Express Entry round of invitations #445 was held on September 28, 2026. It was a Provincial Nominee Program round, 733 invitations went out, and the lowest-ranked candidate invited had a CRS score of 725, according to IRCC's official rounds of invitations record. If you're sitting in the pool watching cutoff numbers, the single most useful thing to understand about this draw is that a 725 cutoff in a PNP round is not the same kind of number as a 725 cutoff would be in a general draw — and confusing the two is the most common reason people misread their own position.
| Round # | Date | Category | CRS Cutoff | Invitations Issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 445 | September 28, 2026 | Provincial Nominee Program | 725 | 733 |
What these numbers actually describe
The figures above are the whole of what IRCC published for this round: the round number, the date it was held, the category it drew from, how many invitations were issued, and the score of the last candidate to receive one. Everything else you might read about a draw — momentum, trends, predictions — is interpretation layered on top of five data points.
So start with the category, because it governs everything else. This was a Provincial Nominee Program round, which means IRCC drew only from Express Entry candidates whose profiles carried a provincial nomination. It was not open to the general pool, and it was not a category-based round targeting an occupation or language. A candidate with a strong human-capital score and no nomination was not in the running for these 733 invitations, regardless of what their CRS number looked like next to 725.
That's why the cutoff sits where it does. A provincial nomination attached to an Express Entry profile carries a substantial CRS bonus — large enough that nominated candidates routinely rank hundreds of points above the rest of the pool. A PNP-round cutoff of 725 therefore doesn't tell you that scores have climbed; it tells you roughly what the underlying score looked like once the nomination points are set aside. Read that way, 725 is a fairly ordinary PNP-round figure rather than an alarming one.
Who this round actually affects
Three groups should read this differently.
If you already hold a provincial nomination and your profile reflects it, you were in the eligible group for this round. Whether an invitation reached you comes down to where you ranked and when your profile was updated. If you were nominated recently and the nomination wasn't properly linked to your Express Entry profile before the round was held, you weren't ranked with it — a mechanical problem that catches people more often than it should.
If you have a nomination application in progress with a province, this round is a data point about timing rather than about your chances. Provinces set their own criteria, their own intake windows, and their own nomination volumes; IRCC then invites from among nominated candidates in rounds like this one. The 733 figure reflects what IRCC issued on September 28, not how many nominations any particular province handed out.
If you have no nomination, this round changed nothing about your standing in the pool. Your profile was not eligible for it, your score was not measured against 725, and your position relative to general or category-based rounds is unaffected. What it may change is your thinking: if your unadjusted CRS is well below the range that general rounds have been reaching, provincial streams are the route most people in that position end up examining.
The part people get wrong about the 725
We hear a version of the same question after every PNP round: "My score is 480 — am I close?"
You're not comparing like with like. In a PNP round, essentially every invited candidate is carrying nomination points on top of their human-capital score. Subtract that bonus from 725 and the remaining figure is a considerably more modest score — the kind of number plenty of pool members already have. The nomination is what moved those candidates to the front, not a dramatic improvement in their language scores or work experience.
The practical consequence is that a high PNP cutoff is not a signal to abandon the provincial route. If anything, it's the clearest available illustration of what a nomination does to a profile's ranking. The competitive step is securing the nomination from a province, not clearing 725 in the federal pool.
What a nomination involves, in broad terms
Provincial streams that connect to Express Entry — often called enhanced streams — require a candidate to meet a province's own criteria before a nomination is issued. Those criteria vary widely: some streams key off in-demand occupations, some off an existing job offer, some off study or work history within the province, and some operate by invitation from the province's own pool rather than open application.
A few things worth holding in mind:
- Provincial criteria change independently of federal policy, and a stream that was open last quarter may be closed, paused, or reworked now.
- A nomination generally ties you to the nominating province, and provinces take that expectation of settlement seriously.
- There are also base streams that operate outside Express Entry entirely, on a separate paper-based timeline. Those don't produce the CRS bonus that drives rounds like #445.
If you're weighing whether a provincial route fits your profile, you can check your PNP eligibility here as a starting point before committing time to any one province's stream.
What to watch next
One round is one round. The useful habit is watching the pattern across rounds rather than reacting to a single cutoff, and specifically watching these things:
The mix of round types. IRCC alternates among general rounds, PNP rounds, and category-based rounds. How frequently each type appears, and at what volume, says more about where the department is directing capacity than any individual cutoff does.
Invitation volumes within each type. 733 is a mid-sized figure for a PNP round. Watching whether subsequent PNP rounds sit near that level, above it, or below it gives you a sense of throughput — though IRCC does not publish advance notice of round sizes, so this is observation, not forecasting.
Provincial stream openings. Since the federal round only draws from candidates who already hold nominations, the real bottleneck for most people sits at the provincial level. Stream announcements, intake caps, and occupation lists are where the actionable news usually lives.
Your own profile's expiry and accuracy. Express Entry profiles have a shelf life, and scores change as work experience accrues, language test results age out, or family circumstances shift. A profile that hasn't been reviewed in months may be ranking on stale information.
Questions this round tends to raise
Does a high PNP cutoff mean nominations are harder to get? No — the cutoff reflects the scores of candidates who were already nominated. It says nothing about how selective any province was in issuing those nominations.
Should I stop improving my CRS and just pursue a nomination? Those aren't alternatives. Human-capital factors — language, education, experience — feed into provincial criteria in many streams as well as into your federal ranking. Improvements rarely go to waste.
Is 733 invitations a lot or a little? It's a moderate round. Without the surrounding rounds for context, a single volume figure doesn't support a conclusion in either direction, and we'd rather say that plainly than dress up a guess.
My nomination came through after September 28 — did I miss something? You weren't eligible for a round held before your nomination was reflected on your profile. What matters now is that the nomination is accepted and properly linked going forward.
Where that leaves you
Round #445 is a routine PNP round with an unremarkable cutoff once you account for how nomination points work. For nominated candidates it was a live opportunity; for everyone else it's information about how the provincial route functions, not a verdict on their own file.
What it should prompt, if you've been drifting, is a hard look at whether your current strategy is realistic. Waiting indefinitely for a general round to come down to meet your score is a plan only if your score is genuinely in range. If it isn't, the provincial streams are where most people in that position focus, and the sooner you identify which provinces your background actually fits, the more options stay open.
Every file turns on details — work history, nomination status, profile timing, family composition — that a published cutoff can't speak to. An RCIC can assess your specific case. If you'd like a professional read on where you stand after this round, book a consultation with our team.