Express Entry Draw 340: 536 PNP Candidates Issued Invitations on March 17, 2025

Key Takeaways for Express Entry Candidates

• Type of draw: Provincial Nominee Program
• Invitations issued: 536
• CRS score: 736
• Tie-breaking rule: March 12, 2025 at 14:02:14 UTC
• Prediction for the next draw: Category-based draw on March 19, 2025.

Did you receive an invitation this draw? Update your Moving2Canada account for more information about your next steps. It takes just a few minutes and gives you easy access to information and checklists to make your transition to permanent residence in Canada simpler, more affordable, and less stressful.

Our Analysis of This PNP Express Entry Draw

1. Decreasing the Number of ITAs per PNP Draw

For the last 5 PNP draws in 2024, the average number of ITAs issued per draw was 663.

So far in 2025, from the 5 PNP draws we have seen, the average number of ITAs issued per draw is 566 ITAs.

This represents a ~15% decrease in the average number of invitations issued through PNP-specific draws in 2025 compared to the same number of draws at the end of 2024. Although IRCC remains somewhat consistent in conducting PNP draws, they have decreased the number of ITA’s issued.

2. Alignment with Immigration Levels Plan

The reduction in the volume of PNP invitations aligns with the federal government’s objective of reducing the overall permanent resident intake from PNPs, as outlined in the latest Immigration Levels Plan. However, based on the plan’s allocations, we would have expected more Canadian Experience Class (CEC) ITAs to be issued compared to French language proficiency ITAs which has not been the case so far in 2025.

Although PNP draws have occurred more frequently than any other category this year, the total number of ITAs issued through PNP draws is lower compared to other streams.

ITA Breakdown for 2025 (to date):

Total ITAs issued: 23,185 across 10 draws.

• PNP Draws: 2,833 ITAs across 5 draws
• Canadian Experience Class Draws: 9,350 ITAs across 3 draws.
• Category-based French language proficiency Draws: 11,000 ITAs across 2 draws.

We have outlined reasons we think there has been less CEC activity in 2025 in this post.

What If You Didn’t Get An Invitation This PNP Round?

There are a few reasons you may not have received an invitation through this Express Entry round:

1. You were not eligible for the program or category the draw was for. For example, if you don’t have qualifying French language results, you won’t receive an invitation for a French language category-based draw.
2. You did not have a high enough Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. If your score is below today’s results, check out past results to view trends in the CRS in your program/category. Need to improve your score? Our CRS calculator tool can help. It’s free, you just need to create or log into your Moving2Canada account.
3. Finally, what if you were eligible for the program AND had the right CRS score? Well, it’s possible the tie-breaking rule excluded you. If you entered the Express Entry pool after the tie-breaking date and you had a CRS that was equal to the CRS for this round, unfortunately, you will miss out this round.

How Does The Provincial Nominee Program Work Under Express Entry?

If you’re not familiar with Canada’s Express Entry system, it’s an application management system used to manage economic immigrants to Canada. The benefits of the Express Entry system are that it offers streamlined application timelines for people who are ranked highly and invited to apply for permanent residence. After you receive an invitation and submit your application, it usually  takes IRCC around 6 months to make a decision. This is much faster than other pathways to permanent residence — like family sponsorship, which takes around 24 months as of February 2025.

• Keen to learn more about Express Entry? Check out our dedicated Express Entry page.

With that in mind, the Provincial Nominee Program is a program that’s offered at the provincial level but then managed and approved at the federal level. Some PNPs require you to be eligible for Express Entry, so they can be inter-related, but there are also PNPs that allow you to immigrate even if you don’t qualify for Express Entry.

Learn more about Canada’s PNPs via our PNP Tracker, which comes with a range of tools, including a stream finder. You’ll need to sign up for our free account to access these helpful tools, so if you want to skip straight to those — sign up here.

You can also sign up for up-to-date information about Express Entry draws via your free Moving2Canada account. Just subscribe to our newsletter for news about the draws and our analysis as it happens, so you’ll never miss the latest results. This can be a powerful tool to help you identify trends and map your pathway to permanent residence in Canada.