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Tamara's World  /  Blog  /  Canada Immigration
01 Oct 2026
Canada Express Entry draw

Canada Just Issued Its Biggest Provincial Nominee Round Since June

Categories Canada, Immigration

The latest Canada Express Entry draw invited 733 provincial nominees to apply for permanent residence on September 28, 2026, making it the largest round for this category since late June. Candidates needed a Comprehensive Ranking System score of at least 725 to make the cut, and only those who created an Express Entry profile before September 17 at 1:36 a.m. UTC were eligible.

Inside the September 28 Draw

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada runs Express Entry draws targeting different pools: some rounds are open to all candidates, others target specific programs such as the Canadian Experience Class, and this one focused exclusively on the Provincial Nominee Program. A provincial nomination adds 600 points to a candidate’s CRS score, which is why PNP-specific draws tend to pull from a narrower, higher-scoring pool than general rounds, as detailed by CIC News.

The 725 cutoff reflects that dynamic. Candidates without a provincial nomination rarely reach that score, so this round was effectively a call to people who had already secured one from a province or territory and were simply waiting for IRCC to issue the formal invitation to apply.

How the Canada Express Entry Draw Works

Once invited, candidates have 60 days to submit a complete application for permanent residence, including proof of funds, medical exams and police certificates where required. Missing that window means losing the invitation and having to re-enter the pool, so applicants who were nominated by a province should already have most of their documents ready before an invitation lands.

This draw brought Canada’s 2026 total to 57 Express Entry rounds and more than 129,715 invitations issued year-to-date, underlining how central the program remains to the country’s overall immigration intake even as individual draw sizes fluctuate month to month.

Canada Express Entry draw

Who Made the Cut

Because every invited candidate already held a provincial nomination, this round skews toward people with a specific job offer, in-demand occupation, or regional connection that a province wanted to retain. It also tends to favor candidates already living and working in Canada, since many provincial nominee streams prioritize applicants with Canadian work experience or a job offer from a local employer.

For candidates already in Canada on a valid work permit, a successful application can come with a Bridging Open Work Permit, which lets them keep working while IRCC processes their permanent residence application rather than facing a gap in status.

Provincial nominations themselves come from a patchwork of programs run independently by each province and territory, each with its own criteria tied to local labor market needs. A nomination from Ontario’s tech-focused stream, for example, looks very different on paper from one issued by an Atlantic province prioritizing healthcare or skilled trades workers, even though both carry the same 600-point boost once a candidate enters the federal Express Entry pool.

What’s Ahead for Canada’s Express Entry Pool

With 57 rounds already run this year, IRCC shows no sign of slowing its PNP-focused approach, which has consistently favored candidates with provincial or Canadian ties over general high-CRS candidates without either. Anyone in the pool without a nomination should treat a provincial nomination as the most reliable way to improve their odds, rather than waiting for score inflation to work in their favor.

Watch for the next general draw to clarify whether IRCC is easing cutoffs for candidates without a nomination, or continuing to prioritize PNP and CEC rounds through the rest of the year.

Candidates still waiting in the pool without a provincial nomination should treat this draw as a data point rather than a reason to panic. General draws targeting the full Express Entry pool typically run at lower CRS cutoffs than PNP-specific rounds, so a 725 threshold here says more about this particular draw’s target group than about where the overall pool is trending.

Express Entry Draw: Your Questions Answered

How many invitations were issued?
733 invitations went out on September 28, 2026, exclusively to Provincial Nominee Program candidates.

What was the minimum CRS score?
725, reflecting the 600-point boost a provincial nomination adds to a candidate’s score.

How long do invited candidates have to apply?
60 days from the date of invitation to submit a complete application.

Can candidates in Canada keep working while they wait?
Those already in Canada on a valid work permit may qualify for a Bridging Open Work Permit during processing.

How many invitations has Canada issued in 2026 so far?
More than 129,715 across 57 Express Entry rounds, as of this draw.

Related Coverage on Tamara News

For more on how Canada’s visa system is shifting this year, see our coverage of Canada’s new study permit proof-of-funds requirement and the delayed October 2026 US visa bulletin for a look at how processing timelines compare across countries.

