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Live from IRCC On IRCC's 2026 category list

Trades Express Entry Draws 2026 - Live CRS Cut-Offs

The latest Trades draw was held on Apr 2, 2026. IRCC invited 3,000 candidates at a CRS cut-off of 477.

Last updated: September 19, 2026 IRCC Express Entry rounds of invitations (trades category)

6 Total draws
1 Draws in 2026
444 Average CRS cut-off
170 Days since last draw
Trades Express Entry draws for skilled trade occupations in Canada

Trade occupation draws are category-based rounds for skilled tradespeople. IRCC narrows the pool to candidates whose recent experience is in one of the trade occupations on its list, then invites the highest-ranked candidates in that group.

It is worth separating two things that sound alike. The Federal Skilled Trades Program is one of the three federal programs you can be eligible under. The trades category is a filter IRCC applies on top of the pool, and you do not need to be in the Federal Skilled Trades Program to be caught by it. This page counts the category rounds only.

Since these rounds began, IRCC has held 6 trades-category draws, issuing 10,350 invitations in total.

All Trades draw results

Draw #DateCategoryCRS Cut-offInvitations
Draw #408 Apr 2, 2026 Trades Occupations, 2026-Version 3 477 3,000
Draw #368 Sep 18, 2025 Trade occupations (Version 2) 505 1,250
Draw #321 Oct 23, 2024 Trade occupations (Version 1) 433 1,800
Draw #300 Jul 4, 2024 Trade occupations (Version 1) 436 1,800
Draw #276 Dec 19, 2023 Trade occupations (Version 1) 425 1,000
Draw #261 Aug 3, 2023 Trade occupations (Version 1) 388 1,500

Showing 1–6 of 6 draws

When is the next Trades draw?

IRCC has not announced a date. Across the last 6 rounds (Aug 3, 2023 – Apr 2, 2026) the gap has been about 195 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 October 2026, which is a window rather than a date: the last round was 170 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.

Trades draw history by year

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

YearDrawsInvitationsLowest CRSHighest CRSAverage CRS
202613,000477477477
202511,250505505505
202423,600433436435
202322,500388425407

What changed for Trades draws

Trades has been re-scoped twice: a first list in 2023, a second in 2024, and a third for 2026. The occupation set has moved each time, so a NOC that qualified two years ago is not automatically on the current list. It is also the category most often confused with the Federal Skilled Trades Program. They are unrelated, and we track them on separate pages.

IRCC category labelIn useRoundsInvitationsCRS range
Trade occupations (Version 1) Aug 2023 - Oct 202446,100 388 - 436
Trade occupations (Version 2) Sep 202511,250 505
Trades Occupations, 2026-Version 3 Apr 202613,000 477
Every version IRCC has run this round under, read from its published rounds of invitations.

Is a Trades draw your route?

  • You have 12 months in one listed trade: carpenter, electrician, plumber, welder, heavy-equipment mechanic and similar.
  • You want a category round rather than the Federal Skilled Trades Program, which has its own certificate-or-job-offer requirement.
  • Not you: someone relying on a 2023 or 2024 list. Check your NOC against the current version.
  • Worth knowing: a few entries sit outside what most people would call construction trades, butchers among them.

Who qualifies for Trades draws?

Trade occupations have stayed on the category list every year since 2023, reflecting sustained demand in construction and the skilled trades. Like STEM, the list is specific: it is built from named NOC codes rather than from a general idea of what counts as a trade.

  • At least 12 months of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work) in the past 3 years, in a single occupation from the list below. The 12 months do not have to be continuous, and they do not have to be Canadian.
  • That experience can sit under any listed NOC. It does not have to be the primary occupation on your Express Entry profile. You cannot combine two different NOC codes to make up the year.
  • An Express Entry profile in the pool, and eligibility for at least one of the three federal programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program or the Canadian Experience Class.
  • A CRS score at or above the cut-off published for that specific round.
  • Work experience that genuinely matches the lead statement and most of the main duties of the NOC code. IRCC assesses duties, not job titles.

