Strategic Recruitment
A further 40 LAAs went to profiles submitted under the Skilled Worker in Manitoba or Skilled Worker Overseas pathways that declared being directly invited by the MPNP through a strategic recruitment initiative. Those invitations broke down as follows:
| Strategic recruitment initiative | LAAs issued |
|---|---|
| Regional Communities | 15 |
| Employer Services | 9 |
| Ethnocultural Communities | 9 |
| Francophone Community | 6 |
| Temporary Public Policy (TPP) | 1 |
| Total | 40 |
MPNP Expression of Interest Draw #280 — September 24, 2026
| Draw detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Draw number | #280 |
| Date | September 24, 2026 |
| Streams targeted | Skilled Worker in Manitoba; Skilled Worker Stream |
| Letters of Advice to Apply issued | 474 |
| Highest published minimum ranking score | 760 (Broad Occupational Category 2) |
| Candidates with an Express Entry profile | 148 |
Manitoba Nears 6,900 Invitations for 2026
Draw #280 brings the MPNP’s 2026 total to 6,883 Letters of Advice to Apply across 19 rounds.
Manitoba has kept its two-week Thursday rhythm through late summer and into the fall. Draw #280 was smaller than Draw #279 on September 10 (793) and Draw #278 on August 27 (741), but far larger than the 53-LAA strategic recruitment round held on August 13. Each of the last three large rounds has been built around a different occupational group: trades in August, Manitoba graduates and health occupations in early September, and now natural and applied sciences.
Why Some Eligible Candidates Were Not Invited
The MPNP notes that candidates who met the selection criteria but did not receive an LAA may have been passed over for one of two reasons:
- They indicated they had taken an approved third-party language test but did not provide a valid test number in their EOI, or the test result is no longer valid.
- They indicated they had received an Invitation to Apply under a strategic recruitment initiative but did not provide a valid invitation number.
Candidates in either position can update their EOI with the correct information to be considered in a future draw. Full results are published on the Government of Manitoba website. A record of every 2026 round is kept on our Manitoba immigration draws page.
A Manitoba provincial nomination adds 600 points to a candidate’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score under the federal Express Entry system, effectively guaranteeing an invitation to apply in a subsequent federal round. Use our free CRS score calculator to estimate your CRS score and see where a provincial nomination would place you in the Express Entry pool.