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Live from IRCC On IRCC's 2026 category list

Transport Express Entry Draws 2026 - Live CRS Cut-Offs

The latest Transport draw was held on Aug 7, 2026. IRCC invited 300 candidates at a CRS cut-off of 470.

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

4 Total draws
1 Draws in 2026
443 Average CRS cut-off
44 Days since last draw
Illustration of commercial aviation maintenance and vehicle mechanics for Canadian transport Express Entry draws.

Transport draws are category-based rounds covering a small set of aviation and vehicle-maintenance occupations. IRCC narrows the pool to candidates with recent experience in those roles, then invites the highest-ranked among them.

Read the occupation list before planning around this category. It is much narrower than the version IRCC ran in 2023, and the change caught a lot of people out.

Since these rounds began, IRCC has held 4 transport-category draws, issuing 2,945 invitations in total.

All Transport draw results

Draw #DateCategoryCRS Cut-offInvitations
Draw #434 Aug 7, 2026 Transport Occupations, 2026-Version 2 470 300
Draw #289 Mar 13, 2024 Transport occupations (Version 1) 430 975
Draw #277 Dec 20, 2023 Transport occupations (Version 1) 435 670
Draw #264 Sep 20, 2023 Transport occupations (Version 1) 435 1,000

Showing 1–4 of 4 draws

When is the next Transport draw?

IRCC has not announced a date. Across the last 4 rounds (Sep 20, 2023 – Aug 7, 2026) the gap has been about 351 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 July 2027, which is a window rather than a date: the last round was 44 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.

Transport draw history by year

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

YearDrawsInvitationsLowest CRSHighest CRSAverage CRS
20261300470470470
20241975430430430
202321,670435435435

What changed for Transport draws

Transport is the clearest case of a category narrowing. The 2023 list included road transport: truck drivers among them, and the 2026 version does not. It now covers aviation plus automotive, truck and bus mechanics. If you qualified under the first version, that does not carry over: eligibility is judged against the list in force when the round is held.

IRCC category labelIn useRoundsInvitationsCRS range
Transport occupations (Version 1) Sep 2023 - Mar 202432,645 430 - 435
Transport Occupations, 2026-Version 2 Aug 20261300 470
Every version IRCC has run this round under, read from its published rounds of invitations.

Is a Transport draw your route?

  • You work in one of the listed aviation or vehicle-maintenance occupations with 12 months in that NOC.
  • Not you: a long-haul truck driver. Road transport was on the 2023 list and is not on the 2026 one.
  • You should check your NOC against the current version rather than any list you saw before 2026.
  • Worth knowing: rounds here have been infrequent even while the category was active.

Who qualifies for Transport draws?

Transport was one of the original 2023 categories, was left off the 2025 list, and returned for 2026 in a reduced form. The 2023 version included transport truck drivers; the current list does not, so a good deal of older advice about this category is now simply wrong.

  • 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 4 occupations eligible for Transport 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. The 2026 list is aviation plus automotive and truck/bus mechanics. Transport truck driver roles from the 2023 version are not on it, and neither are rail occupations.

NOC 2021Occupation
22313Aircraft instrument, electrical and avionics mechanics, technicians and inspectors
72404Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors
72410Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics, and mechanical repairers
72600Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors

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 Transport draw

  1. Check your NOC code against the list

    There are 4 occupations on the Transport list, and the round is run against the version in force on the day. Most recently Transport Occupations, 2026-Version 2. 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

    The 2026 version dropped road transport, truck drivers included. Eligibility is judged against the list in force on the day of the round, so qualifying under the 2023 version does not carry forward.

  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. Transport rounds have cleared anywhere between CRS 430 and 470, 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.

Transport Express Entry Draws - Frequently Asked Questions

Transport draws are category-based rounds covering a small set of aviation and vehicle-maintenance occupations. IRCC narrows the pool to candidates with recent experience in those roles, then invites the highest-ranked among them.
Recently a new round in this group has landed roughly every 351 days, averaged across the last 4 rounds (Sep 20, 2023 – Aug 7, 2026) — not all 4 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 430 to 470 CRS, averaging about 443, and the most recent round came in at 470. 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 4 rounds (Sep 20, 2023 – Aug 7, 2026) the gap has been about 351 days, and the most recent one was held on August 7, 2026. Treat that as historical context rather than a forecast, because IRCC has paused round types before without warning.
2,945 invitations across 4 rounds on record, including 300 so far in 2026. Those totals are recalculated every time this page loads.
IRCC lists 4 eligible occupations for the Transport 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. Transport truck drivers were on the 2023 version of this category and are not on the 2026 list. The current list is air pilots, aircraft mechanics, avionics technicians, and automotive / truck and bus mechanics. Rail occupations are not on it either.
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. Road transport occupations were on the 2023 version of this category and are not on the 2026 version, which covers air pilots, aircraft mechanics, avionics technicians, and automotive, truck and bus mechanics. Eligibility is judged against the list in force when the round is held, so earlier eligibility does not carry over.
IRCC has used this category sparingly even while it has been active, and narrowed it considerably for 2026. The draw table on this page shows the real spacing rather than an expected cadence.
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.