Before November 3. The CRS gave up to 80 points (70 with an accompanying spouse) for the length of your skilled Canadian work experience. Job offer points had been removed entirely since March 25, 2025.

From November 3. Those work-length points move into a new Labour Market Integration (LMI) factor worth up to 150 points (140 with a spouse). You can score it in one of two ways:

• Experience route: your same work-length points, plus a bonus of 20, 40 or 70 if you have at least 12 months (1,560 hours) of Canadian experience in a high-wage occupation.
• Job offer route: 50, 70 or 100 points for a genuine job offer in a high-wage occupation. No LMIA is needed, and having one adds nothing.

The higher one counts. IRCC’s system calculates both routes and uses whichever is higher. They never add together.

“High-wage” is a new category, and it means your occupation, not your pay. It did not exist in Express Entry before. IRCC lists 186 skilled NOC codes whose national median wage is at least 1.3 times the Canadian average, grouped into three levels. Your own salary does not affect it.

Job offers are checked later. Points are awarded from your profile, but an officer checks that the offer is genuine when you apply for permanent residence. IRCC says limiting job offer points to high-wage occupations supports this verification, because these roles require skills and qualifications that can be assessed.

What stays the same. The eligibility rules for Canadian work experience, skills transferability points, and every other CRS factor: age, education, language, provincial nomination (600), French ability and siblings in Canada.

What happens on the day. IRCC recalculates every profile in the pool automatically. Invitation rounds pause while it does, which could take up to two weeks.

The 12 months (1,560 hours) can be continuous or not, full-time or equal part-time, and combined across jobs; concurrent jobs count up to 30 hours a week. Skills transferability points do not change.

“High-wage” is a brand-new category. Until now, Express Entry only sorted jobs by skill level. IRCC created the “high-wage occupation” category for the November 3, 2026 changes. It never existed in Express Entry before, which is why it is unfamiliar.

“Skilled” has not changed. Since Express Entry began in 2015, your work experience has had to be in a skilled job, originally NOC 0, A or B and since November 2022 TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. That is still the rule for whether your experience counts at all.

High-wage is a smaller group inside skilled. It is the 186 skilled occupations whose national median wage is at least 1.3 times the Canadian average. Only these earn the new 20 to 70 point bonus or job offer points.

So an electrician or a cook still has skilled experience that counts for Express Entry and keeps those points. They just do not get the new high-wage bonus.

IRCC uses wage data only once: to sort occupations into levels. For each NOC code, it takes the median wage of everyone in Canada working in that occupation and compares it with the average median wage of the whole workforce (using Job Bank, Labour Force Survey and Census data from the last 3 years).

• Level 1: occupation’s median is 2x or more
• Level 2: 1.5x to under 2x
• Level 3: 1.3x to under 1.5x

Your own salary is never part of that calculation. In IRCC’s words, high-wage status is “not determined based on a person’s specific job position or salary.”

What this means for you:

• A lawyer (NOC 41101) earning $60,000 and one earning $300,000 get the same Level 1 points.
• A cook earning $120,000 gets no bonus, because cooks are not a listed occupation.
• Your duties must genuinely match the NOC you claim. Officers check this, and for a job offer they also check that the offer is genuine, so a wage far below normal for the occupation can raise questions.

Source: IRCC, High-wage occupations and how we assess them.

It is a written job offer, not a form. From November 3 there is no LMIA and no IRCC form for the employer to file. Before, a qualifying offer generally had to be backed by an LMIA naming you.

IRCC requires the offer to:

• Be recent and in writing
• Not come from an embassy, high commission or consulate in Canada
• Set out your pay and deductions, your duties, and your conditions of employment, such as hours of work
• Be for continuous, paid, full-time work (at least 30 hours a week), non-seasonal, for at least one year, in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation (Federal Skilled Trades offers can come from up to two employers)
• Be in a high-wage occupation if you want CRS points for it

A work permit is not a job offer, even an open work permit.

In your Express Entry profile you add the employer’s name and address, the start date and the NOC code. For now you also enter IRCC’s placeholder LMIA values (see below).

How it is proved. The letter is the core document, but it is not automatically enough. When you apply for PR, an officer must be satisfied the offer is genuine. If the job is in a regulated profession, the officer must also be satisfied you can become licensed.

