Agriculture and Agri-Food Express Entry Draws - Full History & CRS Cut-Offs

Agriculture and agri-food draws were category-based rounds aimed at a small group of food-production occupations. IRCC ran them under category-based selection from 2023, but did not renew the category when it published the 2026 list in February 2026.

The rounds on this page are a historical record. Unless IRCC reinstates the category, no further agriculture rounds are expected, and anyone who was counting on it needs another route: a different category, a provincial nomination, or a score high enough for an all-program round.

Since these rounds began, IRCC has held 3 agriculture and agri-food draws, issuing 1,150 invitations in total.

All Agriculture and Agri-Food draw results

Have Agriculture and Agri-Food rounds stopped?

IRCC did not renew this category for 2026.

Unless it is reinstated, no further rounds are expected. The table on this page is a historical record.

Agriculture and Agri-Food draw history by year

Rounds held, invitations issued, and the range of CRS cut-offs within each year.

What changed for Agriculture and Agri-Food draws

Is a Agriculture and Agri-Food draw your route?

Who qualifies for Agriculture and Agri-Food draws?

IRCC reviews category-based selection each year and adjusts it to match its labour-market priorities. Agriculture and agri-food was on the list through 2025 and was dropped for 2026, in the same round of changes that added physicians, senior managers, researchers and skilled military recruits, and brought transport back in a narrower form.

• This category is no longer part of category-based selection, so there is currently no route into Express Entry through it.
• While it ran, it worked like the other occupational categories: recent experience in one of the eligible agriculture and agri-food occupations, plus eligibility for one of the three federal programs.
• IRCC no longer publishes an eligible-occupation list for this category, which is why no occupation table is shown on this page.

If agriculture work is your background, check the current category list before you plan around it. The occupations that used to qualify here are not automatically picked up by any of the 2026 categories.

How to be considered in an Agriculture and Agri-Food draw

1. 1

   Check your NOC code against the list

   Match the occupation you actually performed, not the job title on your contract. IRCC compares your duties with the lead statement and main duties of the NOC code, and a mismatch here is the most common reason a category never reaches someone.

2. 2

   Confirm you meet the 12-month rule

   You need 12 months of full-time work, or the part-time equivalent, in a single listed occupation within the last 3 years. It does not have to be continuous, it does not have to be Canadian, and it does not have to be the primary NOC on your profile. You cannot combine two different codes.

3. 3

   Watch the trap specific to this category

   This category was not renewed for 2026, so there is no current list to check against. Anything below describes how the category worked while it ran, not a route you can plan around today.

4. 4

   Confirm you are eligible for a federal program

   A category is a filter applied to the pool, not a way into it. You still need to qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program or the Canadian Experience Class.

5. 5

   Create or update your Express Entry profile

   Enter the work history that evidences the category. There is no separate category application. IRCC selects from profiles as they stand when a round is run.

6. 6

   Keep language results and documents valid

   Language results expire after two years. If they lapse while you wait, your profile can fall out of the pool entirely.

7. 7

   Keep raising your CRS in the meantime

   Category rounds still rank by score. Agriculture and Agri-Food rounds have cleared anywhere between CRS 354 and 437, so the number you need depends entirely on which round you are caught by. Retaking a language test or pursuing a provincial nomination moves you up the queue inside the category; a job offer will not, since those CRS points were removed on 25 March 2025.

Every Express Entry draw type we track

IRCC runs several different kinds of round. Each one below has its own cut-off history, its own rhythm, and its own rules about who is even in the running.

• HC Healthcare-category draws Category-based round
• FR French-language draws Category-based round
• CEC Canadian Experience Class draws Program-specific round
• PNP PNP draws Program-specific round
• ST STEM-category draws Category-based round
• TR Trades-category draws Category-based round
• EE General (all-program) draws All-program round
• MD Physician-category draws Category-based round
• SM Senior-manager draws Category-based round
• RS Researcher-category draws Category-based round
• CAF Skilled-military-recruit draws Category-based round
• ED Education-category draws Category-based round
• TP Transport-category draws Category-based round
• FST Federal Skilled Trades draws Program-specific round
• ALL Full draw history (every round) Every Express Entry round since 2015