Express Entry Draw: Latest Results & History

Latest Express Entry draw

The latest Express Entry draw took place on September 28, 2022, inviting 3750 No program specified candidates with a CRS score of at least 504 to apply for permanent residence:

CRS score distribution of candidates in the Express Entry pool as of September 26, 2022

As of September 26, 2022, there are 237,423 candidates in the Express Entry pool. The following table shows the CRS range of these candidates:

Express Entry draw history

The following table includes the details of all Express Entry draws that have taken place previously:

Express Entry CRS cut-off score records

The following table shows the CRS cut-off records of previous Express Entry draws broken down by the type of draw:

Express Entry invitations by immigration program

Since Express Entry launched in 2015, a total of 575,787 invitations were issued to candidates in the Express Entry pool. The following table shows the number of invitations by immigration program:

Canada's Immigration levels plan 2022-2024

On February 14, 2022, Canada released the 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan, which outlines an ambitious effort to support Canada's economic resurgence and post-pandemic growth by increasing immigration targets.

The plan aims to welcome immigrants at a rate of about 1% of Canada’s population, including:

• 431,645 permanent residents in 2022;
• 447,055 in 2023; and 
• 451,000 in 2024.

Canada's target of 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022 represents a 6% increase over the number of permanent residents welcomed in 2021 (405,303). This increase reflects Canada's growing need for immigrants as a key part of its continued economic success.

Other highlights of the plan include:

• an admissions target of 1.14% of Canada's population by 2024
• a focus on long-term economic growth, with nearly 60% of new immigrants coming under economic immigration pathways such as Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), and the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident (TR2PR) stream that was available in 2021.
• a plan to increase Francophone immigration outside Quebec with a target of 4.4% of French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec by 2023.
• help for those who need to resettle in Canada as refugees, including a plan to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan nationals over the next two years.

Express Entry draws FAQs

What are Express Entry draws?

Express Entry is an online immigration application management system used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to process applications from skilled workers under the following economic immigration programs:

1. The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
2. The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
3. The Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
4. A portion of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

Candidates who meet the requirements of one of the programs above are able to submit a profile to the Express Entry pool where they are ranked against other candidates using a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

During an Express Entry invitation round (or "draw"), IRCC invites candidates in the Express Entry pool with the highest CRS scores to apply for permanent residence. 

Historically, Express Entry draws occur once every two weeks.

Express Entry draws are either:

1. General: candidates who are eligible for any of the federal economic immigration programs managed by Express Entry are selected based on their CRS score.
2. Program-specific: candidates are selected for one of the federal economic immigration programs managed by Express Entry (i.e. CEC or FSTP) based on their CRS score.

The results of each Express Entry draw include:

• The number identifying the draw (unique ID);
• The date and time the invitation round took place;
• The immigration program associated with the invitation round (whether it is specific to a program or not);
• The number of invitations issued, representing the number of Express Entry candidates that were invited to apply for permanent residence; 
• The CRS score and rank of the lowest-ranked candidates invited to apply during the invitation round; and
• The tie-breaking rule, which is used to select candidates with the lowest CRS cut-off score based on the time and date they submitted their Express Entry profile.

When will the next Express Entry draw be?

The next Express Entry draw is predicted to take place on October 12, 2022. Typically, Express Entry draws occur once every two weeks on a Wednesday.

Will the CRS score go down in 2022?

On July 6, 2022, Canada officially resumed invitations for Federal Skilled Workers and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates. As normal draws resume, we could see CRS scores going lower as the year progresses.

Canada aims to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024. Based on these immigration level plans for upcoming years, it is possible we will see a decrease in the CRS cut-off score in time.

What is the tie-breaking rule in Express Entry?

Many variables help determine what the CRS cut-off score will be for a given Express Entry draw, such as the government’s immigration targets, the time in between draws and the number of candidates in the Express Entry pool when an invitation round takes place. 

In the event of a tie for the lowest CRS score cut-off (given there are only a limited number of invitations that are issued each draw), the government uses something called a “tie-breaking rule” to select candidates.

To illustrate what the tie-breaking rule does, let’s use an example:

1. The latest Express Entry draw occurs.
2. 3500 ITAs are issued to the highest ranked candidates in the pool.
3. The minimum CRS score required is 422.
4. Because there are a limited number of ITAs issued in any given draw, some candidates who were able to achieve a CRS score of 422 won’t receive an ITA, while others will.
5. In the case of a CRS tie, the system will rank all tied candidates based on the date and time that they submitted their profile. The tie-breaking rule essentially prioritizes profiles that have been in the Express Entry pool for a longer period of time.

As a result of the tie-breaking rule, some candidates will not receive an ITA even though they have the minimum required CRS score for the latest draw that took place:

Can I be eligible for more than one Express Entry program?

Yes. When there is an "all-program" draw (meaning the draw is not specific to a program, like the CEC or FSTP) and you are eligible for more than one Express Entry option at the same time (i.e. you are eligible for both FSW and CEC), the system will invite you to apply for one of the classes in the following order:

1. Provincial Nominee Class (PNC)
2. Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
3. Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
4. Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)