Express Entry: LMIA Removed and New CRS Points Added

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced a major reform to the Express Entry system, marking a decisive turning point in the selection of economic talent. Starting November 3, 2026, candidates holding a job offer or possessing Canadian work experience in certain high-wage occupations will benefit from a newly structured Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points allocation. Most notably, the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirement is being permanently eliminated for these eligible job offers, thereby streamlining the process for both Canadian employers and prospective permanent residents.

What changes: The Labour Market Integration Factor

The primary change in this update is the introduction of a brand-new criterion within the CRS grid: the Labour Market Integration Factor (LMIF). This unified factor has been specifically designed to more effectively reward candidates who meet Canada's immediate economic needs in key, high-value sectors.

The LMIF evaluates two distinct components to determine a candidate's score:

• Points awarded for eligible Canadian work experience (which now includes a specific bonus for high-wage occupations).
• Points awarded for an eligible high-wage job offer.

It is crucial for candidates and immigration consultants to note that these two categories of points follow the highest-score rule and cannot be stacked under any circumstances. The system will evaluate both options and automatically award the candidate the subtotal that yields the highest possible score. The maximum points allowed under this new factor is strictly capped at 150 points for a candidate without an accompanying spouse or common-law partner, and 140 points for a candidate applying with an accompanying spouse or common-law partner.

Furthermore, one of the most anticipated measures by the immigration community is the complete removal of the LMIA. As of November 3, 2026, an LMIA will no longer be required to claim the valuable CRS points for a job offer. Additionally, a temporary public policy exempts candidates invited under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) from the LMIA requirement (or formal LMIA exemption) to validate the base eligibility criteria of a job offer. Holding an LMIA will no longer grant any additional points or provide any priority processing within the Express Entry pool.

Who is affected by these updates?

This comprehensive reform specifically targets skilled workers employed in 186 government-designated occupations. These occupations span various high-demand sectors, including healthcare, skilled trades, engineering, information technology, and teaching.

For an occupation to be officially considered "high-wage" under IRCC's new criteria, its national median wage must be at least 1.3 times higher than the average median wage of the entire Canadian workforce. This rigorous calculation is based on consolidated three-year data sourced from Job Bank, the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and the National Census.

Important note: Eligibility for these points is strictly tied to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code, and not to the individual salary negotiated by the candidate with their employer. If your job offer is in an occupation that does not appear on the official list of 186 eligible NOC codes, it will not grant any additional CRS points under the LMIF. However, it may still be used to meet the base eligibility requirements for the FSWP or FSTP, provided all other program conditions are met.

Key dates and numbers

The official effective date for these modifications is set for November 3, 2026. On this specific date, the IRCC system will perform an automatic and massive recalculation of the scores for all active profiles currently in the Express Entry pool. During this technical transition period, which is estimated to last up to a maximum of two weeks, all invitation rounds will be temporarily paused.

Here is how the new CRS points are distributed based on the wage level of the designated occupation:

Important note: The bonus points for Canadian experience are added to the existing Canadian experience duration points in the standard CRS grid (which have a maximum of 80 points without a spouse, or 70 points with a spouse). The Canadian experience must correspond to at least 12 months of full-time work, equivalent to 1,560 hours of paid work in a designated occupation.

What you need to do before November 3, 2026

If you are currently registered in the Express Entry pool, proactive action on your part may be required. While points related to Canadian experience will be recalculated automatically by the IT system, candidates holding a job offer must imperatively ensure that the information regarding this offer is correctly and fully recorded in their profile before November 3, 2026, in order to benefit from the automatic recalculation.

Because the online forms on the IRCC portal will not be immediately updated on launch day to reflect the end of the LMIA requirement, a strict transitional procedure has been implemented for declaring a job offer without an LMIA. You must enter the following temporary values into the system to bypass the software block:

• To the question "Was a positive LMIA issued?", you must answer Yes.
• In the "LMIA number" field, enter 00000.
• In the "Issue date" field, enter 2026-01-01.
• In the "Expiry date" field, enter 2029-01-01.

For immigration consultants and candidates alike, this LMIA exemption significantly reduces the initial administrative burden, but it shifts the burden of proof directly to the permanent residence application stage. The removal of the LMIA absolutely does not mean an absence of government checks.

IRCC officers will continue to rigorously verify the authenticity of every single job offer. During the application review, they will ensure the employer's business is genuine and actively operating, verify their financial capacity to meet the promised salary conditions, evaluate your professional qualifications for the position, and confirm that the offer is in full compliance with Canadian labour standards. Finally, any job offer that has been withdrawn or revoked by the employer before the final decision will be expressly considered ineligible, potentially leading to the refusal of the permanent residence application.