Canada Announces Express Entry Changes: New CRS Points for 186 High-Wage Occupations
By M A Immigration Associates Inc.
Effective date: November 3, 2026
Canada has announced changes that could improve Express Entry rankings for candidates with eligible Canadian work experience or qualifying job offers in designated high-wage occupations. The October 16 announcement introduces a Labour Market Integration factor and removes LMIA requirements for qualifying Express Entry job offers from November 3.
The list covers 186 occupations across health care, technology, engineering, education, finance, management, skilled trades and other fields. Eligibility requires more than finding your occupation on the list: your experience or offer must satisfy the applicable requirements.
What Does “High-Wage Occupation” Mean?
IRCC classifies occupations using national wage data for their National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes. Your individual salary does not determine the occupation's tier. The list uses 2023–2025 data and assigns each occupation the highest tier it reached during that period.
Job duties must support the NOC selected. A job title alone should never be used to claim eligibility.
How Many Points Can Candidates Receive?
| Occupation's national wage tier | Qualifying job offer | Additional points for eligible Canadian experience |
|---|---|---|
| 2 times the national median or above | 100 | 70 |
| 1.5 times to below 2 times | 70 | 40 |
| 1.3 times to below 1.5 times | 50 | 20 |
Canadian-experience bonuses require at least 12 months in qualifying occupations. Higher tiers can count toward the lower-tier combined-experience thresholds. The bonus supplements duration-based Canadian-experience points. Candidates receive the higher of their Canadian-experience calculation or qualifying-job-offer score; the two alternatives are not added together. Maximum Labour Market Integration points are 150 without an accompanying spouse or partner, or 140 with one.
Illustration: An applicant without an accompanying spouse has one year of qualifying Canadian experience in a 2-times-tier occupation. Their experience calculation is 40 duration points plus 70 high-wage points: 110. A qualifying offer in that tier gives 100. The higher result is 110, not 210. These are factor points, not the applicant's total CRS score.
Who Can Qualify Through Canadian Work Experience?
The high-wage bonus requires at least one year—12 months or 1,560 hours—of eligible Canadian experience. It can combine qualifying jobs and need not be continuous. Part-time equivalents count, but overlapping work is capped at 30 hours weekly.
Experience generally must be in Canada, within the previous 10 years, in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. Special provisions apply to certain physicians. Candidates outside the high-wage list can still receive ordinary duration-based Canadian-experience points.
What Makes a Job Offer Qualify?
An offer generally must provide full-time, continuous Canadian employment for at least one year after permanent residence. Special requirements apply to skilled trades and certain physicians. IRCC will examine whether the employer operates a real business, needs the position, can honour the offer and complies with employment and recruitment laws. The applicant must be qualified and likely to perform the work. A revoked offer stops qualifying.
From November 3, an LMIA is no longer required for the relevant Express Entry assessment. This announcement should not be interpreted as removing work-permit requirements. Applicants and employers must assess temporary work authorization separately.
Program Eligibility and CRS Ranking Are Separate
A qualifying offer outside the high-wage list may still help establish Federal Skilled Worker or Federal Skilled Trades eligibility, even though it earns no CRS job-offer points. Language, experience, education and other applicable requirements still need assessment. An occupation's inclusion does not guarantee an invitation or permanent residence.
Complete Occupation and NOC List
The following 186 entries are drawn from the October 16 CIC News report and checked against IRCC's published list. The tables describe occupations, not available vacancies. Listing does not remove licensing, certification or other employment requirements.
2-times wage tier: 31 occupations
Qualifying offer: 100 points. Eligible Canadian-experience bonus: 70 points.
| NOC code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 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 |
1.5-times wage tier: 89 occupations
Qualifying offer: 70 points. Eligible Canadian-experience bonus: 40 points.
| NOC code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 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 |
1.3-times wage tier: 66 occupations
Qualifying offer: 50 points. Eligible Canadian-experience bonus: 20 points.
| NOC code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 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 |
What Applicants Should Do Before November 3
IRCC advises candidates seeking job-offer points to update their profiles before November 3. Existing scores will be recalculated; this may take up to two weeks, with invitation rounds paused during recalculation.
Review your NOC against actual duties, check experience dates and supporting records, and confirm that any offer meets the new rules. Follow IRCC's specific transitional instructions for entering an offer without an LMIA; do not improvise profile answers.
How M A Immigration Associates Inc. Can Help
M A Immigration Associates Inc. can assess your program eligibility, review occupational classification, compare CRS scenarios and advise on supporting evidence. We are an immigration consultancy, not a recruitment agency, and do not arrange employment or sell job offers.
Contact M A Immigration Associates Inc. for an individual assessment before changing your Express Entry profile or relying on a job offer.
Disclaimer: This article provides general information based on materials released October 16, 2026. It is not individual legal advice or a guarantee of selection. Rules and occupation lists may change.