Sources

01 Sep 2026
Canada temporary resident tracking

Canada Doesn’t Know Who’s Actually Leaving — A New Report Says Fix It

Categories Canada, Immigration

A council of immigration experts says Canada temporary resident tracking is broken, and Ottawa is flying blind on who actually leaves the country when a permit expires. The warning comes from the C.D. Howe Institute’s immigration targets council in a submission released August 30, 2026.

The Numbers Driving the Warning

Federal figures dated June 30, 2026 counted 632,000 people in Canada on study permits. Another 1.5 million held temporary work permits at the same point. Together, temporary residents remain a significant share of Canada’s population even after two years of federal cuts to intake targets.

Canada temporary resident tracking

Statistics Canada estimates temporary residents currently make up about 6.2 percent of the population, or roughly 2.5 million people. The federal government has set a target of bringing that share below 5 percent by the end of 2027.

Why Canada Temporary Resident Tracking Worries the Council

Council chair Parisa Mahboubi says the government’s target relies on an assumption rather than verified data. Ottawa largely assumes people leave once their permits expire, without a reliable system to confirm departures actually happen.

The council includes former immigration minister Jason Kenney alongside academics who study migration policy. Their submission argues that without better exit tracking, nobody, including the government, can say with confidence whether the 5 percent target is realistic or already being missed.

What the Council Wants Ottawa to Do

The submission calls for two changes. First, deeper cuts to temporary resident intake beyond what is already planned. Second, and more urgent according to Mahboubi, a functioning system to track when temporary residents actually exit the country rather than simply assuming compliance.

Canada already collects some exit data through information-sharing agreements with the United States at land borders, but coverage gaps remain, particularly for people who leave by air to destinations other than the US or who overstay without formally departing at all.

How Canada Currently Tracks Departures

Canada shares some border-crossing data with the United States. An information-sharing agreement covers land crossings between the two countries. That system can confirm when someone leaves Canada for the US, but it captures only one exit route among several.

People who fly to other countries fall outside what that data can confirm. So do people who simply remain in Canada after their permit expires without formally departing. The council’s submission argues this gap is large enough to undermine confidence in any national compliance estimate.

Provincial data adds another layer of uncertainty. Health cards, driver’s licenses, and school enrollment records could in theory help confirm whether someone is still in the country, but these systems are not currently linked to federal immigration status data in a systematic way.

Building those links raises its own privacy and jurisdictional questions, since provinces control much of that data independently of the federal government’s immigration mandate.

Mahboubi’s council did not set a timeline for when better tracking should be in place, but framed it as a prerequisite for any credible claim that Canada’s temporary resident population is actually shrinking toward the government’s target.

Opposition critics have echoed parts of the council’s concern. The political debate over intake levels themselves remains far more divided, though, than the narrower, more technical question of how departures get counted.

That narrower question, Mahboubi argues, is where Ottawa could make the fastest progress, since better tracking does not require the same political consensus that setting new intake numbers demands.

What Other Countries Do Differently

Several peer countries, including Australia and the UK, run more comprehensive exit-tracking systems that log departures at all major air, land, and sea points. Those systems let governments report overstay rates with more confidence than Canada currently can.

The C.D. Howe submission points to these systems as a model Canada could adapt, arguing that better data would let policymakers set intake targets based on verified outcomes rather than assumptions about who has already left.

Building a comparable system in Canada would likely require new agreements with airlines and closer coordination between IRCC, the Canada Border Services Agency, and provincial governments that currently hold pieces of the relevant data separately.

Where the Levels Debate Goes From Here

The council’s submission feeds into the government’s annual immigration levels consultation, which shapes targets for permanent and temporary admissions in the years ahead. Ottawa has not yet responded formally to the recommendations.

Study permit holders and temporary workers already navigating a tighter Canadian system, including recent caps on the Post-Graduation Work Permit’s eligible fields of study, are likely to face continued scrutiny as this debate over tracking and targets plays out over the coming months.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many temporary residents does Canada currently have?

Statistics Canada estimates about 2.5 million temporary residents, roughly 6.2 percent of the population, as of mid-2026.

What is Canada’s target for temporary residents?

The federal government aims to bring temporary residents below 5 percent of the population by the end of 2027.

Why does the C.D. Howe Institute say tracking is a problem?