Our practical checklist. IRCC does not set a format, so we recommend:

• Company letterhead, signed by someone with authority to hire, with their phone and email
• Your job title, NOC code, duties, wage, hours, start date and length of the job
• Confirmation the job is full-time, permanent or at least one year, and not seasonal
• Proof the employer is a real, operating business, such as business registration, payroll records or recent financial statements

IRCC’s legal rules for the November 3 changes may add detail once published. Source: IRCC, Offer of employment (Express Entry).

Officers assess every offer when you apply for PR and must be satisfied it is genuine.

• Employer: actively operating, able to meet the offer’s terms, has a real need for the job, follows employment and recruitment laws
• You: qualified and able to do the job, and likely to accept it and do the work

IRCC’s system will not reflect the change right away. Until it does, IRCC says to enter these values under “Work history”:

For FSW and FST eligibility, a job offer can be in any eligible TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job, not only a high-wage one. It just will not earn CRS points unless it is on the list. A temporary public policy exempts candidates invited on or after November 3 from LMIA requirements for qualifying FSW and FST offers.

ITA: you have 60 days to apply, based on the score you were invited with. If your recalculated score falls below the lowest-ranked candidate in your round, IRCC encourages you to decline and update your profile.

Application submitted: IRCC has not announced any change for applications in process. Just respond promptly to any request.

In the pool: your score is recalculated automatically. Check it looks right after the pause.

• Adding experience and job offer points together
• Picking a NOC to land on the list when your duties do not match
• Assuming a high salary earns the bonus
• Paying for a job offer or LMIA, which is illegal in Canada

November 3, 2026. IRCC will recalculate all profiles, which could take up to two weeks, and invitation rounds are paused until it is done.

Yes, but only for job offers in high-wage occupations: 100, 70 or 50 points depending on the occupation’s level. Offers in other occupations earn 0 CRS points. Job offer points had been removed in March 2025.

No. A qualifying job offer does not need an LMIA for eligibility or CRS points, and an LMIA gives no extra points. An officer still checks that the offer is genuine at the PR stage.

No. You receive points for Canadian work experience or a job offer, not both. IRCC’s system gives you the higher of the two.

A NOC whose national median wage is at least 1.3 times the average median wage in Canada. IRCC lists 186 occupations in three levels (2x, 1.5x and 1.3x). It is based on the occupation, not your salary.

No. Points depend on your occupation’s NOC code, not what you are paid. IRCC classifies each NOC using the median wage of everyone in Canada in that occupation, and says it is not determined by a person’s specific job position or salary. A lawyer earning below the typical lawyer’s salary still gets Level 1 points.

Your existing work experience points stay the same. But candidates in high-wage occupations or with qualifying offers can gain 20 to 100 points, so cut-off scores may rise and others may move ahead of you.

A recent written job offer that sets out your pay and deductions, duties and conditions of employment such as hours of work. For eligibility it must generally be for continuous, paid, full-time work (at least 30 hours a week), non-seasonal, for at least one year, in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation. To earn CRS points the occupation must also be on the high-wage list. No LMIA or IRCC form is needed.

No. IRCC says a work permit on its own is not a job offer, even if it is an open work permit. You need a written offer of employment from a Canadian employer.

Yes. A qualifying offer can be for an existing or a new position, and from your existing employer or a new one. An officer still checks that the employer is actively operating, can meet the offer's terms, has a real need for the job and follows employment and recruitment laws.

It can be. For the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs, a valid job offer can still help you meet program eligibility even if the occupation is not high-wage. It just earns 0 CRS points.

At least 12 months (1,560 hours) of Canadian experience in high-wage occupations. It can be continuous or not, full-time or an equal amount of part-time, and combined across more than one high-wage job. Concurrent jobs count only up to 30 hours a week. Eligible Canadian experience generally must be from the last 10 years.

Compare your actual duties with the NOC descriptions, not just your job title, then look up that NOC code on IRCC's high-wage occupations list or in the calculator on this page. A NOC that does not match your duties is a common reason points are taken away at the PR stage.

IRCC will recalculate your score automatically. If you have a job offer that is not in your profile, IRCC says to add it before November 3, 2026. After the pause, check that your new score, NOC and work history look right.

You have 60 days from your ITA to apply. If the high-wage list changes after your ITA, the level in effect on your ITA date applies. If your circumstances change and your recalculated score falls below the lowest-ranked candidate in your round, IRCC encourages you to decline the invitation and update your profile.

No. Skills transferability is unchanged and still uses the length of your Canadian work experience. The high-wage requirements do not apply to it.

Your points can be taken away and your application refused. Claiming points you cannot support can also lead to a misrepresentation finding, which bars you from applying to come to Canada for five years.