Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has invited 507 people to apply for permanent residence through Canada’s Express Entry immigration system during its first Express Entry draw in August 2026.
This is the first Express Entry draw of August and 43rd Express Entry draw of 2026. The draw kicked off the month with a Provincial Nominee Program draw in line with the cluster draw approach used by IRCC since March.
The candidates who were invited had to have a provincial nomination among other qualifications in order to be eligible for invitations in the latest draw.
This is a comprehensive look at the details of the latest draw including how the numbers stack up with other PNP draws and what this says about the state of the pool, among other insights.
August 4 PNP Express Entry Draw Details
| Detail | Value |
| Draw type | Provincial Nominee Program |
| Invitations issued | 507 |
| CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate | 768 |
| Date and time of round | August 4, 2026, at 10:39:04 UTC |
| Tie-breaking rule | May 15, 2026, at 15:58:19 UTC |
The cut-off point for the CRS of 768 is due to the addition of the 600 points awarded to each and every Provincial nominee once they are nominated.
An individual whose base CRS score is 168 will meet the CRS cut-off point but this is rarely the case since most nominees have a higher base CRS score, as seen in our CRS analysis of 2026.
The tie-breaking date of May 15, 2026, indicates that individuals who had CRS scores of 768 must have submitted their Express Entry profile before this time.
Those individuals who had CRS scores more than 768 were offered an invitation regardless of the submission date of their profiles.
Latest CRS Score Distribution In The Pool
Below is the latest CRS score distribution in the pool as of August 3, 2026.
| CRS score range | Number of candidates |
|---|---|
| 601-1200 | 500 |
| 501-600 | 19,705 |
| 451-500 | 73,099 |
| 491-500 | 12,939 |
| 481-490 | 12,890 |
| 471-480 | 16,368 |
| 461-470 | 16,057 |
| 451-460 | 14,845 |
| 401-450 | 60,905 |
| 441-450 | 13,595 |
| 431-440 | 13,267 |
| 421-430 | 11,942 |
| 411-420 | 11,326 |
| 401-410 | 10,775 |
| 351-400 | 50,107 |
| 301-350 | 17,101 |
| 0-300 | 7,683 |
| Total | 229,100 |
How This Draw Compares to Previous PNP Rounds
The total number of 507 invitations sent out on August 4 lies within the range kept by IRCC for PNP draws throughout 2026, and the numbers can change between 264 and 955 based on how many new nominations are added by provinces to the Express Entry pool.
| Date | ITAs | CRS Cutoff |
| Jan 5 | 574 | 711 |
| Jan 20 | 681 | 746 |
| Feb 3 | 423 | 749 |
| Feb 16 | 279 | 789 |
| Mar 2 | 264 | 710 |
| Mar 16 | 362 | 742 |
| Mar 30 | 356 | 802 |
| Apr 13 | 324 | 786 |
| Apr 27 | 473 | 795 |
| May 11 | 380 | 798 |
| May 25 | 334 | 805 |
| Jun 22 | 955 | 730 |
| Jul 6 | 534 | 708 |
| Jul 20 | 511 | 744 |
| Aug 4 | 507 | 768 |
The CRS cut-off of 768 falls within the upper end of the PNP range for 2026, which has varied between 708 on July 6 and 805 on May 25.
The PNP cut-offs are affected by virtually everything other than changes in candidate quality – solely by the number and timing of nominations issued by provinces and added to the Express Entry system.
When provinces issue a high number of nominations between draws, the CRS cut-off declines because there are more nominees to choose from above the cut-off level, as illustrated by the case of June 22 draw of 955 invitations at CRS 730.
If there are fewer nominations between draws, there will be fewer candidates available and, as a result, the CRS cut-off will increase.
Express Entry 2026 Invitation Totals
The PNP invitation draw on August 4 results in 105,123 Express Entry invitations issued in 2026 through 43 draws.
The specific number of invitations to PNP categories has reached 6,957 in 15 draws, making up about 6.6% of all issued invitations in the current year.
| Category | Draws | Total ITAs | Share |
| Canadian Experience Class | 12 | 45,250 | 43.0% |
| French-Language Proficiency | 8 | 40,500 | 38.5% |
| Healthcare and Social Services | 2 | 8,000 | 7.6% |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 15 | 6,957 | 6.6% |
| Trades Occupations | 1 | 3,000 | 2.9% |
| Senior Managers | 2 | 750 | 0.7% |
| Physicians | 2 | 662 | 0.6% |
| Skilled Military Recruits | 1 | 4 | < 0.1% |
| Total | 43 | 105,123 | 100% |
With five more months remaining, the total of 105,123 issued in 2026 has already exceeded the total of 98,903 in 2024 and is approaching the 113,988 total issued in 2025.
Invitations to CEC and French-language draws make up over 81% of all invitations in 2026 while PNP draws continue to be a smaller yet regular part of the program.
What Draws Are Expected Next
The IRCC has been holding draws in compressed clusters since March with PNP draws always leading off in each window followed by CEC and French language draws on consecutive days.
Following the cluster pattern witnessed in July, there should be a Canadian experience class draw in the next one or two days with CRS cut-off scores expected to stay at 515-518 for 2,000 invitations.
There should be another draw for French language proficiency in the rest of the week with the French draws having issued invitations of 4,000-5,000 with CRS cut-offs of 393-420.
There could be a fourth draw for a smaller group such as trades, healthcare, or senior managers but this has not been part of each cluster.
The IRCC does not release any fixed draw schedule for the draws.
How Provincial Nominations Work in Express Entry
A provincial nomination guarantees an automatic boost of 600 CRS points to any candidate whose nomination has been matched with their Express Entry profile; hence, there will always be cutoff scores of 700+ in each PNP draw.
A nomination is done through one of the many Provincial Nominee Programs in place in provinces and territories across Canada, each having different eligibility requirements and target occupations, among others.
Recently, on June 26, Ontario launched its new Workforce Priority Stream, and it is expected to open up its Expression of Interest system later in the summer; this may result in more Ontario nominations to the Express Entry pool.
Another option available for candidates to consider would be draws in Alberta and British Columbia because there are some nominations still left for those provinces for 2026.
The time available to apply for permanent residency for candidates who get an invitation is exactly 60 days.
It is imperative to commence the collection of police certificates, medical tests, education credential assessment, and employment references because each one of them takes different times.
After 60 days, the invite becomes invalid, and the candidate’s profile gets back to the Express Entry pool with the previous CRS score.
At present, the Canadian Experience Class has an estimated processing period of six to seven months for those applying for permanent residency after being invited.
The latest August 4, 2026, PNP draw makes it evident that IRCC continues to have the same draw structure that Express Entry has had throughout the year 2026.
Following that, we can expect CEC and French-language draws in the next two to three days, thus ending the first August cluster.