IRCC raised the work-experience bar for its occupational categories from 6 months to 12 months when it published the 2026 category list in February 2026. If you built your plan around the old 6-month rule, it is worth re-checking your profile.

The 25 occupations eligible for Trades draws

These are the occupations IRCC lists for this category. Twelve months in one listed NOC is enough. It does not have to be the primary NOC on your profile. You cannot add two different codes together to make up the year. A few entries sit outside what most people would call construction trades, including butchers. This list is not the same thing as the Federal Skilled Trades Program.

NOC 2021Occupation
22303Construction estimators
70010Construction managers
70011Home building and renovation managers
72100Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
72102Sheet metal workers
72106Welders and related machine operators
72200Electricians (except industrial and power system)
72201Industrial electricians
72300Plumbers
72302Gas fitters
72310Carpenters
72311Cabinetmakers
72320Bricklayers
72400Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
72401Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
72402Heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics
72422Electrical mechanics
72501Water well drillers
72999Other technical trades and related occupations
73100Concrete finishers
73110Roofers and shinglers
73112Painters and decorators (except interior decorators)
73113Floor covering installers
82021Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services
63201Butchers - retail and wholesale

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 Trades draw

  1. Check your NOC code against the list

    There are 25 occupations on the Trades list, and the round is run against the version in force on the day. Most recently Trades Occupations, 2026-Version 3. 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, and a mismatch is the most common reason a category never reaches someone.

  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. Watch the trap specific to this category

    Do not confuse this with the Federal Skilled Trades Program. They share almost no rules. The list has also been re-scoped three times, so a code that qualified in 2023 may not be on the 2026 version, and a few entries sit outside construction entirely.

  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. 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. 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. Keep raising your CRS in the meantime

    Category rounds still rank by score. Trades rounds have cleared anywhere between CRS 388 and 505, 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.

Trades Express Entry Draws - Frequently Asked Questions

Trade occupation draws are category-based rounds for skilled tradespeople. IRCC narrows the pool to candidates whose recent experience is in one of the trade occupations on its list, then invites the highest-ranked candidates in that group.
Recently a new round in this group has landed roughly every 195 days, averaged across the last 6 rounds (Aug 3, 2023 – Apr 2, 2026) — not all 6 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 388 to 505 CRS, averaging about 444, and the most recent round came in at 477. 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 6 rounds (Aug 3, 2023 – Apr 2, 2026) the gap has been about 195 days, and the most recent one was held on April 2, 2026. Treat that as historical context rather than a forecast, because IRCC has paused round types before without warning.
10,350 invitations across 6 rounds on record, including 3,000 so far in 2026. Those totals are recalculated every time this page loads.
IRCC lists 25 eligible occupations for the Trades 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 a single eligible occupation within the past 3 years. It does not have to be continuous. IRCC raised this from 6 months to 12 months with the 2026 category list published in February 2026, so older guides still quoting 6 months are out of date.
No. For most occupation-based categories, experience earned outside Canada counts, which is what makes these rounds reachable if you have never worked in Canada. The 2026 categories for physicians, senior managers and researchers are the exception. Those specifically require Canadian work experience.
No. The Federal Skilled Trades Program is one of the three federal programs that put you in the Express Entry pool, and it needs a job offer or a certificate of qualification. The trades category is a filter IRCC applies on top of the pool. You can be invited in a trades-category round without being in the Federal Skilled Trades Program, as long as you qualify under FSW or CEC and your occupation is on the list.
Not for the trades category. A certificate of qualification is a Federal Skilled Trades Program requirement (as an alternative to a job offer). For the category, what matters is 12 months in a listed NOC and eligibility for one of the three federal programs.
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.
No, and confusing the two is the single most common mistake here. The category filters the pool by occupation. The Federal Skilled Trades Program is one of the three federal programs and has its own requirement for a job offer or a certificate of qualification. We track them on separate pages for that reason.
Not necessarily. The trades list has been re-scoped three times, and eligibility is judged against the version in force on the day of the round. Check your NOC against the current version rather than an older list.
Draw figures are copied from IRCC's published rounds. They were last updated from that feed on Sep 19, 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 19, 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.