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Live from IRCC New for 2026

Physician Express Entry Draws 2026 - Live CRS Cut-Offs

The latest Physician draw was held on Sep 3, 2026. IRCC invited 229 candidates at a CRS cut-off of 198.

Last updated: September 20, 2026 IRCC Express Entry rounds of invitations (physician category)

3 Total draws
3 Draws in 2026
197 Average CRS cut-off
17 Days since last draw
Physician Express Entry draws for doctors with Canadian work experience

Physician draws are a category-based round that IRCC introduced with its 2026 category list. They narrow the Express Entry pool to doctors who have already been working in Canada, then invite the highest-ranked candidates within that group.

This is one of three 2026 categories built around Canadian work experience rather than foreign experience, which makes it far narrower than the healthcare category. A physician working abroad is covered by healthcare and social services, not by this one.

Since these rounds began, IRCC has held 3 physician-category draws, issuing 891 invitations in total.

All Physician draw results

Draw #DateCategoryCRS Cut-offInvitations
Draw #440 Sep 3, 2026 Physicians with Canadian Work Experience, 2026-Version 1 198 229
Draw #421 Jun 24, 2026 Physicians with Canadian Work Experience, 2026-Version 1 223 271
Draw #397 Feb 19, 2026 Physicians with Canadian Work Experience, 2026-Version 1 169 391

Showing 1–3 of 3 draws

When is the next Physician draw?

IRCC has not announced a date. Across the last 3 rounds (Feb 19, 2026 – Sep 3, 2026) the gap has been about 98 days. That is a historical pattern, not a schedule.

Projection from past rounds, not an IRCC dateCarrying that gap forward from the last round points to the first half of December 2026, which is a window rather than a date: the last round was 17 days ago. The arithmetic does not mean IRCC will hold a round then. IRCC does not commit to a schedule and has paused round types without warning before.

Physician draw history by year

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

YearDrawsInvitationsLowest CRSHighest CRSAverage CRS
20263891169223197

What changed for Physician draws

This category is new for 2026. It is one of three built around experience gained inside Canada rather than abroad, and it has produced by far the lowest CRS cut-offs of any round type we track: a reflection of how small and specific the eligible pool is, not of the standard being low.

IRCC category labelIn useRoundsInvitationsCRS range
Physicians with Canadian Work Experience, 2026-Version 1 Feb 2026 - Sep 20263891 169 - 223
Every version IRCC has run this round under, read from its published rounds of invitations.

Is a Physician draw your route?

  • You are a physician with Canadian work experience.
  • You may qualify even if your Canadian medical work was structured as self-employment. IRCC has a temporary public policy covering publicly funded medical services.
  • Not you: a doctor working outside Canada. Foreign physicians are covered by the healthcare and social services category instead.
  • Worth knowing: cut-offs here have been low enough that a modest CRS score is not automatically a barrier.

Who qualifies for Physician draws?

Canada has struggled for years to retain internationally trained doctors who are already practising here on temporary status. Rather than leaving them inside a broad healthcare list, IRCC created a dedicated category in February 2026 so this specific group can be invited on its own terms.

  • At least 12 months of full-time work experience (or the part-time equivalent) in Canada within the past 3 years, in one of the three physician occupations listed below.
  • The experience has to be Canadian. Physician experience gained abroad does not qualify for this category, although it may still qualify you under healthcare and social services.
  • An Express Entry profile in the pool, and eligibility for at least one of the three federal programs.
  • A CRS score at or above the cut-off published for that specific round.

This category is new, so there is very little history behind it. Treat the cut-offs on this page as early signals rather than an established pattern.

The 3 occupations eligible for Physician draws

IRCC restricts this category to three physician occupations. Twelve months in one of these codes is enough, and it does not have to be the primary NOC on your profile, but the year has to have been worked in Canada.

NOC 2021Occupation
31100Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
31101Specialists in surgery
31102General practitioners and family physicians

Not sure which code describes your job? Try the NOC Finder. Occupation list published by IRCC - Express Entry category-based selection.

How to be considered in a Physician draw

  1. Check that your Canadian role is on the list

    These categories only count experience gained in Canada. Match your duties to the NOC, not the job title.

