Express Entry · reviewed November 2026
Express Entry changed on 3 November. Most advice you will read predates it.
If a consultant is still telling you a job offer is worth 50 points, or that you need an LMIA to claim them, they are describing a system that no longer exists.
What replaced the old job-offer points
A new labour market integration factor now awards points for working in — or holding an offer in — an occupation Canada has designated as high-wage. IRCC publishes the list: 186 occupations across three levels.
| Occupation level | Job offer | Canadian experience bonus |
|---|---|---|
| At least 2× the average median wage | 100 | 70 |
| 1.5× to just under 2× | 70 | 40 |
| 1.3× to just under 1.5× | 50 | 20 |
The factor is capped at 150 points without an accompanying spouse, 140 with one. The experience bonus requires at least one year of Canadian work in the occupation.
It is the occupation, not your salary
A common misreading: that you qualify if you earn 1.3× the median wage. You do not. The test is whether the median wage of everyone in Canada doing that job clears the threshold — which IRCC has already calculated, from Job Bank, the Labour Force Survey and the Census across 2023 to 2025. Your own pay does not enter into it. Either your occupation is on the published list, or it is not.
An LMIA is no longer required
For a job offer to qualify under the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs, you no longer need a Labour Market Impact Assessment. One quirk worth knowing: IRCC's own profile still asks you to indicate a positive LMIA even though none is needed. Answering that wrongly is an easy way to lose points you are entitled to.
Fewer federal places, more provincial ones
The 2027–2029 levels plan sets 380,000 permanent residents a year. Federal Express Entry drops to 100,000, down from 111,000, while the Provincial Nominee Program rises to 95,000. For a great many applicants that makes a provincial stream the stronger route — and a provincial nomination remains worth 600 points.
What this means if you are already in the pool
Candidates with qualifying Canadian experience receive the new points automatically. If your points come from a job offer, you have to update your profile to claim them — nothing happens on its own. And you are assessed under the rules in force on the date you are invited, not the date you created the profile.
Figures on this page are drawn from the Ministerial Instructions in force from 3 November 2026 and from IRCC's published list of designated occupations. They are general information, not an assessment of your case.