IRCC closed two rounds of invitations in this batch. Round 372, on October 14, 2025, was a Provincial Nominee Program round issuing 345 invitations at a Comprehensive Ranking System cut-off of 778. Round 373, the following day, targeted the Healthcare and Social Services Occupations category, issuing 2,500 invitations at a cut-off of 472.
The 306-point gap between the two cut-offs is not a sign that one candidate pool is more skilled than the other. It reflects how differently each round selects from the Express Entry pool: a provincial nomination adds 600 points on its own, while a category round draws largely on the human capital and skill transferability factors most candidates already have.
Neither round in this batch involved arranged employment points, which IRCC removed from the CRS entirely on 25 March 2025. A job offer no longer changes a candidate's score under either the general or category streams, so the analysis below focuses on what actually moves the needle: provincial nomination, occupation category, and the core human capital factors.
| Round | Date | Category | Invitations | CRS cut-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #372 | October 14, 2025 | Provincial Nominee Program | 345 | 778 |
| #373 | October 15, 2025 | Healthcare and social services occupations (Version 2) | 2,500 | 472 |
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
#372 · 345 ITAs
778
Healthcare
#373 · 2,500 ITAs
472
600 points is what a provincial nomination adds on its own.
- Provincial nomination
- Category-based selection
Why a PNP cut-off of 778 does not mean what it looks like
A cut-off of 778 looks intimidating next to a maximum CRS score of 1,200, but the figure is misleading read in isolation. Every candidate invited in round 372 already held a provincial nomination, which adds 600 points outright. Their competitiveness within the nominated pool was largely decided by the province before this round ever ran.
What round 372 tells a candidate without a nomination is very little on its own. It says nothing about the cut-off they would face in a general or category round, because those pools of candidates, and the points available to them, are entirely different. The relevant comparison for someone weighing a provincial nomination application is what their own score would look like with 600 points added, not the raw 778 figure.
What the healthcare round selected for
Round 373 drew from candidates whose profile matched the Healthcare and Social Services Occupations category, one of the category-based selections IRCC has run periodically since 2023. With 2,500 invitations issued at a cut-off of 472, this round reached well beyond the scores that dominate general rounds, into a segment of the pool where recent Canadian work experience is not a prerequisite.
A cut-off in the low 470s is typical for this category rather than exceptional. Readers who work in a healthcare or social services occupation and want to see where their own profile would land can run their details through the CRS calculator, which applies the same core factors, age, education, language ability and work experience, that IRCC scores in every round.
What this batch says about pacing
Two rounds and 2,845 combined invitations is a modest batch by the standards of later months in this cycle, when single Canadian Experience Class rounds alone would issue several thousand invitations. That reflects where the pattern stood in mid-October 2025; it is not a signal of IRCC's future intentions, and it would be a mistake to read a trend into two data points.
The more useful habit for anyone tracking their own eligibility is to check the live draw table regularly rather than try to predict the next round's category or cut-off. IRCC does not publish its round calendar in advance, and the category mix has shifted considerably from batch to batch over the past year.
What to take from this round
- A PNP cut-off in the high 700s reflects the 600-point nomination bonus, not a higher bar on human capital factors alone.
- Category-based rounds such as this Healthcare and Social Services draw typically carry cut-offs well below Canadian Experience Class rounds, because they select on occupation rather than only on score.
- Job offer points no longer factor into any CRS score, so they explain none of the cut-off differences in this batch.
- Use the CRS calculator to see where your own score falls relative to 472 in a category round, or against a nomination-adjusted score near 778 in a PNP round.
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.