  2. Confirm you have 12 months in Canada

    You need 12 months of full-time work, or the part-time equivalent, in one of the three physician occupations within the last 3 years. The year does not have to be continuous, but it does have to have been worked in Canada. It does not have to be your primary NOC.

  3. 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.

  4. Create or update your Express Entry profile

    Enter the Canadian work history that evidences the category. There is no separate category application.

  5. Keep language results valid

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

Physician Express Entry Draws - Frequently Asked Questions

Physician draws are a category-based round that IRCC introduced with its 2026 category list. They narrow the Express Entry pool to doctors who have already been working in Canada, then invite the highest-ranked candidates within that group.
Recently a new round in this group has landed roughly every 98 days, averaged across the last 3 rounds (Feb 19, 2026 – Sep 3, 2026) — not all 3 rounds on record. IRCC publishes no fixed schedule, so the gap moves around and long pauses happen without any announcement. Being on the annual category list is not a promise that a round will run.
There is no fixed pass mark: the cut-off is simply the score of the lowest-ranked candidate invited in that round. Historically this group has ranged from 169 to 223 CRS, averaging about 197, and the most recent round came in at 198. Treat the recent rounds in the table as your guide rather than the all-time low. If more than one person had that lowest score, IRCC ranked them by the date and time they submitted their Express Entry profile.
IRCC does not announce rounds of invitations in advance and publishes no schedule for them. All that can be read from the record is the pattern: across the last 3 rounds (Feb 19, 2026 – Sep 3, 2026) the gap has been about 98 days, and the most recent one was held on September 3, 2026. Treat that as historical context rather than a forecast, because IRCC has paused round types before without warning.
891 invitations across 3 rounds on record, including 891 so far in 2026. Those totals are recalculated every time this page loads.
IRCC lists 3 eligible occupations for the Physician category, each tied to a specific NOC 2021 code. The full list is on this page. Twelve months in a single listed code is enough. It does not have to be the primary NOC on your profile, and IRCC compares your duties with the lead statement and main duties, not your job title. You cannot combine two different codes to make up the year.
At least 12 months of full-time work, or the part-time equivalent, in one of the three physician occupations, worked in Canada within the past 3 years. It does not have to be continuous. This category was new in 2026, so the 12-month Canadian-experience rule is the current rule, not a change from an earlier six-month version of this category.
Yes, for this category. The 12 months has to have been worked in Canada within the past 3 years. The same occupation performed abroad does not put you in this group, though it may still count under a wider occupation category (healthcare for doctors, education is not the same as researchers).
No. The 12 months has to have been worked in Canada in NOC 31100, 31101 or 31102. Experience as a doctor outside Canada belongs under healthcare and social services instead.
This category does not itself require a job offer. You must still qualify for an Express Entry program: the Federal Skilled Trades Program requires either a qualifying job offer or a certificate of qualification. Job offers no longer add CRS points, but may still matter for federal-program or provincial-stream eligibility. The separate skilled military recruits category does require an offer from the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group.
No, and there is no box to tick. IRCC works out which categories you fall into from the information already in your Express Entry profile at the moment it runs a round. That is why keeping your work history, NOC code and test results accurate and current matters more than any application step.
It can. IRCC operates a temporary public policy allowing certain foreign-national physicians to count publicly funded medical services provided in Canada, even where that work would normally be treated as self-employment and excluded.
Because the eligible pool is very small and very specific. A low cut-off here reflects how few candidates meet the criteria, not a lower standard. You still need to be a physician with qualifying Canadian work experience.
Draw figures are copied from IRCC's published rounds. They were last updated from that feed on Sep 20, 2026. Nothing on these tables is entered by hand. The figures are IRCC's own published rounds of invitations, the same record behind our full Express Entry draw history. This is not an official IRCC tool. Always confirm your own eligibility and score in your Express Entry profile, or with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or immigration lawyer.

Official IRCC sources

Eligibility rules on this page were last checked against IRCC on September 15, 2026. Draw figures come from IRCC's published rounds and are not part of that review. This is not an official IRCC page.

Draw figures were last updated from IRCC on Sep 20, 2026.

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.