The council argues Ottawa assumes people leave when their permits expire without a reliable system to confirm departures, making the 5 percent target hard to verify.

Who is on the C.D. Howe Institute’s immigration targets council?

The council is chaired by economist Parisa Mahboubi and includes former immigration minister Jason Kenney along with academics who study migration policy.

Related Coverage on Tamara News

Sources

01 Sep 2026
Canada Hong Kong PR pathway

Canada’s Hong Kong ‘Lifeboat’ Just Closed Its Doors

Categories Canada, Immigration

Canada’s Hong Kong PR pathway stopped accepting new applications on August 31, 2026. The temporary program, known informally as the “lifeboat” scheme, gave eligible Hong Kong residents in Canada a faster route to permanent residence. It closed exactly as scheduled, with no extension announced.

What the Canada Hong Kong PR Pathway Covered

Ottawa introduced the pathway in 2021 through two streams. Stream A covered graduates of Canadian post-secondary institutions. Stream B covered people with recent Canadian work experience. Both required applicants to hold Hong Kong status and meet specific education or work criteria tied to their time in Canada.

Canada Hong Kong PR pathway

The policy responded to Hong Kong’s 2020 national security law, which Canada and several other governments said had eroded the territory’s autonomy and civil freedoms. It offered a dedicated, faster track separate from Express Entry and other economic immigration streams.

The Numbers Behind the Program

As of June 30, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had received roughly 30,315 applications under the policy. Counting family members, that figure covers about 48,560 people. IRCC had already approved more than 8,600 of those applications, covering about 13,485 people.

Those figures show a program that processed a meaningful but modest share of Hong Kong’s diaspora in Canada relative to the number of people who left the territory since 2020.

Application volume climbed steadily through 2024 and 2025 as word spread among Hong Kong communities in Toronto and Vancouver, the two cities where most applicants under both streams had settled before filing.

What Happens to Applications Already Filed

IRCC will continue processing every application submitted on or before August 31, 2026. Applicants who filed before the deadline do not need to take any new action because of the closure; their cases proceed under the rules that applied when they applied.

Anyone who missed the deadline no longer has access to Stream A or Stream B specifically. Other permanent residence routes, including Express Entry and provincial nominee programs, remain open to Hong Kong applicants who qualify under their general criteria.

Why Ottawa Let the Program Expire

Canada framed the pathway as temporary from the start, tied to conditions in Hong Kong after 2020 rather than a permanent immigration category. Officials gave applicants years of advance notice about the August 31 end date, unlike some policy changes that land with little warning.

The closure also fits a broader pattern this year. Canada has trimmed several temporary and special-status immigration streams as it works toward lower overall admission targets, a shift that has touched programs well beyond the Hong Kong pathway.

Advocacy groups representing Hong Kong Canadians had pushed for an extension in the months before the deadline, citing ongoing political conditions in the territory. IRCC did not change course, and the program closed on schedule.

What Happens If You Missed the Deadline

Former Hong Kong pathway hopefuls now compete through Canada’s general economic immigration system rather than a dedicated track. That means meeting Express Entry’s points thresholds or qualifying under a provincial nominee stream, both of which carry different requirements than the closed Hong Kong-specific program.

Immigration consultants recommend reviewing eligibility for Express Entry’s existing categories. Work experience and education gained in Canada under the former Hong Kong pathway criteria can often still count toward points in the general system.

British Columbia and Ontario, the two provinces where most Hong Kong applicants settled, also run provincial nominee streams that sometimes favor candidates with existing local work history, a detail worth checking against each province’s current criteria.

Applicants weighing their remaining options should confirm current eligibility directly with IRCC or a licensed immigration consultant, since program criteria can shift between the levels-plan updates that Ottawa issues each year.

The closure leaves a gap in Canada’s immigration offerings for a community that leaned on this pathway heavily since 2021, and no government official has signaled a replacement program is under consideration.

Community organizations that supported applicants through Stream A and Stream B say they will keep offering guidance on general immigration routes, even without a dedicated Hong Kong-specific program to point clients toward going forward.

Anyone unsure whether their application counts as filed before the August 31 cutoff should contact IRCC directly. A confirmation receipt showing the submission timestamp is the clearest evidence a case still qualifies under the old rules.

