- Starting November third, twenty twenty-six, Express Entry adds new high-wage points for eligible work experience and qualifying job offers.
- Eligible Canadian work can earn up to seventy points after at least twelve months, based on the occupation’s median wage.
- Candidates with qualifying offers must update profiles before November third; IRCC may pause invitations for up to two weeks.
Canada will award new selection points to some candidates with Canadian work experience or a qualifying high-wage job offer, beginning November 3, 2026. The changes affect the Comprehensive Ranking System, which ranks people in the Express Entry pool.
The two routes use separate point scales. Candidates who qualify through both cannot add the awards together; they receive the larger of the two totals.
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says it will recalculate pool scores for eligible work automatically. Candidates seeking points for an offer must update their profiles before the changes take effect.
The department expects that recalculation could pause invitations to apply for permanent residence for up to two weeks. The new points can improve a candidate’s ranking, but they do not guarantee an invitation.
The wage test applies to occupations, not individual paycheques
A high-wage occupation is one with a Canadian occupational median wage at least 1.3 times the median for the overall Canadian workforce. The calculation looks at the occupation’s median, not necessarily what an individual candidate earns.
IRCC lists health care, skilled trades, engineering, technology and education among the eligible fields. The department’s announcement sets out the new scoring approach.
Applicants need to assess which route applies to them. The system will not stack the new work-based points with the new job-offer points. Where a candidate meets both sets of criteria, IRCC will use the route that yields the higher score.
At least 12 months of eligible work unlocks a separate point scale
Candidates need at least 12 months of qualifying work in Canada to receive the new points tied to an occupation’s wage level. The award rises with the occupation’s median wage.
| Occupational median wage | Additional CRS points |
|---|---|
| At least 2 times the national median | 70 |
| At least 1.5 times but less than 2 times | 40 |
| At least 1.3 times but less than 1.5 times | 20 |
The new award sits on top of existing CRS credit for employment in Canada. That existing component can reach 80 points for five years of work.
The broader labour-market-integration factor has a ceiling. It is capped at 150 points for candidates without an accompanying spouse or common-law partner, and 140 points for those with one.
Eligibility also depends on when and where the work took place. In general, the qualifying experience must have been acquired in Canada during the previous 10 years, in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation.
A qualifying offer must cover a year of work after permanent residence
The job-offer route awards points according to the same wage bands, but at higher values than the work-experience route.
| Occupational median wage | CRS points for a qualifying offer |
|---|---|
| At least 2 times the national median | 100 |
| At least 1.5 times but less than 2 times | 70 |
| At least 1.3 times but less than 1.5 times | 50 |
The offer generally must be for full-time, continuous employment in Canada. It must cover at least one year after the candidate becomes a permanent resident.
Those conditions distinguish an eligible offer from one that simply reflects a high salary. The occupation’s median wage determines its band, while the offer must also meet the duration and employment requirements.
The new points remove the LMIA requirement for qualifying offers
From November 3, employers will not need a Labour Market Impact Assessment for an offer that qualifies for these new points. An LMIA generally establishes that an employer could not find a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for the job; that test will no longer be required for these offers.
The change also reaches job offers used to satisfy offer requirements in the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. It does not remove the stated conditions for a qualifying offer, including its full-time, continuous nature and minimum period after permanent residence.
IRCC will recalculate pool scores before invitations resume
People already in the pool do not need to submit a new profile to have eligible Canadian work assessed for the new points. IRCC plans to recalculate those scores automatically.
Candidates relying on a qualifying offer have a separate step: they must enter the required information in their profiles before November 3, 2026. The department says recalculating scores may take up to two weeks, and it will pause invitations to apply during that period.
A higher CRS score changes a candidate’s ranking, not the outcome of the application process. An invitation is not assured, even when the new points apply.
