Express Entry Round Volumes, Year by Year From 2022 to 2026

46,539. That’s the entire count of Express Entry invitations issued in all of 2022 — fewer than some single years have since produced in a good six-month stretch. Looking at express entry rounds and invitations by year, one year at a time, shows just how much the pace of the programme has swung since the post-pandemic restart.

2022 — the recovery year

24 rounds, 46,539 invitations. This was the year Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience Class draws resumed after a long pause, with only Provincial Nominee Program rounds keeping the system moving beforehand. Volumes stayed modest as the system found its footing again.

2023 — the surge

42 rounds, 110,266 invitations — more than double the year before. This was also the year category-based selection launched, in May, adding an entirely new set of draw types to the general and PNP rounds already running.

2024 — a pullback

52 rounds, 98,903 invitations. More rounds than 2023, but a lower total — the year the last all-program draw took place in April, after which the system shifted fully to CEC, PNP, French-language and category rounds for the remainder of the year.

2025 — the high point so far

58 rounds, 113,998 invitations — the highest annual total in this record. Category-based selection reportedly accounted for a majority of that volume, with French-language proficiency the single largest category by invitations issued.

2026 — tracking close behind

42 rounds and 104,616 invitations through 23 July — already well over halfway to the 2025 total with roughly five months of the year still to run.

How many Express Entry draws happen each year, really

The rounds-per-year count has climbed steadily — 24, then 42, then 52, then 58 — even in years when the total invitations issued didn’t climb at the same rate. More, smaller rounds have become the pattern rather than fewer, larger ones, which matters if you’re trying to judge your odds: a quiet month doesn’t necessarily mean the system has slowed down, only that any single round is carrying a smaller share of the year’s total.

A word on where these numbers come from

Total Express Entry ITA figures for 2022 to 2026 aren’t always reported consistently across sources. One widely circulated year-end summary for 2024 cited 98,803 invitations; IRCC’s own Express Entry Year-End Report puts the confirmed figure at 98,903, alongside a confirmed 2023 total of 110,266. Where a secondary outlet’s number and IRCC’s own published figure disagree, the IRCC figure is the one worth building anything on.

Reading the trend without over-reading it

None of this predicts next year’s total, and it shouldn’t be used to. What it does show is a programme whose annual scale keeps changing shape under its own weight — more categories, more rounds, and a shifting mix of who gets invited and how. If you’re trying to work out what any of this means for your own timeline, that conversation belongs with a licensed RCIC who can look at your actual profile against the current draw pattern, not a year-over-year chart on its own.