Express Entry Draw 342: 825 PNP Candidates Issued Invitations

Key Takeaways for Express Entry Candidates

• Type of draw: Provincial Nominee Program
• Invitations issued: 825
• CRS score: 764
• Tie-breaking rule: August 17, 2024 at 18:35:52 UTC
• Prediction for the next draw: Canadian Experience Class draw on April 15, 2025.

Our Analysis of This PNP Express Entry Draw

Today’s PNP-specific Express Entry draw invited 825 candidates with a minimum CRS score of 764, marking the highest number of invitations issued in a PNP draw so far in 2025.

More importantly, this draw is the first draw to take place since the removal of Arranged Employment CRS points a the end of March 25th, 2025. While we explore the impact of that change on CRS distribution in the Express Entry pool in a separate article, early signs suggest a noticeable shift in candidate profiles within the pool, aligned with a recent article we published.

Despite the higher number of ITAs issued today, some could have been anticipating an even larger draw, given that the last PNP-specific round took place four weeks ago. The fact that the volume of ITAs issued did not significantly increase, even after a missed week of draws, further highlights the evolving dynamics and reduced volume of PNP candidates in the Express Entry system.

With this draw, the total number of ITAs issued to PNP applicants in 2025 now stands at 3,658—nearly 50% lower than the number issued by this time last year. This slowdown reflects the federal government’s intention, as outlined in the latest Immigration Levels Plan, to scale back PNP admissions through Express Entry.

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.