Keep that receipt on file for the full length of processing. IRCC may request proof of the original filing date if a case takes an unusually long time to resolve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still apply for Canada’s Hong Kong PR pathway?

No. Both Stream A and Stream B stopped accepting new applications on August 31, 2026, and there is no announced extension.

What happens to my application if I applied before August 31, 2026?

IRCC continues processing applications submitted on or before the deadline under the rules in place when they were filed.

How many people used the Hong Kong pathway before it closed?

IRCC had received about 30,315 applications, covering roughly 48,560 people, as of June 30, 2026, with more than 8,600 applications already approved.

What immigration options remain for Hong Kong residents in Canada?

General routes including Express Entry and provincial nominee programs remain open to applicants who meet their standard eligibility criteria.

Related Coverage on Tamara News

Sources

09 Jul 2026
Express Entry pool CRS score distribution for Canada in 2026

Canada’s Express Entry Pool Just Shrank – Read Your Odds Right

Categories Canada, Immigration, Visa Updates

Fewer rivals above you does not mean an easier draw. The Express Entry pool held 235,127 profiles on 5 July 2026, down 4,518 in a fortnight, and almost all of the shrinkage happened in the high-scoring bands that decide cut-offs. Candidates sitting between 401 and 470 actually grew in number. If you read only the headline total, you will misjudge your odds by a wide margin.

By the Tamara News editorial desk. Last updated 9 July 2026.

On this page

Where the Express Entry pool moved

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada refreshes its snapshot of the candidate pool every two weeks. Between 21 June and 5 July, four draws issued 9,226 invitations, and CIC News recorded that “the overall size of the Express Entry pool declined by 4,518 profiles”.

Read the bands, not the total. The 501 to 600 range lost 1,401 profiles. The 471 to 480 range lost 1,120. The very top, 601 and above, fell from 941 candidates to 525. Meanwhile every band from 401 to 470 gained. The pool did not empty. It flattened, and the mass moved into the middle.

What your score is really worth

A raw CRS number tells you little without the percentile behind it. At 5 July, a score of 450 placed a candidate around the 60th percentile. Roughly a third of the pool sat at 400 or below. Only 0.22 per cent cleared 600, and those profiles are overwhelmingly provincial nominees carrying the 600-point boost.

That distribution explains the two July draws. On 6 July a provincial nominee round invited 534 people at a cut-off of 708. On 7 July a Canadian Experience Class round invited 2,000 at 517. Same pool, cut-offs almost 200 points apart, because the programs are drawing from different populations.

Mariel, a nurse from Cebu already working in Ontario on a closed permit, carries a CRS in the low 470s. Against the general pool that looks mediocre. Against the healthcare category and the Canadian Experience Class stream she qualifies for, it is competitive, which is the entire point of category-based selection.

Playing the next twelve weeks

Chase the category, not the cut-off. Priority categories now cover healthcare and social services, trades, education, transport and French-language proficiency, and renewed categories require a full year of qualifying work experience within the previous three, up from six months.

Language remains the cheapest points on the board. A band improvement in French can move a profile by dozens of points where no amount of extra work experience will. A provincial nomination remains the only route that makes your score irrelevant. Check your program eligibility before you optimise your score.

Want to know which category actually fits your profile? Start with our visa eligibility checker, then bring us the result: https://wa.link/i9l1ec

What to remember

  • The pool shrank to 235,127 profiles, but the losses were concentrated above 470.
  • Bands from 401 to 470 grew, making the middle more crowded than a month ago.
  • Category-based draws, not general draws, are where mid-range scores win.
  • Renewed categories now demand one year of qualifying experience, not six months.

Straight answers

What CRS score do I need for Express Entry in 2026?
There is no fixed number. Recent Canadian Experience Class rounds cut off near 517, while provincial nominee rounds sat above 700 because of the nomination bonus.

Does a smaller Express Entry pool help me?
Only if the shrinkage happens above your score. The July data shows losses at the top and growth in the 401 to 470 range.

How often is the pool snapshot updated?
IRCC publishes a fresh distribution roughly every two weeks, and it lags the most recent draws.

Is French really worth the effort?
For most candidates it is the highest-yield improvement available, both for CRS points and for French-language category draws.

