IRCC Wraps Up March with 2,250 Invitations in Canadian Experience Class Draw
Draw Details
IRCC conducted a category-specific draw on March 31 targeting candidates under the Canadian Experience Class. A total of 2,250 ITAs were issued to candidates who met both of the following criteria:
- A minimum CRS score of 509; and
- An Express Entry profile created before 8:27 a.m. UTC on March 18, 2026.
2026 Draw Landscape: In-Canada Candidates Take Center Stage
A review of the first quarter of 2026 reveals a clear strategic direction from IRCC — channeling invitations toward immigration candidates who are already in Canada, particularly those holding provincial nominations or possessing Canadian work experience.
Through the end of March, IRCC held 19 Express Entry draws across the following categories:
| Draw Type | Number of Draws |
|---|---|
| Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) | 7 |
| Canadian Experience Class (CEC) | 6 |
| French-language proficiency | 3 |
| Physicians with Canadian work experience | 1 |
| Healthcare and social services | 1 |
| Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 1 |
In terms of total invitations issued, CEC draws dominated by a wide margin, followed by French-language proficiency rounds. Together, the two categories accounted for over 86% of all ITAs. A detailed breakdown is as follows:
| Draw Type | ITAs Issued | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class (CEC) | 30,250 | 54.2% |
| French-language proficiency | 18,000 | 32.2% |
| Healthcare and social services | 4,000 | 7.2% |
| Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) | 2,939 | 5.3% |
| Physicians with Canadian work experience | 391 | 0.7% |
| Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 250 | 0.4% |
| Total | 55,830 | 100% |
Reading the Policy Signals
The pattern emerging from these draws sends an unmistakable message: Canada's 2026 immigration selection framework is tilting decisively toward candidates who are already established within its borders. Whether through CEC's requirement for Canadian work experience, French-language draws that favor bilingual professionals, or provincial nominations that align with regional labor needs, IRCC's selections all converge on a single objective — fast-tracking immigrants who have already integrated into the Canadian labor market and can contribute to the economy without delay.
For more information on Express Entry draws, visit the UNA Express Entry page.
Friendly reminder: There are many pathways to immigrate to Canada. We recommend first using UNA AI to generate an objective and neutral immigration plan, so you can gain an initial understanding of the possible immigration pathways and their requirements, and then choose to proceed with one-on-one consultations with a licensed Canadian immigration consultant partnered with UNA.
Canada Activates Fast-Track TR-to-PR Channel: 33,000 Rural Temporary Workers to Get Phased PR Approvals
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on May 4, 2026 released the long-awaited eligibility details for its In-Canada Workers Initiative — better known as the TR-to-PR pathway — confirming that the one-time program will fast-track permanent residence (PR) applications for up to 33,000 temporary workers already in Canada over 2026 and 2027, prioritizing those who have already filed PR applications under one of six streams (the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, the Caregiver pilots, and the Agri-Food Pilot) and who have lived in a smaller community for at least two years; IRCC will identify eligible applicants directly from existing inventories without requiring any action from candidates, and as of the end of February 2026 it had already granted PR to 3,600 workers under the initiative — 18% of this year's at-least-20,000 target — with the remaining roughly 13,000 spots expected to be processed within 2026 and the balance pushed into 2027, in line with Ottawa's broader objective of cutting Canada's temporary resident population to under 5% of the national total by the end of 2027 and complementing the rural low-wage Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) flexibilities that took effect on April 1, 2026, together cementing a clear policy tilt toward rural communities and away from major urban centres.
05/05/2026
Newfoundland and Labrador Issues 190 Invitations in Fourth 2026 Provincial Draw, Year-to-Date Total Surpasses 1,000
Newfoundland and Labrador held its fourth provincial immigration selection round of 2026 on May 1, issuing a total of 190 invitations through the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) — with NLPNP candidates accounting for 82.6% (157 invitations) and AIP candidates receiving 33. While the round marks the smallest single draw in 2026 to date and continues a trend of progressively shrinking round sizes, the year-to-date numbers remain striking: across four draws, the province has now issued 1,090 invitations, far exceeding the 256 invitations sent during the same January-to-May window in 2025 — a 325.8% year-over-year increase. The acceleration plays out against a notable federal backdrop: Ottawa's national PNP target has climbed from 55,000 in 2025 to 91,500 in 2026, with Canada's four Atlantic provinces collectively receiving more than a 65% allocation boost. With neighbouring New Brunswick having paused new AIP employer designations as of February 3, 2026, Newfoundland and Labrador now stands out as the Atlantic region's most active and stable provincial draw venue this year.
