Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued 3,000 invitations to apply for permanent residence through a Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draw on August 5, 2026. This marks the second Express Entry draw of the month and the 44th of the year. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cutoff for this round was set at 516, matching the result from the July 21 CEC draw exactly.
The draw took place at 10:41:26 UTC, with a tie-breaking rule applied to profiles submitted before July 3, 2026, at 21:35:13 UTC. This means candidates with a CRS score of 516 who entered the pool after that timestamp were not invited in this round.
50% Rise in Invitations as CRS Holds Steady
The 3,000 invitations issued represent a 50% increase over the 2,000 offered in each of the two CEC draws held in July 2026. Despite this jump in volume, the cutoff score did not shift, suggesting that the Express Entry pool continues to attract enough high-scoring CEC-eligible candidates to absorb the additional invitations without pushing scores downward.
The CRS cutoff has remained within a narrow band of 514 to 518 across all CEC rounds since April 2026. Across 13 CEC draws this year, IRCC has now issued a total of 48,250 CEC invitations, accounting for 44.6% of all Express Entry invitations in 2026.
The August 5 draw brings the overall 2026 total to 108,123 invitations across 44 draws, closing in on the 113,988 invitations issued across all of 2025 with nearly five months remaining in the year.
What Invited Candidates Must Do
According to the IRCC, candidates who received an invitation have 60 calendar days to submit a complete permanent residence application through their Express Entry account. Documents such as police certificates, medical examinations, educational credential assessments, and employment reference letters carry their own preparation timelines and should be gathered without delay.
An invitation that is not acted upon within the 60-day window expires, and the candidate's profile returns to the pool with its original CRS score. Processing times for CEC permanent residence applications currently average six to seven months, meaning candidates who file in August could expect a decision by early to mid-2027.
What to Expect Next
The August 5 CEC draw followed a Provincial Nominee Program draw on August 4 that issued 507 invitations at a CRS cutoff of 768. If IRCC continues the cluster pattern seen in previous months, a French-language proficiency draw is expected within the next one to two days. Recent French-language rounds have carried CRS cutoffs between 393 and 420, well below the CEC threshold.
IRCC does not publish a fixed draw calendar, and categories, volumes, and dates can change without prior notice. Candidates are advised to monitor the official IRCC rounds of invitations page for confirmed results.
