Express Entry Draw 369: 291 PNP Candidates Invited on September 29, 2025

Key Takeaways From Express Entry Draw 369 on September 29, 2025

• Type of draw: Provincial Nominee Program
• Invitations issued: 291
• CRS score: 855
• Tie-breaking rule: April 8, 2025, 01:25:29 UT
• Prediction for the next draw: Canadian Experience Class draw on October 1, 2025

Our Analysis of This PNP Express Entry Draw

Today’s PNP-specific Express Entry draw issued 291 invitations with a CRS cut-off of 855 – the highest score recorded in 2025 so far. While the number of invitations remains within the typical range for PNP draws, the elevated cut-off highlights just how competitive PNP nominations have become.

For context, recent rounds saw much lower CRS cut-off thresholds: 746 CRS score with 228 ITAs on September 15 and 772 CRS score with 249 ITAs on September 2. By comparison, today’s draw not only issued more invitations but also required a significantly higher CRS score, signaling that competition for PNP nominations is heating up rapidly. 

Considering we are coming off one of the busiest months of 2025 for PNP activity, we expect the number of ITAs per draw to increase in the coming weeks/months. However, while larger draw sizes could put downward pressure on CRS cut-offs by expanding the pool of invitations, the actual impact remains uncertain given the current volume of high-scoring candidates in the pool.

Is the PNP Still a Smart Pathway to Permanent Residence in 2025?

The PNP route may remain a smart and strategic pathway to permanent residence in 2025, but whether it’s the right choice for you depends heavily on your individual profile. Unlike past years, PNPs are now for the few, not for the many.

Competition to secure a provincial nomination has become increasingly steep. Provinces have limited nomination allocations, and many have stricter selection criteria, prioritizing candidates with specific work experience, in-demand occupations, strong language skills, or existing ties to the province.

This means that even highly qualified candidates may find themselves ineligible for certain provincial streams or facing long waits in expression of interest (EOI) pools.

In short, while a provincial nomination can be a powerful tool for boosting your CRS score and securing an ITA, it’s important to understand the individual requirements of each province, stay alert to program openings, especially as provinces continue to refine their immigration priorities throughout 2025.

How Does The Provincial Nominee Program Work in 2025 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.

• 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.