Between March 2 and 5, 2026, IRCC ran four Express Entry rounds, one of the busier batches in this year's sequence. Round 399, a Provincial Nominee Program draw, issued 264 invitations at a CRS cut-off of 710. Round 400, a Canadian Experience Class round, issued 4,000 invitations at a cut-off of 508. Round 401, a French-Language proficiency round, issued 5,500 invitations at a cut-off of 397. Round 402, a Senior managers with Canadian Work Experience round, issued 250 invitations at a cut-off of 429.
Four rounds in four days spread invitations across four distinct populations of the pool, each with a different cut-off shaped by who is eligible to compete in it. The French-Language round alone accounted for 5,500 of the invitations issued, the largest single figure in the batch, while the Senior managers round shows how a narrow occupational category can clear a modest volume at a cut-off well below the general CEC round.
In total, this batch issued 10,014 invitations, a substantial figure driven mainly by the scale of the CEC and French-Language rounds.
| Round | Date | Category | Invitations | CRS cut-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #399 | March 2, 2026 | Provincial Nominee Program | 264 | 710 |
| #400 | March 3, 2026 | Canadian Experience Class | 4,000 | 508 |
| #401 | March 4, 2026 | French-Language proficiency | 5,500 | 397 |
| #402 | March 5, 2026 | Senior managers with Canadian Work Experience | 250 | 429 |
Each bar is the lowest CRS score invited in that round. Invitation counts differ by orders of magnitude between rounds, so they are given as text rather than as a second axis.
PNP
#399 · 264 ITAs
710
CEC
#400 · 4,000 ITAs
508
French
#401 · 5,500 ITAs
397
Senior mgrs
#402 · 250 ITAs
429
600 points is what a provincial nomination adds on its own.
- Provincial nomination
- General programme round
- Category-based selection
Four rounds, four different populations
It is worth being precise about why these four cut-offs cannot be stacked against one another as if they measured the same thing. Round 399 drew from candidates who already held a 600-point provincial nomination. Round 400 drew from the general Canadian Experience Class pool with no additional filter. Round 401 drew only from candidates who met the French-Language proficiency category's criteria. Round 402 drew only from candidates eligible under the Senior managers with Canadian Work Experience category. Each cut-off reflects the shape of its own population, not a single unified scale of competitiveness.
The practical consequence is that a candidate should identify which of these four populations they belong to before drawing any conclusion from this batch. A candidate with no nomination and no category eligibility should look at round 400's figure of 508. A candidate with strong French test results should look at round 401's 397. A candidate working as a senior manager with Canadian experience should look at round 402's 429.
The Canadian Experience Class round at CRS 508
Round 400 is the general benchmark in this batch, inviting 4,000 candidates at a cut-off of 508. With arranged-employment points removed from the CRS since 25 March 2025, this ranking rests entirely on age, education, official language ability and Canadian work experience. The CRS calculator can help a candidate near this threshold identify which factor offers the clearest path to a higher score.
Why the Senior managers category cut-off sits at 429
Round 402 issued 250 invitations to candidates in the Senior managers with Canadian Work Experience category at a cut-off of 429, below the general CEC round but well above the French-Language round in the same batch. Category cut-offs vary by how large and how competitive the eligible sub-pool is; a smaller, more experienced occupational group like senior managers can still post a moderate cut-off even while the invitation volume stays comparatively low.
For a candidate in an eligible senior management occupation with Canadian work experience, this category is worth checking even where a general-round score falls short, since eligibility depends on occupation and experience criteria rather than CRS score alone.
Comparing this batch with what came before and after
The batch before this one, closing February 20, 2026, ran a PNP round at 789, a CEC round at 508, a Physicians round at 169, and a Healthcare and Social Services round at 467. Against that batch, the CEC cut-off held exactly flat at 508, while the PNP cut-off eased from 789 to 710, and the category mix shifted entirely, from Physicians and Healthcare rounds to French-Language and Senior managers rounds.
The batch that followed, closing March 18, 2026, ran a PNP round at 742, a CEC round at 507, and a French-Language round at 393, without repeating the Senior managers round. A CEC cut-off holding close to 507-508 across three consecutive batches suggests the general pool's competitiveness has been comparatively stable over this stretch, though a longer run on the live draw table gives a fuller picture than any two or three batches alone.
What to take from this round
- This batch ran four rounds across four distinct populations; compare your score only against the round that matches your own eligibility.
- Round 400 invited Canadian Experience Class candidates down to CRS 508, the relevant figure for a general profile without a nomination or category eligibility.
- Round 402 shows a Senior managers with Canadian Work Experience round clearing invitations at CRS 429, worth checking for candidates in that occupational category.
- Use the CRS calculator to see where your score stands and the live draw table to track the CEC cut-off across several consecutive batches rather than one.
Round numbers, dates, invitation counts and CRS cut-offs are IRCC's own, from their published rounds of invitations. The analysis is general information, not immigration advice, and reading it creates no consultant-client relationship.