- Canada's Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced sweeping changes to the Express Entry selection criteria on October 16, 2026
- The new Labour Market Integration factor awards up to 150 additional CRS points for candidates in high-wage occupations, including those with job offers
- Canada also announced it would remove the Labour Market Impact Assessment requirement for qualifying job offers from November 3, 2026
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Canada has overhauled its Express Entry immigration system, introducing a new points category that rewards foreign nationals working or holding job offers in high-paying occupations.
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Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab unveiled the changes on October 16, 2026. The reforms take effect on November 3, 2026, and are aimed at aligning the country's economic immigration pathways more closely with labour market demands.
The update affects all candidates in the Express Entry pool, including Kenyans seeking permanent residence through federal immigration programmes.
How the New Points System Works
A new Labour Market Integration factor has been added to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
Under this factor, candidates can earn additional points either through eligible Canadian work experience or through a qualifying job offer, provided the relevant occupation is classified as high-wage.
Candidates who qualify under both categories will receive points from whichever option yields the higher score, but the two cannot be stacked.
The threshold for a high-wage occupation is set at 1.3 times the national Canadian median wage, based on the occupation's median pay rather than what the individual candidate actually earns.
For candidates with at least 12 months of Canadian work experience in a high-wage occupation, the additional points range from 20 to 70 depending on how far the occupation's median wage exceeds the national median.
Combined with the standard CRS points for work experience duration, a candidate could accumulate up to 150 points for Canadian work experience alone.
Candidates holding a qualifying job offer can receive between 50 and 100 additional points under the same wage-tier structure. A qualifying offer must cover full-time, continuous employment for at least one year following the granting of permanent residence.
LMIA Requirement Dropped for Qualifying Offers
From November 3, 2026, employers will no longer need to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for a job offer to qualify under the new Express Entry points factor or to satisfy job offer requirements under the Federal Skilled Worker Programme and the Federal Skilled Trades Programme.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will apply a temporary public policy extending this exemption to candidates invited to apply on or after that date.
IRCC confirmed it will continue to verify the authenticity of job offers, and employers remain obligated to meet programme requirements and comply with applicable employment laws.
Candidates already in the pool will have their CRS scores automatically recalculated under the new system. Those wishing to claim points for a qualifying job offer, however, must update their profiles before November 3, 2026.
IRCC has also announced that invitation rounds will be paused for up to two weeks from that date while scores are recalculated across the pool.
The announcement builds on earlier targeted measures, including dedicated Express Entry draws for medical doctors introduced in December 2025 and new category-based selection rounds for healthcare, skilled trades, research, transportation, and education launched in February 2026.
Source: TUKO.co.ke