Express Entry High-Wage Occupations List

From November 3, 2026, Express Entry gives extra CRS points for Canadian work or a job offer in 186 high-wage occupations. IRCC sorts them into three levels by the occupation's median wage: 31 at twice the average median wage or more, 89 at 1.5 times and 66 at 1.3 times. Twelve months of Canadian work in one of them adds 70, 40 or 20 points on top of the points for your years in Canada. A qualifying job offer in one is worth 100, 70 or 50, and no LMIA is needed. You get whichever is higher, never both.

The list on this page is IRCC's, copied NOC by NOC from canada.ca and checked against Statistics Canada's NOC 2021 titles. Search your job above, or read on for how the points work and the questions people ask most.

What changes on November 3, 2026?

Three things change for everyone in the Express Entry pool.

• A new CRS factor. Canadian work experience becomes part of a labour market integration factor: your years of Canadian work plus any high-wage points, or a job offer in a high-wage occupation, whichever is higher. It is worth up to 150 points, or 140 with an accompanying spouse or partner.
• Job offers earn points again, for the first time since March 25, 2025, but only in an occupation on the list.
• No LMIA. A job offer no longer needs a labour market impact assessment, either for the new points or for the job offer requirement of the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs.

Candidates already in the pool are rescored automatically. IRCC says the recalculation may take up to two weeks, and that invitation rounds pause while it runs. Sources: IRCC, 2026 changes to points for Canadian work experience and job offers and the October 16, 2026 backgrounder.

How many CRS points does a high-wage occupation give?

Up to 70 points for Canadian work, or up to 100 for a job offer. The points depend only on the occupation's level, and they are the same with or without a spouse or partner.

The work points come on top of your points for years of skilled Canadian work, which do not change. Together, for a single applicant:

With an accompanying spouse or partner (not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident), the points for years are lower and the factor stops at 140:

A qualifying job offer replaces these totals whenever it is worth more: a 2× offer (100) beats every work total under 100 above.

Can you get points for both a job offer and Canadian work?

No. IRCC works out both and gives you the higher one. A few examples, single, worked through the CRS calculator:

• 2 years as a registered nurse (NOC 31301, 1.5×), and a nursing job offer: work 53 + 40 = 93, offer 70. The work counts: 93.
• 1 year as an accountant (NOC 11100, 1.3×), then an offer as a financial manager (NOC 10010, 2×): work 40 + 20 = 60, offer 100. The offer counts: 100.
• No Canadian work, and an offer as a civil engineer (NOC 21300, 1.5×): 70 points, up from 0.

Your Canadian work still adds skill transferability points by years, even when the job offer is the option that counts.

Do you still need an LMIA?

No, not from November 3, 2026. A job offer no longer needs a labour market impact assessment to earn CRS points, or to meet the job offer requirement of the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Skilled Trades programs. A temporary public policy covers candidates invited on or after that date who meet its conditions. Having an LMIA adds no points and gives your profile no priority, and the offer can be for a new or an existing position, with a new or your current employer.

IRCC still checks that every offer is genuine when you apply for permanent residence: that the employer is actively in business, can meet the terms of the offer, makes an offer that fits its real needs and follows employment and recruitment laws, and that you are qualified and likely to take the job. An offer that is revoked no longer counts. Sources: IRCC, 2026 changes and backgrounder.

How do you add a job offer without an LMIA to your profile?

Enter IRCC's placeholder LMIA details, before November 3, 2026. IRCC's online profile still asks for an LMIA, so IRCC tells candidates to fill in the job offer under "Work history" like this:

You also add the start date, the employer's name and address, and the job's NOC code. The offer itself must be recent and in writing, set out your pay and deductions, your duties and conditions such as your hours, and must not come from an embassy, high commission or consulate in Canada. A work permit, even an open one, is not a job offer. Source: IRCC, Job offer.

What counts as a qualifying job offer?

Generally, a genuine full-time job for at least a year after you become a permanent resident, in an occupation on the list. For CRS points the offer must be valid under Express Entry and be for a position in a high-wage occupation. IRCC's job offer rules for the Federal Skilled Worker Program ask for one employer and continuous, paid, full-time work (at least 30 hours a week) that is not seasonal, in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job. Federal Skilled Trades offers can come from up to two employers, and specific rules apply to some occupations, including skilled trades and physicians who provide publicly funded medical services.

An offer in an occupation that is not on the list earns no CRS points, but it can still make you eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker or Federal Skilled Trades Program, or a provincial stream: IRCC assesses points and eligibility separately.

How does the 12-month rule work for Canadian work?

You need at least a year of qualifying work in high-wage occupations: 12 months, or 1,560 hours.