Related reads

Share this story

  • LinkedIn: Canada’s Express Entry pool lost 4,518 profiles. The middle got more crowded, not less.
  • Twitter: CRS 450 puts you around the 60th percentile of Canada’s Express Entry pool. Know your band.
  • Facebook: Two July draws, cut-offs 191 points apart. Here is why.

Find the draw that fits you

Most candidates spend months adding points to a profile that was never going to clear a general draw, when a category or a provincial stream would have taken them at their current score. An hour of honest assessment beats a year of optimisation. Talk to our Canada team: https://wa.link/i9l1ec

Sources

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03 Jun 2026
Canada Express Entry reform 2026 Toronto skyline African candidates

Canada Is Changing Who Gets Picked — Africans, Here’s the New Math

Categories Canada, Immigration, Visa Updates

Ottawa is quietly redrawing the line between who gets a permanent-residence invitation and who keeps waiting. Under the Canada Express Entry reform 2026, proposed changes would tilt selection toward candidates with higher earning potential and valid job offers, while trimming the weight long given to Canadian study and short work stints. For Nigerian engineers, Ghanaian nurses and Kenyan accountants sitting in the pool, the scoring math you memorised last year may not be the math that picks you.

How the new scoring logic tilts

The heart of the Canada Express Entry reform 2026 is a shift in what earns points. IRCC has signalled that wage level and a genuine job offer would carry more influence, while the premium on simply having Canadian experience narrows. At the same time, category-based draws have hard-wired one year of in-Canada work into several streams — double the old six-month floor. Translation: a thin local résumé padded with a short diploma no longer guarantees movement, and candidates who can show a real, well-paid role rise faster regardless of where they trained.

Why African candidates should recalculate now

Many African applicants built their profile around the old playbook: study in Canada, grab any job, file. That route still works, but its edge is shrinking. Take Chidi, a Lagos-based data analyst with a Canadian master’s and eight months of part-time campus work — under the proposed weighting his profile sits behind someone with a higher salary band and a signed offer letter. The lesson is not to panic but to re-aim: chase the offer, target the priority occupations, and treat the francophone and STEM categories as faster lanes that reward exactly what the reform now prizes.

The draw rhythm has gone quiet — read it right

Canada paused the steady invitation rhythm that had run since January 2026, and silence in Express Entry is never neutral. It usually precedes a rule change taking shape. The right move during a pause is preparation, not waiting: refresh your language test, lock down an Educational Credential Assessment, and line up provincial options through a category-based pathway so that when draws resume under the new logic, your profile is already shaped for it.

Not sure how the new weighting hits your CRS score? Get a free profile read from the Travel Explore team before draws restart: https://wa.link/i9l1ec

What to lock in this month

  • Prioritise a valid, well-paid job offer — it carries more weight under the reform than ever.
  • One year of Canadian work now anchors several categories; plan for it, not six months.
  • Francophone and STEM categories reward the exact profiles the reform favours.
  • Use the draw pause to refresh language scores and your ECA, not to sit idle.

African applicants keep asking

Is the Express Entry reform already law? The changes are proposed and being phased in through category design; some elements are live while the full CRS reweighting is still being finalised.

Do I lose points for being outside Canada? Not directly, but the rising premium on Canadian work and job offers makes overseas-only profiles more competitive only with a strong wage or offer.

Should I still study in Canada? It remains a valid route, but pair it with a clear path to a real, paid role rather than relying on study alone.

When do draws resume? IRCC has not fixed a public date; prepare now so a restart does not catch you mid-document.

Related reads

Share this story

  • LinkedIn: Canada is rewarding earnings and job offers over thin Canadian experience. African candidates, here’s how to re-aim.
  • Twitter/X: The Express Entry math is changing in 2026 — wages and offers now matter more. Recalculate before draws resume.
  • Facebook: Big shift coming to Canada PR selection. Read this before your next Express Entry move.

Re-aim your Canada profile today

Reforms reward the prepared. If your Express Entry profile still runs on last year’s logic, now is the moment to rebuild it around earnings, offers and the right category. The Travel Explore team can help you map the fastest lane — start here: https://wa.link/i9l1ec

Sources

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