Express Entry Major Update
Welcome to the Guberman // Appleby Immigration Update. We hope you find the information provided relevant to your immigration needs. Our objective is to highlight recent updates in immigration that are of interest to our readers.
Today’s topic:
Express Entry System to Introduce New Scoring Factor (Labour Market Integration) for Canadian Experience or Job Offers in High-Wage Occupations
In this update, we discuss the recently-announced updates to the Express Entry system and discuss related considerations for applicants.
Express Entry System
The Express Entry is an application management system for Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) permanent resident (PR) programs. If an applicant qualifies for the Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker category, or Federal Skilled Trades programs, they can submit a profile to the Express Entry pool. Profiles in the pool are given a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score which is based on a variety of factors including level of education, foreign and Canadian work experience, age, language ability, and more. The government of Canada intermittently issues Invitations to Apply to applicants over a certain point threshold, which allows applicants to apply for permanent residence. Labour Market Integration is a newly announced factor under this system.
Express Entry Update
On October 16, 2026, the Canadian government announced that as of November 3, 2026, the Canadian government will introduce a new factor for CRS points for Canadian work experience or qualifying job offers in high-wage occupations. In tandem with this announcement, the government has released three lists of occupations that have a median wage of at least two times (2x), one point five times (1.5x), and one point three times (1.3x) the general Canadian median income.
Applicants who have at least 12 months of Canadian experience in one of the listed occupations can earn up to 70 additional CRS points. Similarly, applicants who have a qualifying job offer in one of the identified high-wage occupations can receive up to 100 additional CRS points depending on the high-wage occupation level. Candidates who have both a job offer and Canadian experience in high-wage occupations will only receive points under the option that provides more points. For instance, an applicant who has a year of experience as a Mining Engineer and has a job offer in the same occupation would only receive 100 points for the job offer and not 70 points for his work experience in the occupation. Please see below for the full three lists of high-wage occupations:
NOCs with a median wage at least twice the average median wage
- 00011 Senior government managers and officials
- 00012 Senior managers – financial, communications and other business services
- 00013 Senior managers – health, education, social and community services and membership organizations
- 10010 Financial managers
- 10011 Human resources managers
- 10012 Purchasing managers
- 10020 Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers
- 10021 Banking, credit and other investment managers
- 20010 Engineering managers
- 20011 Architecture and science managers
- 20012 Computer and information systems managers
- 21330 Mining engineers
- 21332 Petroleum engineers
- 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
- 31101 Specialists in surgery
- 31102 General practitioners and family physicians
- 31103 Veterinarians
- 31302 Nurse practitioners
- 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals
- 40010 Government managers – health and social policy development and program administration
- 40011 Government managers – economic analysis, policy development and program administration
- 40012 Government managers – education policy development and program administration
- 40019 Other managers in public administration
- 40040 Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services
- 40041 Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers
- 41100 Judges
- 41101 Lawyers and Quebec notaries
- 41200 University professors and lecturers
- 60010 Corporate sales managers
- 80010 Managers in natural resources production and fishing
- 90011 Utilities managers
NOCs with a median wage at least 1.5 times, but less than twice, the average median wage
- 00014 Senior managers – trade, broadcasting and other services
- 00015 Senior managers – construction, transportation, production and utilities
- 10019 Other administrative services managers
- 10022 Advertising, marketing and public relations managers
- 10029 Other business services managers
- 10030 Telecommunication carriers managers
- 11103 Securities agents, investment dealers and brokers
- 11201 Professional occupations in business management consulting
- 21100 Physicists and astronomers
- 21102 Geoscientists and oceanographers
- 21103 Meteorologists and climatologists
- 21109 Other professional occupations in physical sciences
- 21111 Forestry professionals
- 21120 Public and environmental health and safety professionals
- 21202 Urban and land use planners
- 21210 Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
- 21211 Data scientists
- 21220 Cybersecurity specialists
- 21221 Business systems specialists
- 21222 Information systems specialists
- 21223 Database analysts and data administrators
- 21230 Computer systems developers and programmers
- 21231 Software engineers and designers
- 21232 Software developers and programmers
- 21300 Civil engineers
- 21301 Mechanical engineers
- 21310 Electrical and electronics engineers
- 21311 Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
- 21320 Chemical engineers
- 21321 Industrial and manufacturing engineers
- 21322 Metallurgical and materials engineers
- 21331 Geological engineers
- 21390 Aerospace engineers
- 21399 Other professional engineers
- 22231 Engineering inspectors and regulatory officers
- 22312 Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
- 30010 Managers in health care
- 31110 Dentists
- 31112 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
- 31120 Pharmacists
- 31200 Psychologists
- 31202 Physiotherapists
- 31203 Occupational therapists
- 31300 Nursing coordinators and supervisors
- 31301 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
- 32111 Dental hygienists and dental therapists
- 40020 Administrators – post-secondary education and vocational training
- 40021 School principals and administrators of elementary and secondary education
- 40030 Managers in social, community and correctional services
- 40042 Commissioned officers of the Canadian Armed Forces
