Canada issued 4,000 ITAs; Ontario sent 1,112 invites
Canada's Express Entry Draw #404 issued 4,000 ITAs with a minimum CRS of 507, and Ontario's OINP ran five draws on March 25 that sent 1,112 provincial‑nominee invitations. Both moves matter for clients near CRS cutoffs and Ontario‑linked applicants. (immigrationmatters.info, immigrationnewscanada.ca)
IRCC ran Express Entry round number 404 on March 17, 2026 and restricted the invitation to candidates eligible under the Canadian Experience Class. (visaverge.com) The CRS threshold set in that CEC-only selection represented one of the lowest CEC cutoffs seen in roughly the past 18 months, marking a downward movement from levels recorded in August 2024. (getgis.org) IRCC’s 2026 ministerial instructions and the categories announced by Minister Lena Metlege Diab in February steer the year’s rounds toward program‑specific and category‑based pulls to meet targeted labour priorities. (canada.ca) Ontario’s provincial program ran five separate OINP draws on March 25, 2026 that selected candidates through Employer Job Offer‑linked streams including Foreign Worker, International Student and In‑Demand Skills. (immigrationnewscanada.ca) Regional cutoffs in the March 25 OINP pulls varied widely, with several areas showing minimum scores in the low‑30s and the Greater Toronto Area receiving the largest single share of invitations across the five draws. (sernexuss.com) Successful federal Express Entry invitees have 60 days to submit an application to IRCC, while OINP Employer Job Offer invitations require an employer submission window of 14 days and an applicant submission window of 17 days (Masters/PhD streams use a 14‑day applicant deadline). (canada.ca)