05/04/2026
Ontario Issues 997 GTA Invitations on April 30 as OINP Sprints Toward May 30 Overhaul
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) ran two targeted Employer Job Offer draws on April 30, 2026, issuing a combined 997 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to candidates already living in Canada on a valid work or study permit and holding a job offer in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with 720 invitations going to the Foreign Worker stream at a minimum score of 57 and 277 going to the International Student stream at a minimum score of 81; this is only the OINP's second GTA-focused round of 2026, comes 566 ITAs higher than the March 25 GTA draw and at noticeably lower cutoff scores in both streams, and arrives against the backdrop of a 14,119-nomination 2026 allocation from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that the province must work through before sweeping amendments to the Ontario Immigration Act take effect on May 30, 2026 and abolish all current nomination categories, while invited candidates and their employers face tight 14-day and 17-day windows to file their respective parts of the application before any nomination can be advanced to IRCC for permanent residence.
05/03/2026
Canada Eases In-Canada Status Restoration Rules: Out-of-Status Workers and Students Can Now Apply to Stay as Visitors
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on May 1, 2026, updated the operational instructions issued to immigration officers, formally expanding the scope of in-Canada restoration of status: temporary residents who have lost their worker or student status may now apply to be restored directly as visitors, instead of being effectively forced to leave Canada and re-enter as visitors as was generally the case under the previous guidance; applicants must still file within 90 days of losing status, remain in Canada while their application is processed, and immediately stop any activities that depended on the work or study authorization they no longer hold; the change comes at a moment when Canada's temporary resident population is contracting sharply — falling from roughly 3.149 million on October 1, 2024 to about 2.676 million on January 1, 2026, with more than 314,000 work permits set to expire in the first quarter of 2026 alone — and is widely viewed as a softer in-country bridge for workers and international graduates who cannot immediately secure a new work permit or a permanent residence pathway.
05/02/2026
IRCC Issues 4,000 ITAs to French-Speaking Candidates in Third Express Entry Draw of the Week
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held a category-based Express Entry draw on April 29, 2026, issuing 4,000 invitations to apply (ITAs) to candidates in the French-language proficiency stream with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 400 and a tie-breaking date of April 7, 2026 at 20:13:59 UTC. The round marks the fifth French-language draw of 2026 and the twenty-sixth Express Entry selection of the year overall, capping a week in which IRCC ran three back-to-back draws. Set against Ottawa's commitment to lift Francophone permanent residence outside Quebec to 9 percent of admissions in 2026 — and a freshly reserved pool of 5,000 federal spaces for French-speaking candidates — the French-language category has become, despite a comparatively low frequency of draws, the second-largest source of ITAs this year, trailing only the Canadian Experience Class (CEC); IRCC has now issued 71,627 ITAs in 2026, with the bulk going to in-Canada candidates holding provincial nominations or domestic work experience.
04/30/2026
IRCC Issues 2,000 CEC Invitations in Express Entry Draw, CRS Cut-Off Holds at 514
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) closed out April with another targeted Express Entry draw on April 28, 2026, issuing 2,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to candidates in the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) at a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off of 514. This marks the ninth CEC-specific round of 2026 and the 25th overall Express Entry draw of the year, lifting the year-to-date ITA total to 67,627 — of which CEC alone accounts for 34,250. With CEC and French-language draws together making up more than 80% of all 2026 ITAs and all-program draws absent from this year's calendar, the latest round reinforces Ottawa's broader strategy under the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan: prioritising candidates already working in Canada or selected through provincial nominations, and channelling more of the country's annual 380,000 permanent resident admissions toward "in-Canada" applicants.
