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Canada is rewriting Express Entry scoring. On 16 October, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced the biggest change to the Comprehensive Ranking System since job-offer points were removed in March 2025. From 3 November 2026, Canada will award new CRS points for Canadian work experience and qualifying job offers in high-wage occupations — and an LMIA will no longer be needed for those points.
The new Labour Market Integration factor
IRCC is adding a Labour Market Integration factor to the CRS. It scores you two ways and gives you whichever is higher — the two routes do not stack:
1. Eligible Canadian work experience — your usual duration-based points, plus a high-wage bonus if at least 12 months (1,560 hours) of it were in a listed high-wage occupation.
2. A qualifying job offer in a listed high-wage occupation.
The whole factor is capped at 150 points (140 if you have an accompanying spouse or partner).
The point tiers
IRCC has sorted 186 occupations into three wage tiers based on each occupation's national median wage — not your personal salary. (The list is built from 2023–2025 Job Bank, Labour Force Survey and Census data.)
Occupation wage level | Job-offer points | Extra experience points (12+ months) |
At least 2× the national median | 100 | +70 |
At least 1.5×, below 2× | 70 | +40 |
At least 1.3×, below 1.5× | 50 | +20 |
2× tier (31 occupations): family physicians, specialists, lawyers, financial managers, engineering managers, nurse practitioners, university professors.
1.5× tier (89 occupations): software developers, registered nurses, civil and electrical engineers, secondary school teachers, pharmacists, power system electricians.
1.3× tier (66 occupations): accountants, HR professionals, web developers, architects, social workers.
No LMIA needed anymore
From 3 November, a qualifying job offer no longer requires an LMIA to earn the new points — or to meet job-offer requirements under the Federal Skilled Worker program and Federal Skilled Trades program. IRCC will still assess offers for genuineness, with anti-fraud measures in place.
What happens right now
· Scores recalculated automatically. If your profile is in the pool, your CRS score will be recalculated under the new system — no action needed for experience-based points.
· Update your profile before 3 November if you want job-offer points— IRCC needs the offer details in your profile by then.
· No draws for up to two weeks. Recalculation takes up to two weeks from 3 November, and invitation rounds are paused during it. The last draw was #450 on 16 October (French proficiency, 5,000 invitations at CRS 435).
What this means for you
· If you have Canadian work experience in a high-wage occupation— your score is about to jump. One year in a 1.5×-tier occupation adds 40 points on top of your regular duration points.
· If you have a qualifying job offer—Up to 100 points, with the LMIA hurdle gone.
· If neither applies to you — your score doesn't fall, but cut-offs may rise as the pool's scores shift. This is the time to check where you stand.
· Act before 3 November if you are counting on job-offer points — after that, the door on the new points is the recalculation, and incomplete profiles miss out.
Not sure whether the new system raises or lowers your score?
Get a free CRS/profile check from our Delhi experts — call or WhatsApp +91 98961 96762, or write to info@provinceimmigration.com.
