Canada holds second consecutive provincial nominee draw
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada issued 334 invitations to apply through Express Entry on May 25, 2026, targeting Provincial Nominee Program candidates exclusively. The draw required a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score of 805 and a profile created before 6:16 p.m. UTC on October 16, 2025.
This marks the second PNP-specific draw in May and the tenth such draw in 2026, continuing a pattern that began in January. The CRS threshold rose seven points from the May 11 draw, which invited 380 candidates at a cutoff of 798, reflecting tighter competition among provincial nominees as reported by CIC News.
Provincial nominee draws have consistently required CRS scores above 700 throughout 2026, with the lowest threshold at 710 on March 2 and the highest at 805 in today's selection. The elevated scores stem from the 600-point boost provincial nominees receive, making these draws accessible only to candidates already holding a provincial nomination certificate from programs like Ontario's OINP or British Columbia's BC PNP. Without that nomination, applicants would need base scores above 200 to qualify — a threshold unattainable through education, work experience, and language skills alone.
IRCC has issued 4,116 invitations to provincial nominees across ten draws this year, representing 5.7 percent of the 72,341 total ITAs distributed in 2026. Canadian Experience Class draws have dominated the selection calendar with 34,250 invitations across eight rounds, while French-language proficiency draws account for 26,000 ITAs across five selections.
The draw affects candidates holding nomination certificates from any Canadian province or territory operating an Express Entry-aligned stream. Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Nova Scotia issue the majority of these nominations, though Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon also participate. Candidates from countries with strong provincial nominee uptake — India, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Pakistan — form the largest applicant pools in this category.
Invited candidates have 60 days to submit complete permanent residence applications through their IRCC online accounts. Check your account dashboard for the invitation letter, verify all supporting documents match current requirements, and confirm your provincial nomination certificate remains valid through the application processing period, which currently averages six months for Express Entry applications.
Source: CIC News — published 2026-05-25.
Original reporting: CIC News