What are the 2026 category-based Express Entry draws?
Quick answer (cite-ready)
IRCC announced 10 categories for 2026 on 18 February 2026 — French-language proficiency plus 9 occupation-based categories, from healthcare and STEM to physicians and skilled military recruits. Renewed occupation categories now require 12 months of qualifying work experience. Category cut-offs on record for 2026 ran 169–477.
The 2026 category-based Express Entry draws
Direct answer: 10 categories, announced 18 February 2026. A category-based round invites from a subset of the pool, so its cut-off has nothing to do with "the" CRS cut-off.
The 10 categories
| Category | Standing | Work experience | Qualifying NOC codes | 2026 rounds | Cut-off range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| French-language proficiency | Renewed | NCLC 7, all four abilities | — | 10 | 382–420 |
| Healthcare and social services occupations | Renewed | 12 months, Canada or abroad | 37 | 2 | 467–475 |
| Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations | Renewed | 12 months, Canada or abroad | 11 | 0 | — |
| Trade occupations | Renewed | 12 months, Canada or abroad | 25 | 1 | 477 |
| Education occupations | Renewed | 12 months, Canada or abroad | 5 | 0 | — |
| Transport occupations | New for 2026 | 12 months, Canada or abroad | 4 | 1 | 470 |
| Physicians with Canadian work experience | New for 2026 | 12 months, in Canada | 3 | 2 | 169–223 |
| Senior managers with Canadian work experience | New for 2026 | 12 months, in Canada | 4 | 2 | 392–429 |
| Researchers with Canadian work experience | New for 2026 | 12 months, in Canada | 2 | 0 | — |
| Skilled military recruits | New for 2026 | See category rules | 3 | 1 | 368 |
A dash in the NOC column means IRCC publishes no occupation list for that category — absence of a list is not a wildcard. A dash in the cut-off column means IRCC has held no round under it in 2026, which is a statement about the past and nothing else: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations, Education occupations, Researchers with Canadian work experience.
The change that catches people out
The minimum work experience required for all renewed categories has been increased from six months to one year of experience in an eligible occupation, gained in Canada or abroad over the previous three years.
The six-month figure is still in wide circulation and is now wrong.
Canadian experience is required for some, not all
3 categories carry the words "with Canadian work experience" in their name, and that qualifier is the whole rule: the 12 months must be in Canada. The healthcare category contains the same 3 physician NOC codes as the physicians category but accepts experience from anywhere — so the same doctor can qualify for one and not the other.
Why the cut-offs sit so low
In 2026 IRCC held 49 rounds issuing 119,865 invitations, and not one was a general, all-program round. A category round ranks only the candidates who meet its criteria, so a small qualifying pool produces a low cut-off. Category cut-offs on record for 2026 ran 169–477, while the Canadian Experience Class rounds ran 507–523.
How to use this
Find your 2021 NOC code, check it against the tables on IRCC's category page, then confirm you meet that category's experience rule and the round's own instructions — IRCC publishes full details per round. Then score yourself: https://eecglobal.com/tools/crs-calculator.
The French-language proficiency category has no occupation list at all. It is the one category any occupation can enter, and it is bought with a language test — see https://eecglobal.com/answers/crs-points-for-french-express-entry.
No forecast, deliberately
Every cut-off above is a round IRCC has already held and published. There is no predicted cut-off here, no probability of an invitation and no trend line, because a plausible invented number is worse than no number when somebody books a test or a flight on it. Rounds are read from IRCC's own JSON feed (https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/documents/json/ee_rounds_123_en.json), last regenerated 30 August 2026.
Who is allowed to advise you on this
EEC is a test-preparation and study-abroad counselling provider. EEC is not an authorised immigration representative, nothing on this page is immigration advice, and nothing here is a promise that any score will be invited. Representation before IRCC may only be given by a lawyer or paralegal in good standing with a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, a Quebec notary, or a licensee of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). What EEC does is coach the language test the score depends on.
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