Overview
- The government held two consecutive Express Entry rounds, issuing 2,500 Canadian Experience Class (CEC) invitations at a 519 CRS cutoff on October 15 and 5,000 French‑language invitations at a 435 cutoff on October 16.
- IRCC applied a tie‑breaker of October 6, 2026 at 21:31:22 UTC for the French‑language draw, meaning only candidates with CRS 435 who filed their profiles before that timestamp received invitations.
- The 435 cut‑off is the highest French‑language threshold of 2026 after nearly two months without a category‑based French round, reflecting a growing pool of eligible French‑speaking candidates.
- Those two rounds bring the 2026 total to 143,467 ITAs across 62 rounds while the Express Entry pool stood at 229,456 profiles on October 12 with 63,528 candidates in the 401–450 CRS band that overlaps the French cut‑off.
- Eligibility for the French category requires NCLC 7 in all four French abilities and a valid Express Entry profile under FSWP, CEC or FSTP, and candidates who file from inside Canada may qualify for a Bridging Open Work Permit while their PR application is processed.