Canada Invites 792 Provincial Nominees in October 26 Express Entry Draw

Canada has invited 792 Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates to apply for permanent residence in an Express Entry round held on October 26, 2026. The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score required was 761.

This was the 451st Express Entry round overall and the 63rd of 2026. At 792 invitations, it is the largest PNP round since the 955 issued on June 22, and it is 40 invitations larger than the October 13 PNP round. The cut-off fell 11 points from that round’s 772. It follows the October 15 Canadian Experience Class draw and the October 16 French-language proficiency draw.

Full Details of the October 26 Provincial Nominee Program Draw

The tie-breaking rule means that candidates with a CRS score of 761 who submitted their Express Entry profile before 18:00:26 UTC on April 3, 2026 received an invitation. Candidates with the same score who entered the pool after that moment did not.

Provincial Nominee Program Express Entry Rounds in 2026

Across those 21 rounds, IRCC has issued 10,814 invitations to Provincial Nominee Program candidates in 2026.

Express Entry in 2026 So Far

The October 26 round brings the 2026 running total to 144,259 invitations across 63 rounds.

As of October 25, 2026, there were 228,724 candidates in the Express Entry pool, down from 229,456 on October 12. Of those, 787 had a CRS score between 601 and 1,200.

Why PNP Cut-Offs Are So High

A provincial nomination is worth 600 additional CRS points. A candidate invited at 761 in this round therefore held a base CRS score of roughly 161 before the nomination was added. PNP cut-offs are not comparable to Canadian Experience Class or category-based cut-offs for that reason.

To be invited in a PNP round, a candidate must already hold a nomination from a province or territory under the Express Entry-aligned (“enhanced”) portion of that province’s Provincial Nominee Program, and must have accepted the nomination in their Express Entry profile. Quebec does not participate in the Provincial Nominee Program and selects its own skilled workers through the Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés.

Full details of each round are published on the Government of Canada’s rounds of invitations page.

If you do not hold a provincial nomination, your route into an Express Entry round is a general or category-based draw, where cut-offs are far lower than in PNP rounds and vary widely by draw type (the October 15 Canadian Experience Class round closed at 519, and the October 16 French-language proficiency round at 435). Use our free CRS score calculator to work out your Comprehensive Ranking System score, see which draw types you are currently in range for, and identify which factors — language, education or Canadian work experience — would move you closest to an invitation.