What Express Entry is, in plain terms
Express Entry is the online system Canada uses to manage applications for three permanent residence programs. You create a profile, the system scores you, and you wait in a pool with everyone else. Several times a month IRCC runs a round of invitations and invites the candidates it wants.
You are not applying when you enter the pool. You are asking to be picked.
If all you want is your number, start with our free Express Entry CRS calculator.
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Express Entry manages three permanent residence programs: the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program.
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A provincial nomination through an Express Entry stream adds points to your score.
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Your score is set by the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The maximum is 1,270 points.
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Once you start a profile, you have 60 days to complete and submit it.
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If you are invited to apply, you have 60 days to submit your full application.
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The rules for Canadian work experience and job offers changed on 3 November 2026.
What changed on 3 November 2026
IRCC changed how Canadian work experience and job offers are scored. It is also recalculating every profile already in the pool, and it paused invitation rounds while that runs. IRCC said the recalculation could take up to two weeks.
For the detail behind each change, including the high-wage occupation tables, read our full breakdown of the November 2026 changes. If you previously counted on job offer points, Express Entry points removed: your 5 options sets out what is left.
Points for high-wage Canadian work experience
What it is worth
70 points if your occupation pays at least twice the median wage, 40 points at 1.5 times, 20 points at 1.3 times. You need at least 12 months of experience.
Who it affects
Anyone with Canadian experience in one of the 186 listed high-wage occupations.
Points for a high-wage job offer
What it is worth
100 points at twice the median wage, 70 points at 1.5 times, 50 points at 1.3 times.
Worth knowing
You get points for high-wage work experience or a high-wage job offer, not both. IRCC counts whichever is higher.
No more LMIA requirement for job offer points
What changed
IRCC removed the LMIA and LMIA-exemption requirements for all Express Entry job offers.
What it means
A job offer no longer needs an LMIA behind it to count toward your score.
A job offer outside the high-wage list now scores zero
What changed
If your job offer is not in a high-wage occupation, it is worth 0 CRS points.
What to do
If you were counting on job offer points, check your score again before you rely on it.
The three programs, and who each one is for
You have to qualify for at least one of these to enter the pool. Many people qualify for more than one.
Senior managers have their own route and their own category. We cover it separately in Express Entry for senior managers.
Canadian Experience Class. For skilled workers who have already worked in Canada.
- One year of skilled work in Canada in the last three years, full-time or the part-time equivalent.
- Language: CLB 7 for TEER 0 and TEER 1 jobs, CLB 5 for TEER 2 and TEER 3 jobs.
- No education requirement and no job offer needed.
Federal Skilled Worker Program. For skilled workers with foreign or Canadian experience.
- One year of continuous experience in the last ten years in a TEER 0 to TEER 3 occupation.
- Language: CLB 7.
- Secondary education is required. Post-secondary study earns more points.
- No job offer needed, though a high-wage offer now carries points.
Federal Skilled Trades Program. For people qualified in a skilled trade.
- Two years of experience in the last five years in a listed TEER 2 or TEER 3 trade.
- Language: CLB 5 for speaking and listening, CLB 4 for reading and writing.
- You need either a full-time job offer of at least one year, or a certificate of qualification from a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
Provincial Nominee Program. Not a fourth program, but a route through the other three.
- You must already qualify for one of the three programs above.
- If a province nominates you through its Express Entry stream, you get extra points.
- Each province sets its own streams and its own requirements.
Category-based rounds can invite you at a lower score
Not every round invites the highest scores overall. IRCC also runs category-based rounds aimed at particular occupations or at French speakers, and these often have lower cut-offs than general rounds. For most categories you need at least 12 months of full-time experience, or the part-time equivalent, in one listed occupation within the past three years.
These are the categories currently in use.
For the occupation lists behind these categories, see every occupation Canada will prioritise in 2026 and the senior managers category.
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French-language proficiency
A minimum score of 7 in all four abilities on the Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens.
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Healthcare and social services occupations
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Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations
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Trade occupations
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Education occupations
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Transport occupations
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Physicians with Canadian work experience
The experience must be in Canada.
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Senior managers with Canadian work experience
The experience must be in Canada.
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Researchers with Canadian work experience
The experience must be in Canada.
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Skilled military recruits
Ten years of continuous service in a recognised foreign military, plus an offer from the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group.
The steps, start to finish
The order matters. People lose months by creating a profile before their documents exist.
If you want help with the profile itself, our Express Entry Profile Builder shows you what to enter in every field.
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Step 01
Check your score
Work out your CRS score before you build anything. It decides whether Express Entry is realistic for you at all.
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Step 02
Start your documents early
Language test results and an educational credential assessment take weeks to arrive. Nothing moves until you have them.
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Step 03
Create and submit your profile
Once you start, you have 60 days to finish and submit it. Every answer has to match the documents behind it.
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Step 04
Wait in the pool
IRCC invites candidates in rounds. Category-based rounds often invite at lower scores than general rounds.
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Step 05
Apply after an invitation
You have 60 days from an invitation to submit the full application with all supporting documents.
Questions people ask
There is no fixed pass mark. Each round has its own cut-off, set by the scores of the people sitting in the pool that day. Category-based rounds usually have lower cut-offs than general rounds, so the score you need depends on which rounds you are eligible for.
IRCC paused invitation rounds from 3 November 2026 while it recalculates every profile in the pool under the new rules. It said the recalculation could take up to two weeks and has not published a restart date. Check the official rounds of invitations page for the current position before you rely on any timeline.
Not for the work experience points. Those are applied to your profile automatically. If you have a job offer, the details need to be in your profile for those points to count, so that is the part worth checking.
No, not for the Canadian Experience Class or the Federal Skilled Worker Program. The Federal Skilled Trades Program needs either a qualifying job offer or a certificate of qualification from a Canadian authority. A job offer in a high-wage occupation now carries points, but one outside that list carries none. Our lawyer’s view on that change is here: job offer points cancelled.
A nomination through a provincial Express Entry stream adds points to your score. Whether it suits you depends on whether you actually want to live in that province and whether you meet its stream requirements, which are separate from the federal ones.
You can. Ours applies the same rules and also gives you a written report you can keep and show to a lawyer. Try the CRS calculator.
