On July 7, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held a new Express Entry draw for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates, issuing 2,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in round #424. The cutoff came in just one point above the previous CEC targeted draw, continuing a year where CEC has been the single busiest program under Express Entry.

Round #424 Summary

Draw date: July 7, 2026
Category: Canadian Experience Class
ITAs issued: 2,000
CRS cutoff: 517 (up 1 point from the previous CEC draw)
Tie breaking rule: December 29, 2025, 17:49:27 UTC
Express Entry pool size (as of July 5, 2026): 235,127 profiles
Total 2026 draws to date: 36
Total 2026 ITAs issued to date: 91,601

Context for Practitioners

This round landed just one day after IRCC’s July 6 Provincial Nominee Program draw, continuing the PNP then CEC clustering pattern that has defined much of 2026’s draw calendar. The one point increase in cutoff reflects the smaller invitation volume in this round rather than a genuine tightening of competition among CEC eligible candidates in the pool; CEC cutoffs have held in a fairly narrow band for most of the year.

For clients with Canadian work experience approaching or sitting just above 517, this round is a useful benchmark, but practitioners should keep in mind that cutoffs move with invitation volume as much as with pool composition, so a single point movement should not be read as a meaningful shift in competitiveness. Clients under the current CEC range may still be better served by exploring category based options where eligible, since those draws have continued to clear at meaningfully lower CRS thresholds this year.

Full round details are available on IRCC’s official Express Entry rounds of invitations page: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/ministerial-instructions/express-entry-rounds.html

If you’re advising clients on Express Entry strategy across CEC and category based streams, join us for Express Entry Applications 2026 on July 29, taught by Andrew Carvajal. Learn more and register at lpen.ca.

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