733 Provincial Nominees Invited: PNP Cut-Off Slips to 725
Provincial nominees just had their best Express Entry week since June. On September 28, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held round #445, inviting 733 candidates with a provincial nomination to apply for permanent residence at a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 725.
No PNP round has been this large since June 22, when 955 nominees were invited, and the cut-off came in nine points below the 734 required two weeks earlier. For candidates who do not speak French and cannot reach the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) threshold on their own, a nomination remains the most dependable way to an invitation in 2026.
Round #445 at a Glance
| Detail | Round #445 |
|---|---|
| Draw date | September 28, 2026 |
| Draw type | Provincial Nominee Program |
| Invitations issued | 733 |
| Minimum CRS score | 725 |
| Tie-breaking rule | September 17, 2026 at 01:36:17 UTC |
The tie-breaking rule only matters for candidates sitting exactly at 725: they were invited if their profile was created before the time above. In local terms, that was 6:36 p.m. on September 16 in Vancouver and 9:36 a.m. on September 17 in Hong Kong.
Because a nomination is worth 600 points, a 725 cut-off corresponds to a core score of roughly 125. PNP cut-offs this year have ranged from 697 to 805, meaning nominees with core scores between about 97 and 205 have been reached, and most candidates who hold and accept a nomination in their profile are invited within a short window.
Every PNP Draw of 2026
IRCC has now run 19 PNP-specific rounds this year, issuing 9,270 invitations in total, or about 488 per round.
| Date | Invitations | Minimum CRS |
|---|---|---|
| September 28, 2026 | 733 | 725 |
| September 14, 2026 | 576 | 734 |
| August 31, 2026 | 562 | 697 |
| August 17, 2026 | 442 | 760 |
| August 4, 2026 | 507 | 768 |
| July 20, 2026 | 511 | 744 |
| July 6, 2026 | 534 | 708 |
| June 22, 2026 | 955 | 730 |
| May 25, 2026 | 334 | 805 |
| May 11, 2026 | 380 | 798 |
| April 27, 2026 | 473 | 795 |
| April 13, 2026 | 324 | 786 |
| March 30, 2026 | 356 | 802 |
| March 16, 2026 | 362 | 742 |
| March 2, 2026 | 264 | 710 |
| February 16, 2026 | 279 | 789 |
| February 3, 2026 | 423 | 749 |
| January 20, 2026 | 681 | 746 |
| January 5, 2026 | 574 | 711 |
The pattern splits cleanly in two. Through the spring, rounds were small and cut-offs clustered between 786 and 805. From late June onward, round sizes climbed back above 400 and cut-offs eased into the 697–768 range. At 725, this round posted the fifth-lowest PNP threshold of the year.
Express Entry in September
| Date | Draw type | Invitations | Minimum CRS |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 29, 2026 | Canadian Experience Class | 2,000 | 518 |
| September 28, 2026 | Provincial Nominee Program | 733 | 725 |
| September 16, 2026 | Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience | 250 | 389 |
| September 15, 2026 | Canadian Experience Class | 2,000 | 519 |
| September 14, 2026 | Provincial Nominee Program | 576 | 734 |
| September 4, 2026 | Healthcare and Social Services | 3,500 | 475 |
| September 3, 2026 | Physicians with Canadian Work Experience | 229 | 198 |
| September 1, 2026 | Canadian Experience Class | 2,000 | 521 |
IRCC followed the PNP round the very next day with round #446, inviting 2,000 CEC candidates at 518, essentially unchanged from 519 in mid-September. CEC cut-offs have stayed between 507 and 523 all year, still out of reach for most candidates without a nomination.
The 2026 Scorecard So Far
Official totals up to and including round #445 on September 28:
| Draw type | Rounds | Invitations |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Experience Class | 16 | 53,250 |
| French-language proficiency | 10 | 50,500 |
| Healthcare and social services | 3 | 11,500 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 19 | 9,270 |
| Trades | 1 | 3,000 |
| Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 3 | 1,000 |
| Physicians with Canadian work experience | 3 | 891 |
| Transport | 1 | 300 |
| Skilled military recruits | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 57 | 129,715 |
Adding the September 29 CEC round brings the year to 58 rounds and 131,715 invitations, with CEC at 17 rounds and 55,250 invitations.
Where the Pool Stands
IRCC’s CRS distribution as of September 27, 2026:
| CRS range | Candidates |
|---|---|
| 601–1200 | 728 |
| 501–600 | 21,070 |
| 451–500 | 73,131 |
| 401–450 | 62,611 |
| 351–400 | 47,298 |
| 301–350 | 17,359 |
| 0–300 | 7,707 |
| Total | 229,904 |
Only 728 candidates scored above 600, virtually all of them nominees, and this round invited 733. IRCC is working through its nominee backlog quickly, though nominees scoring between 601 and 724 will need to wait for the next PNP round. The more telling number sits lower down: more than 73,000 candidates hold between 451 and 500 points. Without French or experience in a targeted occupation, a provincial nomination is the realistic route for most of them.
Why This Matters for Hong Kong and Non-French Applicants
This year’s large invitation rounds have gone overwhelmingly to CEC and French-language candidates. French rounds regularly dip below 400 but demand strong French, while CEC rounds require Canadian skilled work experience and have not fallen below 507.
For Hong Kong applicants already working in Canada with CRS scores in the 450–500 band, an Express Entry-aligned (enhanced) provincial stream is often the more efficient path. British Columbia is a useful benchmark: on September 24, the BC PNP invited 714 Skills Immigration candidates, 426 of them selected by a wage threshold of $52 per hour (about $105,000 a year) and 288 by a minimum registration score of 131. A nomination then adds 600 points and places the candidate squarely inside the PNP draw range.
A nomination is not a permanent residence approval. Once invited, candidates have 60 days to submit a complete application, and every detail — work history, education, language results and family information — must match both the Express Entry profile and the provincial file.
Staying Employed While You Wait
In-Canada work permit holders who have applied for permanent residence through Express Entry may qualify for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP). If the current permit expires while the BOWP application is in process, the applicant can keep working under the same conditions on maintained status, provided they applied before the permit expired and remain in Canada.
A temporary IRCC measure in effect since June 9, 2026 also lets in-Canada provincial nominees apply for a bridging permit without waiting for the acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) on their PR application; it is currently set to end on December 31, 2026. Spouses and family members may be eligible for their own open work permits, but eligibility is assessed case by case under the current family work permit rules.
How Can Tianen Immigration’s Professional Team Assist You?
With PNP round sizes rising and cut-offs shifting from one draw to the next, Tianen Immigration offers professional support to assess your eligibility for Canadian immigration and how competitive you are for a provincial nomination through Express Entry.
We start with your core CRS score before any nomination points, then weigh your occupation, work location, wage and language results against British Columbia’s streams and other provinces’ Express Entry-aligned options to estimate where your registration score or wage would rank. Once a nomination is issued, we make sure it is accepted correctly in your profile and cross-check your work history, Educational Credential Assessment, language test results and settlement funds so that every detail matches the provincial file.
Whether you are preparing a provincial registration, holding a nomination and waiting for the next PNP round, racing the 60-day deadline after an ITA, or arranging a bridging work permit while your application is processed, we give advice specific to your stage and follow your file through to landing.