Canadian Immigration Weekly Review
This week's edition tracks a quiet stretch on the federal Express Entry front bookended by active provincial movement, a pointed ministerial statement on refugee family sponsorship, and continued uncertainty around Ontario's still-dormant Workforce Priority Stream. As always, we translate the raw numbers into what they mean for your application strategy — and close with a practical tip you can act on this week.
At a Glance: Key Dates This Week
Date | Event |
Sept 16, 2026 | Express Entry Draw — Senior Managers, CRS 389, 250 ITAs |
Sept 22, 2026 | BC PNP Base draw — 10 invitations, min. score 119 |
Sept 23, 2026 | Minister Diab addresses refugee sponsorship exemption policy lapse |
Sept 24, 2026 | BC PNP Innovate: High Economic Impact — 714 invitations, largest of 2026 |
Sept 24, 2026 | Manitoba MPNP Draw — 474 LAAs, mainly STEM occupations |
1. Express Entry Draws & CRS Analysis
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held no new Express Entry rounds of invitations this week, leaving the September 16 Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience draw as the most recent result heading into the weekend. That round issued 250 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) at a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off of just 389 — a new low for the category, and a reminder of how accessible category-based draws remain compared to the general Canadian Experience Class (CEC) pool.
With 56 rounds completed and roughly 129,000 ITAs issued so far in 2026, IRCC is on pace for one of the busiest years in Express Entry's history — even as the mix of invitations continues to shift heavily toward category-based and Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) selections rather than general, all-program draws. IRCC has not run a true general draw open to any eligible profile since April 2024, a pattern candidates without Canadian work experience, a qualifying category, or a provincial nomination should factor into their planning.
Where the Cut-Offs Stand
● Canadian Experience Class (CEC): holding in the 507–523 range across 2026, with no signs of dropping meaningfully below 500.
● French-language proficiency: the most accessible federal category this year, with cut-offs as low as 382 — still the strongest option for candidates with NCLC 7 or higher.
● Senior Managers with Canadian Work Experience: 389 as of September 16, its lowest point of the year.
● Healthcare and Social Services: 475 in its most recent round, part of a broader push to fast-track health-sector applicants.
● PNP-aligned Express Entry draws: consistently the highest cut-offs of any category, often clearing 700, reflecting the 600-point boost a provincial nomination adds to a CRS score.
Prediction sites and licensed practitioners alike are watching for the next round around September 29, based on the roughly two-week cadence IRCC has followed for most of 2026 — though the department has skipped or bunched draws before, so treat any specific date as an estimate rather than a certainty.
Immigration lawyer and commentator Steven Meurrens has noted that under the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, Express Entry's overall admissions target was pared back from a previously planned figure to roughly 109,000, even as the Provincial Nominee Program target climbed sharply to 91,500 — a rebalancing that helps explain why category-based and PNP-linked draws are dominating this year's invitation activity while general CEC-only rounds stay comparatively scarce.
2. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) Updates
Manitoba — MPNP Draw (September 24)
Manitoba issued 474 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs), its second round of the month and its 19th of 2026, bringing the province's running total to 6,883. The round was built primarily around natural and applied sciences occupations, which accounted for 417 of the 474 LAAs at a minimum ranking score of 760; a further 40 went to Skilled Worker in Manitoba and Skilled Worker Overseas candidates invited through a strategic recruitment initiative. Of the 474 total, 148 also hold an active Express Entry profile and job seeker validation code, meaning those candidates can expect a substantial CRS boost once their nomination is confirmed.
British Columbia — Two Draws, One Big Signal
BC was the most active province of the week. On September 22, the province issued a modest 10 invitations under its PNP Base category at a minimum score of 119. Two days later, on September 24, BC ran its largest Innovate: High Economic Impact round of the year, inviting 714 candidates across two tracks: 426 wage-based invitations to candidates with a job offer in a NOC TEER 0–3 occupation paying at least $52/hour and $105,000/year (no minimum registration score applied), and 288 points-based invitations at a minimum score of 131. Notably, the wage threshold for this category has been trending downward through 2026 — from $58/hour earlier in the year to $52/hour now — making the High Economic Impact route more accessible to a broader band of employer-sponsored candidates than it was in the spring.