- 41210 College and other vocational instructors
- 41220 Secondary school teachers
- 41221 Elementary school and kindergarten teachers
- 41310 Police investigators and other investigative occupations
- 41311 Probation and parole officers
- 41320 Educational counsellors
- 41401 Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts
- 41402 Business development officers and market researchers and analysts
- 41404 Health policy researchers, consultants and program officers
- 41407 Program officers unique to government
- 42100 Police officers (except commissioned)
- 42101 Firefighters
- 50010 Library, archive, museum and art gallery managers
- 50011 Managers – publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and performing arts
- 51100 Librarians
- 70010 Construction managers
- 70012 Facility operation and maintenance managers
- 70020 Managers in transportation
- 70021 Postal and courier services managers
- 72011 Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations
- 72012 Contractors and supervisors, pipefitting trades
- 72023 Supervisors, railway transport operations
- 72103 Boilermakers
- 72202 Power system electricians
- 72203 Electrical power line and cable workers
- 72301 Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers
- 72406 Elevator constructors and mechanics
- 72600 Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors
- 72601 Air traffic controllers and related occupations
- 72604 Railway traffic controllers and marine traffic regulators
- 73310 Railway and yard locomotive engineers
- 82020 Supervisors, mining and quarrying
- 82021 Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services
- 83101 Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers
- 90010 Manufacturing managers
- 92011 Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities
- 92100 Power engineers and power systems operators
- 93100 Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing
- 93101 Central control and process operators, petroleum, gas and chemical processing
NOCs with a median wage at least 1.3 times, but less than 1.5 times, the average median wage
- 00010 Legislators
- 11100 Financial auditors and accountants
- 11101 Financial and investment analysts
- 11102 Financial advisors
- 11109 Other financial officers
- 11200 Human resources professionals
- 12201 Insurance adjusters and claims examiners
- 12203 Assessors, business valuators and appraisers
- 21101 Chemists
- 21110 Biologists and related scientists
- 21112 Agricultural representatives, consultants and specialists
- 21200 Architects
- 21201 Landscape architects
- 21203 Land surveyors
- 21234 Web developers and programmers
- 22214 Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology
- 22232 Occupational health and safety specialists
- 22233 Construction inspectors
- 22310 Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
- 22313 Aircraft instrument, electrical and avionics mechanics, technicians and inspectors
- 31121 Dietitians and nutritionists
- 32102 Paramedical occupations
- 32103 Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
- 32120 Medical laboratory technologists
- 32121 Medical radiation technologists
- 32122 Medical sonographers
- 41300 Social workers
- 41400 Natural and applied science policy researchers, consultants and program officers
- 41403 Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers
- 41405 Education policy researchers, consultants and program officers
- 41409 Other professional occupations in social science
- 43201 Correctional service officers
- 43203 Border services, customs, and immigration officers
- 50012 Recreation, sports and fitness program and service directors
- 51101 Conservators and curators
- 51102 Archivists
- 51111 Authors and writers (except technical)
- 51112 Technical writers
- 51120 Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations
- 52112 Broadcast technicians
- 60020 Retail and wholesale trade managers
- 60031 Accommodation service managers
- 60040 Managers in customer and personal services
- 72010 Contractors and supervisors, machining, metal forming, shaping and erecting trades and related occupations
- 72013 Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades
- 72014 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
- 72020 Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades
- 72021 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
- 72102 Sheet metal workers
- 72105 Ironworkers
- 72201 Industrial electricians
- 72302 Gas fitters
- 72320 Bricklayers
- 72321 Insulators
- 72401 Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
- 72403 Railway carmen/women
- 72404 Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors
- 72500 Crane operators
- 72602 Deck officers, water transport
- 72603 Engineer officers, water transport
- 73311 Railway conductors and brakemen/women
- 82010 Supervisors, logging and forestry
- 83100 Underground production and development miners
- 83120 Fishing masters and officers
- 92010 Supervisors, mineral and metal processing
- 93102 Pulping, papermaking and coating control operators
The government has also altered the assessment process for qualifying job offers. A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) will not be required for a job offer to be eligible for the new points. Instead, IRCC will be assessing the genuineness of qualifying job offers by determining whether the employer is actively engaged in the business for which the offer is being made, whether the offer reflects a reasonable employment need, whether the employer can meet the terms of the offer, whether the candidate is qualified to perform the work, and whether the employer has complied with employment and recruitment laws in the past.
Those who are eligible to receive job offer points should immediately update their Express Entry profiles to ensure they receive the additional points. On November 3, 2026, the recalculation process will begin, and the government has advised that this process may take up to two weeks. During the recalculation process all invitation rounds will be paused.
// CONTACT US
The Lawyers at Guberman//Appleby are well versed in both the Federal Express Entry system and provincial nominations, and we welcome you to contact us directly to discuss the above. Please contact one of our Toronto immigration lawyers, by reaching out to our general line 416 548 7100 or via email info@gaimmlaw.com. Our immigration lawyers are always available to discuss any of your specific Canadian or US immigration queries either virtually or in person. We look forward to hearing from you.
