Canada Express Entry — Invitations Issued
What CRS scores actually got an Express Entry invitation to apply (ITA) — by program, by source country, and at what score band. The data behind every draw cut-off you've ever seen.
Invitations issued, year by year
Total Express Entry ITAs every year. Note the sharp 2022 drop (IRCC paused FSW general draws for ~18 months while clearing pandemic-era backlog), the 2021 spike (90,000 CEC-only ITAs to relieve the backlog), and the move toward category-based selection (healthcare, STEM, French, trades) starting late 2023.
By program — which stream actually issues the invitations?
Stacked yearly ITAs across the four EE programs. CEC dominates most years; the FSW general-draw freeze in 2022 is visible as a near-zero FSW slice that year.
CRS score distribution of invited candidates
All-time counts of ITAs in each CRS score band. The 451-500 band dominates — that's the band where most general and CEC draws have cleared. The 901-1100+ buckets are almost entirely PNP-enhanced candidates (the +600 provincial-nomination bonus pushes them into those ranges).
ITAs by CRS score band (all-time)
Each band aggregates all programs. The high-end (901-1100+) is PNP-enhanced — those candidates need to score lower without the nomination, but PNP makes the difference.
Top source countries (all-time ITAs)
Where the invited candidates came from. India consistently leads by a huge margin — the EE selection naturally favours countries with high English proficiency, established credential-recognition pipelines, and large Canadian-experience cohorts (PGWP→CEC).
Top 20 source countries
Cumulative ITAs received since 2015, by country of citizenship.
Want to know if you'd clear the next draw?
Run our CRS calculator, then compare your score to the actual ITA distribution above. If you're in or near the 451-500 band, you're in the most competitive zone — strategy matters.
About this data
Counts every Invitation to Apply (ITA) IRCC issued through Express Entry, broken down by program (FSW / CEC / FST / PNP-aligned), candidate country of citizenship, age, first official language, and CRS score bucket. This is the "before" of Express Entry — see /data/express-entry-admissions for who actually became a PR after receiving an ITA. IRCC suppresses cells with counts 0-5.
This dataset is annual (not monthly) and counts ITAs issued, not applications submitted. The 2026 partial-year point reflects only the early months.
Source & licence
Original dataset: Express Entry-Invited Candidates — Monthly IRCC Updates.
Published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Released under the Open Government Licence — Canada.
Data last refreshed by Halani from canada.ca for 2026 reporting.