Saskatchewan — Capped-Sector Intake Closed for 2026
The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) ran its final capped-sector intake windows of the year on September 14 and 15, covering Trucking, Retail, Accommodations, and Food Services. This was Saskatchewan's last scheduled capped-sector opening for 2026; a planned November 2 intake has been cancelled, with the reserved nomination spaces redirected into this September round instead. Prospective applicants in these sectors should now plan around a 2027 reopening rather than expecting another window this year.
Ontario Workforce Priority Stream — Still No Invitations
Ontario's employer-driven Workforce Priority Stream, which replaced all eight former OINP nomination streams when it launched on August 4, remains in an Expression of Interest (EOI)-only phase. Despite roughly 14,119 nomination spaces sitting open since launch, the province has yet to issue a single invitation to apply under the redesigned program. With no confirmed timeline from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, employers and candidates who registered early should not assume invitations are imminent, and should keep a backup pathway in view rather than waiting on this stream alone.
3. Business Immigration News
Federal business immigration remains effectively closed heading into the fall. The Start-Up Visa Program stopped accepting new permanent residence applications as of December 31, 2025 (aside from a narrow window for candidates holding 2025 commitment certificates), and the Self-Employed Persons Program's intake pause — first imposed in April 2024 — continues indefinitely while IRCC works through its existing inventory and evaluates whether the program is still fit for purpose. With the Federal Business category's 2026 admissions target cut in half to just 500 spots, provincial entrepreneur streams remain the more realistic route for most business immigration clients this year, and we continue to recommend a province-first strategy for entrepreneurs weighing their options.
4. Ministerial & Political Statements
The week's most notable development on the political side came from Minister Lena Diab, who addressed mounting pressure over the lapse of a policy that had allowed some refugees to sponsor previously undeclared family members — most commonly children and LGBTQ+ partners — for permanent residence. The policy, first introduced in 2019 and renewed twice since, expired earlier this month without extension, reverting affected sponsors to the general rule that undeclared family members are permanently barred from later sponsorship.
Speaking to reporters on her way into caucus, Minister Diab confirmed that IRCC will monitor for negative effects arising from the policy's lapse and conduct internal briefings to determine whether any fix is warranted, while stating that she respects the department's own assessment that integrity concerns justified letting the policy end. In the meantime, affected applicants are limited to case-by-case humanitarian and compassionate applications — a route the department's own published wait times currently place at more than ten years, a gap advocacy groups including the Canadian Council for Refugees have pressed the Minister to address directly.
For RCICs and clients working with resettled refugees, this is a live file worth monitoring closely: any reversal or interim fix announced by IRCC in the coming weeks could reopen a materially faster pathway for family members who were left off an original application.
5. Week-Ahead Outlook
● Watch for a possible Express Entry round around September 29, most likely category-based given 2026's pattern; a general, all-program draw remains unlikely.
● Ontario's Workforce Priority Stream invitation drought is now well past the seven-week mark since EOI intake opened — any first-round announcement would be significant news for GTA-area employer-sponsored clients.
● Continue to monitor IRCC's response on the refugee sponsorship exemption file; a policy reversal or transitional measure could be announced with little advance notice.
● Manitoba and Alberta remain the most active PNP jurisdictions heading into Q4, and BC's falling Innovate wage threshold ($52/hour, down from $58 earlier in the year) is worth watching for employer-sponsored clients who didn't previously qualify.
6. Immigration Tip of the Week
💡 Don't let an old EOI lull you into a false sense of progress
If you registered an Expression of Interest under a former Ontario OINP stream, or you're sitting in a provincial EOI pool with no invitation yet, treat that registration as a placeholder, not a plan. Ontario has been explicit that no further invitations will issue under its retired streams, and its new Workforce Priority Stream has invited no one since August despite thousands of open spaces. If your timeline depends on a nomination that hasn't materialized, build a parallel Express Entry or alternate-province strategy now rather than waiting on a single pool. Our office can review your profile against active streams across every province to identify where you're actually competitive today.
This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration policies and procedures can change; please contact Elgin Immigration at info@elginimmigration.com for advice specific to your situation.
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