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© 2026 Visa AtlasReviewed continuously. Last sweep: 18 August 2026
  1. Home/
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  3. Canada Express Entry category tracker

Live tracker - updated 29 July 2026

Canada Express Entry Category Tracker, 2026

Track Canada's 2026 Express Entry category-based selection rounds: current categories, categories with no draw yet, invitations, CRS ranges and the latest category draw (#430, Skilled military recruits, CRS 368).

This page separates category-based selection from Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nominee Program and general rounds so category CRS cut-offs are not mixed with program-specific scores.

By Sam Parks, Editor and lead researcher.

What is the latest Express Entry category-based draw?

The latest tracked category-based round was #430 on 23 July 2026: Skilled military recruits, 4 invitations and CRS 368.

Reconciled against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on 29 July 2026.

Answer cluster

Source-backed answer cluster

This page is part of a market-share execution cluster with public battlecards, source datasets and release gates. The links below are evidence trails for crawlers, AI retrievers and reviewers; they are not ranking, traffic, citation or market-share outcome claims.

  • fresh-answer

    Win freshness-led Canada queries with IRCC-reconciled draw data, category no-draw flags, widgets and calculator verdict context rather than generic Express Entry explainers.

    • Competitor battlecard: canada-express-entry-freshness
    • Capture plan: canada-express-entry-freshness-capture-plan
    • /api/public/market-share-capture-plan
    Related target pages
    • /research/canada-express-entry-draw-tracker
    • /citation-packs#express-entry-latest-draw
    • /widgets
    • /citation-packs#express-entry-categories-2026
    • /calculators/canada-crs
    • /visas/canada/express-entry-fsw

Credentialed review status

Blocked pending reviewer handoff

This page is in the P0 reviewer queue. No credentialed reviewer is claimed for this page yet, and reviewedBy schema is not live. Publication stays blocked until the local reviewer handoff, reviewedBy evidence row, source-freshness recheck and final schema-fragment review are complete.

canada-express-entry-yml-review / ca-regulated-reviewer-slot

blocked-pending-handoff

Review scope

  • CRS calculator context
  • category draw interpretation
  • proof-of-funds caveats
  • source freshness

Required local evidence

  • evidenceRowId
  • queueId
  • reviewerEntityId
  • reviewerName
  • reviewerEvidenceHandoffId
  • reviewedByEvidenceRowId
  • pageUrl
  • preReviewContentHash
  • postReviewContentHash
  • changedSections
  • reviewScope
  • sourceFreshnessRecheckedAt
  • legalAdviceBoundaryConfirmed
  • schemaFragmentReviewed
  • readyForPublication
  • reviewedAt
  • reviewedBy

Handoff requirements

  • A named reviewer handoff exists from the acquisition workflow.
  • The reviewedBy evidence log has a separate row for the same queue, reviewer entity and reviewed page URL.
  • Pre-review and post-review content hashes are recorded locally.
  • Changed sections, review scope, source freshness recheck date and legal-advice boundary confirmation are present.
  • The reviewedBy schema fragment has been reviewed separately before publication.

Public controls

  • P0 reviewed page refresh controls
  • /api/public/p0-reviewed-page-refresh
  • High-risk page review acquisition - sourcing-required/api/public/high-risk-page-review-acquisition
  • reviewedBy schema rollout - blocked-pending-evidence/api/public/reviewedby-schema-rollout
  • Expert reviewer entity program - credential-evidence-required/api/public/expert-reviewer-entities
Audit trail fields

Source datasets

  • /api/public/p0-reviewed-page-refresh
  • /api/public/high-risk-page-review-acquisition
  • /api/public/reviewedby-schema-rollout
  • /api/public/expert-reviewer-entities
  • /api/public/express-entry-draws
  • /api/public/express-entry-categories
  • /api/public/calculator-verdict-contexts

Canada Express Entry freshness stack

Canada Express Entry latest draw, CRS and category freshness answer

Use this with the category table so category-based rounds, PNP rounds and CEC rounds do not get merged into one CRS answer.

Latest draw

Round #430 on 23 July 2026 was a Skilled military recruits draw: 4 invitations, CRS cut-off 368.

A CRS cut-off is a historical result for that round, not a future target score.

2026 draw volume

In 2026 so far, IRCC has run 42 tracked rounds and issued 104,616 ITAs.

PNP rounds include the 600-point nomination effect, so they must be read separately from category and CEC rounds.

Category status

6 of 10 current categories have drawn in 2026; 4 have no 2026 category round yet.

Latest category draw: #430, Skilled military recruits, CRS 368.

Citation and widget surfaces

The draw tracker, category tracker, CRS verdict context, citation pack and widget all read from the same Express Entry draw dataset.

Re-run the IRCC import before publishing any latest-draw answer or AI-answer correction claim.

