Canada is changing how Express Entry ranks skilled worker candidates, adding new Comprehensive Ranking System points for Canadian work experience and high-wage job offers while removing the Labour Market Impact Assessment requirement from qualifying job offers.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced the changes on Oct. 16, 2026. They take effect on Nov. 3, 2026, and apply to the Express Entry system used for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class and part of the Provincial Nominee Program.
IRCC is creating a new Labour Market Integration factor inside the CRS. Candidates may receive points through one of two routes: eligible Canadian work experience, including extra points for high-wage occupations, or a qualifying job offer in a high-wage occupation.
The two routes cannot be combined. IRCC says it will compare the possible score from Canadian work experience against the possible score from a qualifying job offer and apply whichever gives the candidate more points.
Route
How points are awarded
Maximum under the new factor
Canadian work experience
Work-length points remain, with extra points for at least 12 months in eligible high-wage occupations.
150 points without an accompanying spouse or common-law partner; 140 with one.
Qualifying job offer
Points apply only if the offer is valid under Express Entry and in an eligible high-wage occupation.
100 points.
IRCC also says receiving the additional points does not guarantee an invitation to apply. Invitations will still depend on the round type, requirements and CRS cut-off score.
How high-wage occupation points will work
Under the new rules, a high-wage occupation is based on the median wage for everyone in Canada working under the same National Occupational Classification code. It is not based on an individual candidate’s personal salary.
IRCC is grouping eligible occupations into three wage tiers. The list coming into effect on Nov. 3 is based on 2023 to 2025 wage data from Job Bank, the Labour Force Survey and the Census of Population.
Occupation wage tier
Extra Canadian work experience points
Job offer points
Median wage at least twice the average median wage
70
100
Median wage at least 1.5 times but less than twice the average median wage
40
70
Median wage at least 1.3 times but less than 1.5 times the average median wage
20
50
Not on the high-wage occupation list
0 extra high-wage points, though regular work-length points may still apply
0
For technology workers, the official list includes several digital and technical occupations. Computer and information systems managers appear in the top tier. Data scientists, cybersecurity specialists, software engineers and designers, software developers and programmers, computer systems developers and programmers, and computer engineers appear in the 1.5-times tier. Web developers and programmers appear in the 1.3-times tier.
Job offer points are returning, but in a different form
Job-offer CRS points were removed on March 25, 2025, after IRCC announced a temporary anti-fraud measure aimed at reducing the incentive to illegally buy or sell LMIAs. The Nov. 3 change brings job-offer points back, but with a narrower test.
A qualifying job offer can add CRS points only when the offer is valid under Express Entry and the occupation appears on the high-wage list. A Labour Market Impact Assessment will not be required for those points, and having an LMIA will not give the profile extra CRS points or priority.
IRCC says officers will still assess whether job offers are genuine. That assessment includes whether the employer is active in the business, can meet the terms of the offer, made an offer that reflects its needs and follows employment and recruitment laws. Officers will also assess whether the candidate is qualified, able to perform the work and likely to accept and carry out the job.
Eligibility and CRS points are separate tests
A job offer can still matter even when it does not create job-offer CRS points. IRCC says a valid offer in a non-high-wage TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation may still help a candidate qualify under the Federal Skilled Worker Program or Federal Skilled Trades Program if it meets the relevant program requirements.
Existing Express Entry profiles will be recalculated
IRCC says existing profiles in the Express Entry pool will be recalculated automatically when the new points system takes effect. The recalculation may take as long as two weeks, and invitation rounds will be paused during that process.
Canadian work experience points will be included in the automatic recalculation. Candidates who want points for a qualifying job offer must update their profiles with the required information before Nov. 3.
IRCC has also posted temporary profile instructions for job offers without an LMIA because the online system will not immediately reflect the policy change on Nov. 3. The department says candidates may still need to answer system fields as though a positive LMIA exists, using the placeholder details supplied by IRCC, until the system is updated.
Why IRCC is making the shift
The new scoring model follows a broader IRCC review of Express Entry and its labour market outcomes. Recent IRCC research found that core human capital factors, including official language proficiency, education and Canadian work experience, are consistently associated with better labour market outcomes for Express Entry immigrants.
The same research described job offers as more nuanced. After controlling for other applicant characteristics, job offers were associated with modestly higher post-admission earnings among employed immigrants, with especially strong outcomes for job offers in senior management. IRCC found that core human capital factors showed more consistent associations across labour market outcomes.
That evidence points to the logic behind the new CRS structure. Canadian work experience can produce the largest Labour Market Integration score, while job offers return with a cap and only for high-wage occupations. Employer demand is still part of the system, but it is now tied to occupation-level wage data and officer verification rather than the presence of an LMIA.
What happens next
The new high-wage occupation list comes into effect on Nov. 3, 2026. IRCC says if the high-wage list changes after a candidate receives an invitation to apply, it will use the wage level that applied on the date of the invitation.
The change also sits alongside wider Express Entry reforms. IRCC’s final consultation report, published Oct. 15, said feedback will be considered in potential changes to Express Entry, including amendments to regulations and Ministerial Instructions. Any proposed regulatory changes would be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I.
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