09/03/2026
๐จ CRS 198 , but donโt confuse this with a general CEC draw.
Express Entry draw #440 on September 3 invited just 229 candidates under the Physicians category, covering NOC 31100, 31101 and 31102.
And the trend is getting interesting ๐
๐ฉบ Feb 19 โ 391 invitations | CRS 169
๐ฉบ Jun 24 โ 271 invitations | CRS 223
๐ฉบ Sep 3 โ 229 invitations | CRS 198
Compared with June:
๐ Invitations dropped by 42 , about 15.5%
๐ CRS dropped 25 points
โฑ๏ธ The gap between physician rounds shortened from 125 days to 71 days
That combination matters. Fewer invitations did NOT push the cutoff higher this time. Instead, CRS fell substantially , suggesting the composition of this narrow physician pool played a major role.
The tie-break date was August 6, 2026, only 28 days before the draw, so candidates sitting exactly at CRS 198 did not necessarily need an old profile to make the cutoff.
โ ๏ธ But CRS 198 does not mean CEC candidates generally can expect anything close to 198. Just two days earlier, the September 1 CEC round invited 2,000 candidates at CRS 521.
๐ The supplied annual benchmark is also almost reached: 122,656 / 123,230 = 99.5%, leaving 574 invitations to match it with 119 days remaining. That may encourage continued targeted or smaller rounds, although annual immigration targets should not be treated as a literal one-for-one ITA ceiling.
If the recent 71โ125 day spacing continues, another Physicians-specific round may be more plausible later in the fall rather than immediately , but with only three rounds this year, that remains a trend to watch, not a reliable schedule.
Want your own CRS, NOC and Express Entry strategy assessed in context? Consider booking a paid appointment with an Immigration Consultant (RCIC).