  • Express Entry draw tracker
  • Canada CRS calculator
  • Latest draw widget
  • Draws JSON feed
  • Category JSON feed
  • Latest draw citation pack
  • How current our Canada figures are

Source dates: rounds reconciled against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on 29 July 2026; categories checked against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on 29 July 2026. Latest source record in this cluster: 29 July 2026. This cluster supports retrieval and review, not ranking, traffic, AI-citation or market-share outcome claims.

10

Current categories

6

Have drawn in 2026

16

Category rounds

52,916

Category ITAs

Key findings

  • 6 of 10 current categories have held at least one category-based round in 2026; 4 current categories have not.
  • The lowest tracked 2026 category CRS cut-off is 169, from the Physicians round on 19 February 2026. That score applies only to that round and category.
  • The current category roster comes from IRCC's category-based selection page; the draw metrics come from the source-linked Express Entry draws JSON.
  • Use this tracker with the full draw tracker and the Canada CRS calculator; no category row should be read as a prediction or invitation guarantee.

Category tracker

Current IRCC categories, in official roster order. Rounds and CRS ranges cover 2026 only.

Category2026 statusRoundsInvitationsCRS rangeLatest round

French-language proficiency

Minimum NCLC 7 French-language test results in all 4 abilities, plus the instructions for that round.

Drawn in 2026840,500393-420#429 2026-07-22, CRS 399

Healthcare and social services occupations

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed occupation, in Canada or abroad.

Drawn in 202628,000467-475#422 2026-06-25, CRS 475

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed occupation, in Canada or abroad.

No 2026 category round00No 2026 drawNone in tracked 2026 rounds

Trade occupations

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed trade occupation, in Canada or abroad.

Drawn in 202613,000477#408 2026-04-02, CRS 477

Education occupations

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed education occupation, in Canada or abroad.

No 2026 category round00No 2026 drawNone in tracked 2026 rounds

Physicians with Canadian work experience

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent Canadian work experience in the last 3 years in one listed physician occupation.

Drawn in 2026

New for 2026 roster

2662169-223#421 2026-06-24, CRS 223

Senior managers with Canadian work experience

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent Canadian work experience in the last 3 years in one listed senior manager occupation.

Drawn in 2026

New for 2026 roster

2750392-429#426 2026-07-10, CRS 392

Researchers with Canadian work experience

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent Canadian work experience in the last 3 years in one listed researcher occupation.

No 2026 category round

New for 2026 roster

00No 2026 drawNone in tracked 2026 rounds

Transport occupations

At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed transport occupation, in Canada or abroad.

No 2026 category round

New for 2026 roster

00No 2026 drawNone in tracked 2026 rounds

Skilled military recruits

Foreign skilled military applicant criteria, including recognized foreign military service, aligned NOC experience/training, arranged Canadian Armed Forces employment and credential requirements.

Drawn in 2026

New for 2026 roster

14368#430 2026-07-23, CRS 368

No 2026 category round yet

  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations

    At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed occupation, in Canada or abroad.

  • Education occupations

    At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed education occupation, in Canada or abroad.

  • Researchers with Canadian work experience

    At least 12 months of full-time equivalent Canadian work experience in the last 3 years in one listed researcher occupation.

  • Transport occupations

    At least 12 months of full-time equivalent work experience in the last 3 years in one listed transport occupation, in Canada or abroad.

Program rounds kept separate

These 2026 rounds affect Express Entry candidates but are not category-based selection rows.

  • Canadian Experience Class

    12 rounds, 45,250 invitations

    CRS 507-518

  • Provincial Nominee Program

    14 rounds, 6,450 invitations

    CRS 708-805

Methodology and limits

  • Rows are derived from Visa Atlas Express Entry draw records reconciled against IRCC official rounds data, plus IRCC current category-based selection guidance.
  • Current category roster rows are listed even when IRCC has not yet run a 2026 category round for that category.
  • A CRS cut-off is a historical round result, not a target score or invitation guarantee.
  • Category eligibility does not guarantee an invitation; candidates must also be eligible for an Express Entry program and meet the instructions for the specific round.
  • Program-specific rounds such as Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nominee Program are separated from category-based selection rows.
  • This is compiled data and analysis, not legal advice.

Cite or reuse this dataset

This tracker is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Cite this report for the category analysis, the JSON endpoint for the derived rows, and IRCC for the underlying draw and category records.

Suggested citation

Visa Atlas, "Visa Atlas Canada Express Entry category tracker", https://visaatlas.org/research/canada-express-entry-category-tracker. Last verified 29 July 2026.

Page
https://visaatlas.org/research/canada-express-entry-category-tracker
JSON endpoint
https://visaatlas.org/api/public/express-entry-categories

Primary sources (2)

  • IRCC — Express Entry rounds of invitations
  • IRCC - Express Entry category-based selection

This is not legal advice

We publish neutral, sourced information about immigration routes. Rules and thresholds change often — always verify details on the official government source linked on this page and consult a regulated immigration advisor before applying.