The batch running from August 31 to September 4, 2026 was IRCC's busiest of the summer, with four rounds and 6,291 invitations issued across four different selection streams. The largest of the four, round 441, invited 3,500 candidates under Healthcare and Social Services Occupations at a cut-off of CRS 475, the biggest single round in this batch by volume.
The batch opened with round 438, a Provincial Nominee Program draw of 562 invitations at CRS 697, followed by round 439's Canadian Experience Class draw of 2,000 invitations at 521. The most striking figure in the batch, though, is round 440: a Physicians with Canadian Work Experience round that invited 229 candidates at a cut-off of just 198, the lowest cut-off of any round in this batch by a wide margin.
Readers wanting to see where their own profile lands relative to any of these four cut-offs can run the numbers through the CRS calculator, and the full round-by-round history is available in the live draw table.
| Round | Date | Category | Invitations | CRS cut-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #438 | August 31, 2026 | Provincial Nominee Program | 562 | 697 |
| #439 | September 1, 2026 | Canadian Experience Class | 2,000 | 521 |
| #440 | September 3, 2026 | Physicians with Canadian Work Experience | 229 | 198 |
| #441 | September 4, 2026 | Healthcare and Social Services Occupations | 3,500 | 475 |
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
#438 · 562 ITAs
697
CEC
#439 · 2,000 ITAs
521
Physicians
#440 · 229 ITAs
198
Healthcare
#441 · 3,500 ITAs
475
600 points is what a provincial nomination adds on its own.
- Provincial nomination
- General programme round
- Category-based selection
Why the Physicians cut-off of 198 looks so different from the rest
A CRS cut-off of 198 stands out sharply against the other three rounds in this batch, and the explanation is structural rather than a sign of pool weakness. Category-based rounds such as Physicians with Canadian Work Experience draw exclusively from candidates who meet that occupation's eligibility criteria, which is a narrow slice of the overall pool. When very few eligible candidates are competing for a fixed number of invitations, the cut-off can settle far below what a general or CEC round would ever reach.
The 198 score does not mean physicians are being invited with weak profiles; it means the occupational pool is small enough that eligibility, rather than a high CRS, is the binding constraint. A candidate practising medicine in Canada with qualifying work experience should focus on confirming their occupation and experience meet the category's specific requirements rather than benchmarking against CEC or PNP cut-offs.
Healthcare and Social Services at 475: the batch's largest round
Round 441's 3,500 invitations at CRS 475 make it both the biggest round of the batch and a useful marker for candidates in healthcare-adjacent occupations who are not physicians. Like the Physicians round, this is a category draw, so it selects only from candidates whose occupation falls within Healthcare and Social Services, but the much larger pool of eligible occupations in this category pushes the cut-off well above the Physicians round while still sitting below CEC.
For a candidate weighing whether a category round is worth watching, volume matters as much as the cut-off. A category issuing 3,500 invitations in a single round, as this one did, is drawing deeply enough that a mid-400s CRS score combined with category eligibility is a realistic combination, which is not true of every category.
PNP at 697 and CEC at 521: the two reference points
Round 438's PNP cut-off of 697 reflects the same dynamic seen in every PNP round this year: a provincial nomination adds 600 points to a candidate's CRS, so the underlying score behind a 697 nomination is closer to the high 90s once the nomination bonus is removed. This is not a benchmark for candidates without a nomination.
Round 439's CEC cut-off of 521, on the other hand, is the figure most relevant to candidates without a nomination or category eligibility. At 2,000 invitations, it is a mid-sized CEC round, and its cut-off sits close to where CEC has trended over recent batches, giving candidates in that range a reasonably stable point of comparison.
Reading four rounds as one batch
Running four rounds inside five days, spanning a general PNP round, a CEC round and two category rounds, is consistent with the pattern seen over recent batches of pairing broad rounds with narrower occupational ones in the same week. Framed as an observation about the last several batches rather than a signal of future policy, it suggests that candidates should expect this mix of round types to continue rather than a return to single-stream draws.
For someone with a CRS in the high 400s who does not qualify for a PNP nomination, this batch is a reminder to check eligibility against every category round that runs, not only the general CEC draws, since a category round can open a path at a substantially lower score than CEC requires.
What to take from this round
- Round 440's Physicians cut-off of 198 reflects a small, narrowly defined eligible pool, not a low bar for the pool overall; it only applies to candidates in that occupational category.
- Round 441 shows Healthcare and Social Services Occupations issuing 3,500 invitations at CRS 475, a category worth checking eligibility for if you work in a healthcare-adjacent role.
- Round 438's PNP cut-off of 697 includes a 600-point nomination bonus and is not comparable to a CRS score without a provincial nomination.
- Round 439's CEC cut-off of 521 remains the most useful reference point for candidates without a nomination or category eligibility; check your own score with the CRS calculator.
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.