04/29/2026
Canada Issues 473 ITAs to Provincial Nominees in April 27 Express Entry Draw, CRS Cut-Off at 795
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held a new Express Entry round on April 27, 2026, issuing 473 invitations to apply (ITAs) to candidates already holding a provincial nomination, with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 795 and a profile-creation cut-off of 11:11 p.m. UTC on April 13, 2026. This was the 23rd Express Entry selection of 2026, bringing the year's total to 65,627 ITAs, with Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws now numbering nine — the highest count of any draw type — and continuing to share top billing with the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Read alongside Ottawa's 2026 Immigration Levels Plan, which lifts the PNP target from roughly 55,000 in 2025 to 91,500, the latest round further confirms IRCC's broader strategy of prioritizing in-Canada candidates with provincial nominations and Canadian work experience.
04/28/2026
Canada's New TR-to-PR Pathway Shuts Out Every Major Urban Centre as Minister Confirms Full CMA Exclusion
Canada's Immigration Minister Lena Diab has confirmed that the federal government's new Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident (TR to PR) Pathway will exclude every one of Canada's 41 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), meaning temporary foreign workers currently employed in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa and other major urban centres will be shut out of the one-time program that is set to grant permanent residence to 33,000 rural and small-community workers over 2026 and 2027; speaking on the April 18, 2026 edition of the immigration show "I'm Canada," Diab said the full selection criteria — including work-experience duration and occupational scope — will be released "in the coming weeks," though she indicated applicants may need close to two years of Canadian work experience and that the pathway is unlikely to be sector-restricted; the CMA carve-out aligns with a broader federal push toward rural immigration, including temporary Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) flexibilities that took effect April 1, 2026 for rural employers outside CMAs and that have so far been adopted by Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Manitoba, together pointing to a coordinated policy shift that concentrates permanent-residence pipelines in smaller communities while tightening them in Canada's largest cities.
04/24/2026
Ontario OINP issues 918 nominations to Master's and PhD graduates in second 2026 draw
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) held its second draw of 2026 targeting international student graduates on April 22, issuing a total of 918 invitations to apply (ITAs) to candidates who completed a master's or doctoral degree at an Ontario university — 674 under the Master's Graduate Stream at a minimum score of 61, and 244 under the PhD Graduate Stream at a minimum score of 56. Compared with the program's March 18 draw, cut-off scores climbed sharply in both streams (up 31 points for master's and 7 points for PhD), a jump industry observers attribute not to a policy tightening but to a surge of high-scoring candidates entering the pool after the previous round. The April 22 draw was also notably broader in scope: unlike the NOC-targeted March 18 round, it imposed no specific National Occupational Classification experience requirement. All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of the deepest restructuring of the OINP in over a decade — the nine existing application categories are scheduled to be formally revoked on May 30, 2026, and replaced by four consolidated pathways (Employer: Job Offer, Priority Healthcare, Entrepreneur, and Exceptional Talent), giving eligible graduates a narrow closing window in which to act on an ITA.
04/23/2026
Saskatchewan Burns Through a Quarter of Its 2026 PNP Allocation in Q1, With Priority Sectors Leading the Pack
The Government of Saskatchewan has released first-quarter data for the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP), showing that as of April 21, 2026, the province has issued 1,223 nominations — roughly 26 percent of its 4,761-nomination annual allocation — leaving 3,538 spots to be distributed over the remainder of the year; against the backdrop of Ottawa's sweeping 50 percent cut to all Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) in 2025, Saskatchewan's 2026 allocation sits at only about 60 percent of the roughly 8,000 nominations the province received in 2024, prompting a structural overhaul that slices the annual quota into "priority sectors," "capped sectors" and "other sectors," with capped trades such as accommodation and food services, retail and trucking now managed through a fixed-window intake schedule; Q1 figures show the seven priority sectors — healthcare, agriculture, skilled trades, mining, manufacturing, energy and technology — moving fastest, using up 29 percent of their internal allocation and accounting for more than half of all nominations issued so far, while the capped retail, trade and other services sector leads usage in its category at 31 percent, followed by accommodation and food services at 26 percent and trucking at 19 percent, with non-priority, non-capped "other sectors" sitting at 19 percent overall; the next capped-sector intake window opens on May 4, 2026, on a first-come, first-served basis.
04/22/2026
