Figures on this page come from IRCC's published Express Entry rounds of invitations data and CIC News reporting, current as of early October 2026. Cut-offs change from draw to draw; always verify current numbers against IRCC's official rounds page before relying on them.
- October 1, 2026 Trades Occupations draw: 3,500 invitations at a CRS cutoff of 476
- September 16, 2026 Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience draw: 250 invitations at a CRS cutoff of 389, the lowest Senior Managers cutoff of any 2026 draw
- The Senior Managers cutoff fell from 429 in March to 392 in July to 389 in September
- The same week's Canadian Experience Class draw (September 29) cut off at 518; the Provincial Nominee Program draw a day earlier cut off at 725
- IRCC has held 59 Express Entry draws in 2026, issuing 135,215 invitations across nine categories as of October 1
- Trades and Senior Managers together account for 7,500 of those invitations, about 5.5% of the 2026 total
What happened in the October Trades draw and the September Senior Managers draw?
On October 1, 2026, IRCC ran its second Trades Occupations category draw of the year, issuing 3,500 invitations to apply at a CRS cutoff of 476. Candidates needed to meet the category's minimum work experience requirement in an eligible trades occupation and have created their Express Entry profile before 12:47:55 UTC that day. Candidates sitting exactly at the 476 cutoff also needed to have created their profile on or before May 28, 2026, the tie-break IRCC uses when more candidates share the lowest score than there are spots left in the round.
That cutoff is barely different from the year's first Trades draw, held April 2, which issued 3,000 invitations at 477. Across both rounds, the Trades category has issued 6,500 invitations in 2026, with the cutoff holding essentially flat.
Two weeks earlier, on September 16, 2026, IRCC ran a Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience draw, issuing 250 invitations at a cutoff of 389, the lowest Senior Managers cutoff of any round this year. Candidates needed an Express Entry profile created before 11:05 p.m. UTC on September 1, 2026. The category has now run three times in 2026: 250 invitations at 429 in March, 500 invitations at 392 in July, and 250 invitations at 389 in September. The cutoff dropped 40 points over the year even as the round sizes stayed small.
How do these cutoffs compare with the rest of Express Entry in 2026?
Placed next to the rest of the fall 2026 draw calendar, both categories stand out as comparatively accessible. In the same stretch of late September, a Canadian Experience Class draw on September 29 issued 2,000 invitations at a cutoff of 518, and a Provincial Nominee Program draw on September 28 issued 733 invitations at a cutoff of 725. A Healthcare and Social Services draw on September 4 issued 3,500 invitations at 475, close to the Trades cutoff but still a different pool of candidates.
The 725 PNP figure looks far higher than the others only because every candidate in a Provincial Nominee Program round already carries the 600 points a provincial nomination adds to their score. Strip that out and the underlying candidates scored closer to 125, well below any of the category cutoffs discussed here.
Zoomed out to the full year, IRCC has now held 59 Express Entry draws in 2026 and issued 135,215 invitations across nine categories: 55,250 through the Canadian Experience Class, 50,500 through French-language proficiency, 11,500 through Healthcare and Social Services, 9,270 through the Provincial Nominee Program, 6,500 through Trades, 1,000 through Senior Managers, 891 through Physicians with Canadian work experience, 300 through Transport, and 4 through Skilled Military Recruits. Trades and Senior Managers combined make up 7,500 of those invitations, about 5.5% of the year's total, which is part of why their cutoffs can sit so far below the categories that run in the thousands.
Why do Trades and Senior Managers cutoffs run so much lower?
Category-based rounds draw only from candidates who independently qualify for that specific category, such as a minimum period of work experience in a listed trades occupation, or a set amount of recent Canadian experience in a senior management role. That pool is far smaller than the pool of everyone eligible for the Canadian Experience Class generally, so IRCC can reach further down the CRS ranking and still fill the round.
The trade-off shows up in volume. The October Trades round issued 3,500 invitations and the September Senior Managers round issued only 250, compared with the thousands typically issued in a Canadian Experience Class or French-language round. IRCC does not publish the reasoning behind any individual cutoff, and category sizes, eligibility requirements and thresholds can all change from one draw to the next, so none of this guarantees what a future Trades or Senior Managers round will look like.
What should Saskatchewan tradespeople and managers do with this?
For a Saskatchewan-based candidate who does not clear the Canadian Experience Class or general pool cutoff, a category round at 476 or 389 can be a genuinely faster route into permanent residence, but only for candidates who already meet that category's own work experience and language requirements. The first step is confirming eligibility for the specific category itself, not just comparing CRS scores; an Express Entry eligibility review can confirm whether your trade or your management experience actually qualifies before you count on a particular cutoff.
For workers who do not qualify under the federal Trades or Senior Managers categories this round, Saskatchewan's own door is still worth checking. The province's restructured SINP reserves at least half of its nominations for priority sectors that include skilled trades, and a nomination through the SINP Express Entry stream adds 600 points to a candidate's CRS score, which to date has placed candidates above every Express Entry cut-off, including the 725 PNP cutoff discussed above.
Once invited, candidates already working in Canada on a valid work permit may qualify for a Bridging Open Work Permit while their permanent residence application is processed, and if the current permit expires before that decision, maintained status can preserve work authorization in the meantime as long as the person stays in Canada; qualifying family members may also be eligible for an open work permit. Saskatchewan workers who are mid-process on an extension or bridging application, including the flexibility SINP nominees gained for work permit bridging in 2026, should confirm exactly where their status stands with a work permit review before relying on a specific draw cutoff to plan their next step.
Frequently asked questions
What was the CRS cutoff for the October 2026 Trades Express Entry draw?
IRCC's October 1, 2026 Trades Occupations draw issued 3,500 invitations to apply at a CRS cutoff of 476. It was the second Trades draw of 2026, after an April 2 draw that issued 3,000 invitations at a cutoff of 477.
Why did the Senior Managers CRS cutoff keep falling in 2026?
IRCC does not publish the reasoning behind a specific cutoff; it reflects how many candidates qualified for that category and how many invitations IRCC chose to issue. The Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience cutoff fell from 429 in March to 392 in July and 389 in September, the lowest Senior Managers cutoff of any 2026 draw, while invitation sizes also stayed small, between 250 and 500 each round.
Can a Saskatchewan nomination still beat a category-based Express Entry draw?
Yes. A nomination through the SINP Express Entry stream adds 600 points to a candidate's CRS score, which to date has placed candidates above every Express Entry cut-off, including the September 28, 2026 Provincial Nominee Program draw that cut off at 725. Category draws like Trades and Senior Managers can still be a faster route for candidates who qualify without a nomination.
Sources: IRCC Express Entry draw data as reported by CIC News (October 1, 2026 and September 16, 2026); IRCC rounds of invitations. This article provides general information, not legal advice.