IRCC Drops Surprise PNP Draw on Family Day Holiday

Key Takeaways   

Type of draw: Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)   

Invitations issued: 279

Minimum CRS score: 789

Tie-breaking rule: September 05, 2025 at 0:59:13 UTC

Prediction for next draw: Canadian Experience Class (CEC) later this week. Check out our dedicated page for more info on when we’re expecting the next Express Entry draw. 

Our Analysis of This Express Entry Draw  

Today’s PNP draw is the fourth PNP draw of the year. The first PNP draw happened on January 5 and invited 574 candidates with a CRS cut-off of 711 while the second was on January 20 and invited 681 candidates with a minimum score of 746.  The most recent draw on February 3 invited 423 candidates with a CRS cut-off of 749. 

It did come as a little bit of a surprise, since the last few PNP draws have taken place on a Tuesday. Plus, today is Family Day — a holiday recognized in multiple provinces. That said, it’s not a national holiday so federal employees at IRCC and those workers in provinces that don’t celebrate Family Day are at work today in Canada.

Compared to these previous draws, today’s draw is smaller and has a higher CRS. But, this isn’t an indication of smaller draws to come. Instead, it reflects the fact that there were just 280 candidates in the pool with a provincial nomination on February 15. IRCC invited almost everyone in the pool with a valid nomination to apply for permanent residence in today’s draw. 

An interesting note is that this year’s draws have been, on average, smaller than the first four PNP draws at the start of 2025. This is interesting because last year’s PNP quota was smaller than this year’s, so many were expecting to see larger rounds generally this year.

What’s Next in Express Entry PNP Draws in 2026?

No matter how PNP draws go for 2026, IRCC shouldn’t have too much of a problem hitting the 91,500 PNP candidate admission targeted in the 2026 Immigration Levels Plan.   

There are currently 10,800 Express Entry PNP applications waiting to be processed, and a much larger 102,000 non-Express Entry PNP applications in the queue. They both count toward the Levels Plan admission target. 

Given that if all these applications are approved for permanent residence before the end of the year, then IRCC will have already exceeded its PNP admission target for the year. It’s not unlikely that we will keep seeing smaller PNP draws with higher CRS scores  

The backlog of applications lines up with a smaller amount of PNP nominations allocated to each province in 2026. For example, Ontario, which generally receives the biggest allocation, has received just 14,119 nominations and British Columbia received just 5,254 despite requesting 9,000 from IRCC. 

So, despite the high admissions target for the year, there are fewer PNP allocations to go around than you might expect, and getting a nomination may be more challenging for some. 

What does this mean?  

Even though draws might be smaller at both a provincial and federal level, The PNP is still a great way for an Express Entry candidate to boost their overall CRS score. Getting nominated by a province adds 600 points to your score. This all but guarantees an ITA in another type of draw such as Canadian Experience Class or a category-based selection draw. 

It also means that if you are nominated through an Express Entry PNP draw, you will need to be patient. IRCC currently estimates that there is a processing time of seven months for all new PNP applications. 

Further Resources for PNP Candidates   

For more information:  

• Track PNPs with our Live PNP tracker  
• Learn more about PNPs in our beginner’s guide