• It has to meet the usual Express Entry rules for Canadian work: paid work in Canada, in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job, within the last 10 years, while you had temporary resident status. Self-employment and work while you were a full-time student do not count, except that some physicians can count self-employed time providing publicly funded medical services.
• It can be continuous or not, full-time or the same hours part-time, and spread over several high-wage jobs.
• Two jobs at the same time count only up to full-time, 30 hours a week.
• With jobs at different levels, 70 points need 12 months at 2×; otherwise 40 need 12 months combined at 1.5× or higher; otherwise 20 need 12 months combined anywhere on the list. So 8 months at 2× and 6 months at 1.5× give 40 points.

The high-wage points come on top of your points for years, and skill transferability keeps counting your years only. Sources: IRCC, 2026 changes; Ministerial Instructions, section 15.

The full high-wage occupations list

186 occupations, in effect from November 3, 2026. IRCC built this list from 2023 to 2025 wage data. The level is the occupation's median wage compared with the average median wage of the whole Canadian workforce. Source: IRCC, High-wage occupations and how we assess them.

2× the average median wage: 31 occupations

12 months of Canadian work: +70. A qualifying job offer: 100.

1.5× the average median wage: 89 occupations

12 months of Canadian work: +40. A qualifying job offer: 70.

1.3× the average median wage: 66 occupations

12 months of Canadian work: +20. A qualifying job offer: 50.

Popular jobs and their points

Software, data, engineering, registered nursing and school teaching jobs are on the list at 1.5× or higher; web developers and accountants are at 1.3×. The jobs people check most:

Common jobs that are not on the list

Many skilled jobs are not, including carpenters, plumbers and construction electricians. Your Canadian work in them still earns points for your years (up to 80, or 70 with a spouse or partner), and a job offer can still make you eligible for a program, but neither earns high-wage points.

Electricians show why the NOC matters: industrial electricians (72201) are at 1.3×, power system electricians (72202) at 1.5×, and other electricians (72200), the NOC for construction electricians, are not on the list. Work in a TEER 4 or 5 job, such as home support workers or cashiers, does not count as skilled Canadian work at all.

How does IRCC decide which occupations are high-wage?

By the median wage of everyone in Canada working in that NOC. An occupation is high-wage when its median wage is at least 1.3 times the average median wage of the overall Canadian workforce, and IRCC groups the list at 2×, 1.5× and 1.3×.

• IRCC uses wage data from Job Bank, the Labour Force Survey and the Census of Population for the last three years, and gives each NOC the highest level it reached in any of those years.
• Your own salary, province and employer play no part. A software developer earning less than average still gets the 1.5× points; a well-paid worker in an occupation that is not on the list gets none.
• If the list changes after you are invited to apply, IRCC keeps the level that applied on the day you were invited, whether your occupation moved, left or joined the list.

IRCC's pages do not give dollar amounts for the levels: the list is what counts. Source: IRCC, High-wage occupations and how we assess them.

Which NOC code is yours?

The one whose duties match what you did, not your job title. For Canadian work to count, you must have performed the actions in the NOC's lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties, including all essential duties, and your profile lists the NOC of every occupation you worked in (Ministerial Instructions, section 15). IRCC tells candidates to read the main duties on the official NOC site and pick a different NOC if they do not match (IRCC, Find your NOC). Choose by duties, never by points: the points follow the NOC you can show you worked in.

The search at the top of this page covers all 516 NOC 2021 occupations and more than 32,000 official job titles from Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (its OaSIS profiles and Job Bank), and shows the official lead statement, main duties and exclusions of the occupation you pick. It also knows more than 300 common titles that no official source lists, such as React developer, AZ driver or Tim Hortons supervisor. Each of those rests on an official title, and when one is what matched, the result says it comes from our review, so you know to check the duties yourself. For any occupation's TEER category, its Express Entry programs and category lists, or the NOC 2021 code of an old NOC 2016 one, use the NOC code finder.

Is this the same as the LMIA high-wage stream?

No, they are two different tests. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program sorts LMIA applications into high-wage and low-wage streams by the wage the employer offers, compared with an hourly threshold for the province or territory (ESDC). Express Entry's list looks at the national median wage of your occupation and ignores your own pay. A job can be in the LMIA high-wage stream and still not be on the Express Entry list, and the other way round.

What could change next?

IRCC is weighing a bigger reform, but has not announced it. In spring 2026 IRCC consulted on merging the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Program into one program with a CLB 6 and high school minimum, removing the spouse and sibling points, narrowing the points for study in Canada and for trade certificates, better recognizing Canadian licensure, and how age is scored. Its final report says any proposed change to the regulations will be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I (IRCC, 2026 consultations on Express Entry reforms). Until then, the rules on this page are the ones IRCC has announced.

Language is the part you can raise

High-wage points depend on your job; language points depend on you. For a single applicant, moving from CLB 7 to CLB 9 in all four skills adds 56 core points, close to the 70 of the top high-wage level, and up to 50 more through skill transferability, depending on your education and work abroad. Answer a scored CELPIP practice set to see which skill is holding you below CLB 9, then add everything up in the CRS calculator.

Check the official list on IRCC's high-wage occupations page, and your score rules on its CRS criteria page.