Canada's Express Entry System: A Proposed Reform in Progress

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has initiated a stakeholder consultation process on a series of proposed reforms to Canada's Express Entry system and the federal skilled labour immigration programs (FSW, FST and CEC). What follows is a summary of what the government has presented to date. These proposals are subject to stakeholder feedback and have not yet been finalized. We are also unaware when these changes may be implemented.

What Is Express Entry?

Express Entry is Canada's primary application management system for federal economic immigration programs. It manages the intake of three federal skilled labour programs, the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Program, the Federal Skilled Trades (FST) Program, and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). A portion of the intake of Provincial Nominee Programs is also managed through Express Entry.

The system operates in three interconnected layers

• Program eligibility requirements that determine who enters the pool

• The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), a points-based mechanism that ranks candidates according to their assessed economic potential

• Invitation rounds through which candidates are selected based on their CRS scores and certain criteria for the round of invitation

Express Entry has, by the government's own assessment, produced strong economic outcomes. IRCC data indicates that Express Entry immigrants consistently outperform non-Express Entry economic immigrants in both employment rates and earnings.

Why Reform Now?

IRCC has identified several converging factors that make this an opportune moment to reconsider the structure of Express Entry. These include:

• Shifts in government policy priorities, specifically, a mandate to attract highly skilled and high-earning immigrants while returning overall immigration levels to what the government describes as sustainable levels

• The evolution of category-based selection

• Ongoing digital platform modernization

• New empirical evidence on which candidate attributes best predict long-term economic success in Canada

  
  

Objectives of the Proposed Reform

The main objective of the reform is to enhance the integrity, overall coherence and effectiveness of the Express Entry selection system in order to support better economic outcomes.

The government has identified four guiding principles:

• Focus on the strongest predictors of economic success

• Reduce overlap and duplication between programs

• Reduce complexity

• Promote equity and ensure integrity

These principles form the foundation for the two main areas of proposed change: the structure of the federal skilled labour programs and the recalibration of the Comprehensive Ranking System.

Proposed Change 1: Merging the Three Federal Programs

Perhaps the most structurally significant proposal is the merger of the FSW, FST and CEC into a single unified federal program, to be implemented through regulatory amendments.

The rationale presented is straightforward: the three programs were designed before Express Entry existed and were originally intended to be processed on a first-in, first-out basis. Under the current system, however, program requirements function primarily as minimum eligibility thresholds rather than selection criteria, since actual selection is determined by the CRS and category-based rounds.

The proposed unified program would streamline eligibility requirements as follows:

Requirement	Current (varies by program)	Proposed
Education	FSW: Canadian high school or equivalent CEC and FST: N/A	Canadian high school diploma or equivalent (with ECA)
Language	CLB/NCLC 7 for FSW CLB/NCLC 5–7 for CEC depending on job TEER CLB/NCLC 4–5 for FST	CLB/NCLC 6 for all TEERs in all language areas
Work Experience	1 year continuous (FSW) 1 year in Canada (CEC) 2 years in skilled trade (FST)	1 year cumulative in one or more TEER 0–3 occupations within the last 3 years (Canadian or foreign)
Job Offer	Required for FST (unless there is a certificate of qualification) Contributes adaptability points for FSW N/A for CEC	Not specified as a minimum eligibility requirement
Minimum Points Grid	67 points (FSW only)	Eliminated

Consolidating these requirements would make eligibility more transparent for applicants, reduce processing inefficiencies for officers, and eliminate what it describes as redundant intake control mechanisms such as the FSW points grid.

Proposed Change 2: Recalibrating the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System

The second major area of proposed reform concerns the CRS itself. Drawing on recent internal research, IRCC has concluded that not all factors currently included in the ranking system are equally effective at predicting candidates' economic outcomes. The government's evidence places existing and proposed factors along a spectrum from weaker to stronger predictors:

• Stronger predictors: temporary resident earnings in Canada, official language proficiency, Canadian work experience, job offer (in high-wage occupations), education, and age.

• Moderate predictors: Canadian work experience (general), job offers (general), and education.

• Weaker predictors: spousal attributes and additional points for French proficiency, studying in Canada, and having a sibling in Canada.

Based on this evidence, the government proposes the following adjustments to the CRS:

CRS Factor	Current Structure	Proposed Direction
Age	0 points after age 45; maximum 110 points for ages 20–29	No change proposed
Education	0 points for less than high school; maximum 150 points for PhD	No change proposed
First Official Language	0 points at CLB/NCLC 4 or below; maximum 136 points at CLB/NCLC 10 or above	No change proposed
Second Official Language	0 points at CLB/NCLC 4 or below; maximum 24 points at CLB/NCLC 9 or above	No change proposed
Canadian Work Experience	0 points for less than 1 year; maximum 80 points for 5 or more years	Retained and restructured under a new "Labour Market Integration" factor Canadian work experience + high wage occupation experience OR job offer
Job Offer	Temporarily removed as of March 2025 Previously: 200 points for senior managers; 50 points for all other eligible occupations	See above. To be reintroduced as points for job offers in high-wage occupations (experience OR job offer)
Skills Transferability	Maximum 100 points for combinations of education or foreign work experience with official language proficiency or Canadian work experience	Certificate of Trade Qualification component to be enhanced Foreign work experience combinations to be maintained
Provincial/Territorial Nomination	600 points	Proposed for removal or modification
French Proficiency	25–50 bonus points	Proposed for removal or modification
Studies in Canada	15 points (1–2 years post-secondary); 30 points (3-year degree or above)	Proposed for removal or modification
Sibling in Canada	15 bonus points	Proposed for removal or modification
Spousal Points	Maximum 40 points within core human capital factors	Proposed for removal or modification

The main factors proposed for introduction or enhancement:

• High Wage Occupation factor: The proposal would award points for Canadian work experience or a job offer in occupations that earn above the national median wage (i.e. occupational earnings rather than individual earnings). The government proposes tiered thresholds, for example, occupations earning 1.3x, 1.5x, or 2x the national median, with a corresponding list of eligible occupations to be updated regularly..

• Enhanced recognition of Canadian licensure: The government proposes to better recognize candidates who hold a Certificate of Qualification in a Red Seal designated trade, and to explore avenues for recognizing licensure in other regulated professions. Points for trade apprenticeship work are also under consideration.

The current CRS structure would be reorganized to reflect these priorities, with the core human capital factors remaining central and the additional points section substantially revised.

Anticipated Impacts

The government identifies several anticipated outcomes of these proposed changes. These include:

• Streamlining the federal skilled labour programs to increase the overall pool of eligible candidates by making entry requirements more accessible and uniform, while also reducing the administrative burden on both applicants and officers.

• Changes to the CRS are expected to shift the profile of successful candidates toward those with stronger language skills, higher levels of education, and at least one year of Canadian work experience in a high-wage occupation.

  
  

The government emphasizes that category-based selection would remain in place and would continue to allow for flexibility in addressing specific labour market needs beyond earnings potential, including occupational shortages and the economic development of Francophone minority communities (e.g. French draws).

What Comes Next

These proposals are being presented as part of a structured stakeholder consultation process. The government has explicitly invited feedback on the overall direction of the reforms.

No implementation timeline has been announced and the proposals remain subject to revision based on stakeholder input. Immigration practitioners and candidates currently in the Express Entry pool should monitor future announcements from IRCC for confirmed regulatory or policy changes.

Disclaimer

This blog post is intended as a factual summary of proposals presented by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in 2026. It does not constitute legal advice and the information contained in this post is subject to change.