OTTAWA, Ont. - Changes to Canada’s Express Entry immigration system take effect today, November 3, 2026, awarding additional points to candidates with eligible Canadian work experience or a qualifying job offer in a high-wage occupation.
The changes were announced October 16, 2026, by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab, and they take effect today under the Comprehensive Ranking System, the points system Express Entry uses to rank candidates. Jobs cited in the announcement as examples of high-wage occupations include engineers and electricians.
As of today, a labour market impact assessment, known as an LMIA, will no longer be required for a qualifying job offer to receive the new Express Entry points, or to meet job offer requirements under the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it will continue to assess job offers to confirm they are genuine and meet program requirements, with measures in place to protect against fraud.
Candidates already in the Express Entry pool will have their scores automatically recalculated under the new points system, including points for eligible Canadian work experience. Candidates who wished to receive points for a qualifying job offer needed to update their profiles with the required information before November 3. The recalculation process may take up to two weeks, during which invitation rounds will be paused.
In plain terms, Express Entry is the federal system that manages applications for several economic immigration programs. Candidates are scored, ranked, and periodically invited to apply for permanent residence. Today’s change shifts extra weight toward people already working in Canada and toward job offers in higher-paying occupations, and it removes one piece of paperwork, the LMIA, from this particular points calculation.
For Surrey, where many newcomer families are already working, studying and building lives while they wait in the pool, the recalculation matters directly. Scores will move, rounds are paused for up to two weeks while the department recalculates, and anyone counting on a job-offer boost who did not update their profile before today should check their profile now rather than assume the points applied. This article does not quote specific point values, because the announcement release itself does not state them; readers should confirm their own score in their official profile.
(Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada news release, October 16, 2026)
