The Express Entry system that will be applied by the Canadian federal government to give priority to three new occupational categories to be used in granting permanent residence will include researchers and senior managers who have worked in Canada, transport occupations and military personnel.
The working experience required in all occupational groups is raised to one year, as compared to the six-month long requirement of continuous working experience in the past.
The year of work experience that is mandatory should not necessarily be consecutive in the last three years.
The changes were announced by the ministry of immigration Lena Metlege Diab in a speech at the Canadian Club within Toronto, 18 February, 2026.
Senior managers with Canadian experience occupations
| Occupation | 2021 NOC code |
|---|---|
| Senior managers – construction, transportation, production and utilities | 00015 |
| Senior managers – trade, broadcasting and other services | 00014 |
| Senior managers – health, education, social and community services and membership organizations | 00013 |
| Senior managers – financial, communications and other business services | 00012 |
Researchers with Canadian work experience occupations
| Occupation | 2021 NOC code |
|---|---|
| Post-secondary teaching and research assistants | 41201 |
| University professors and lecturers | 41200 |
Skilled military recruits occupations
| Occupation | 2021 NOC code |
|---|---|
| Operations Members of the Canadian Armed Forces | 43204 |
| Specialized members of the Canadian Armed Forces | 42102 |
| Commissioned officers of the Canadian Armed Forces | 40042 |
Transport occupations
| Occupation | 2021 NOC code |
|---|---|
| Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors | 72600 |
| Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics, and mechanical repairers | 72410 |
| Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors | 72404 |
| Aircraft instrument, electrical and avionics mechanics, technicians and inspectors | 22313 |
Diab has also indicated that the draw among the Canadian work experience category of physicians will happen this week, as it was added to the Express Entry categories on Dec 8, 2025.
Based on Diab, the government will still focus on recruiting applicants in the categories of the French language skills, health care and social services, and trades.
The only ones that have been retired are the agriculture and agri-food occupations category.
The new transport category has no occupations in the previous Express Entry transport category that was retired in February of 2025.
Within the Express Entry system, the foreign nationals whose work experience is in category-eligible occupations are more likely to be invited to permanent residence with the help of category-based selection (CBS), when the government sends the invitations to apply (ITAs) to the permanent residence only to the Express Entry candidates who possess the required work experience in the selected occupational category.
The one year of work experience required to qualify in an occupational category must have been earned with the past three years.
After April 2024, the only means by which foreign nationals without Canadian work experience or provincial nominations can be selected as permanent residents by the Express Entry program is the category-based selection (since April 23, 2024, all non-CBS, non-PNP selections have been under the Canadian Experience Class, which requires one year of Canadian skilled work experience).
According to Diab, the new changes under the Express Entry will be used to support the Defence Industrial Strategy which is one of the pillars of the Mark Carney national building economic program.
This is a breaking news story. This article will be updated by CIC News as the information will be revealed.
Additional requirements for skilled military recruits
There are other requirements other than the one year of eligible work experience in the military recruits category.
An Express Entry candidate should also in order to fit in the skilled military recruits category.
- Be must have served in an established foreign military force at least ten years of unbroken service;
- Be at least three years in a full time employment with the Canadian Armed Forces; and
- Possess a post-secondary credit in a degree and/or program of two years or more.
About Express Entry
The Express Entry is the flagship application management system of permanent residence applications by the federal government.
Express Entry system, The government uses the Express Entry system to invite the top-ranking eligible foreign nationals to apply to obtain permanent residence.
The qualification criteria in Express Entry is that a candidate needs to intend to reside in Canada not in Quebec, and to possess at least one of the three Express-Entry operated federal immigration programs:
- The Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
- The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).
- The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).
Any of the programs must have one year of full-time skilled work experience, which is work in an occupation that is rated TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 according to the Canada National Occupation Classification (NOC).
Every candidate has to have a minimum level of fluency in either English or French as seen through the completion of language testing, through a third-party government approved language testing company.
The candidates will be rated according to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) of Canada, according to which a candidate profile is rated on a 0-1200 scale based on his experience, language skills, education, and age.
In the case of candidates who immigrate together with their spouse, the CRS score also considers the Canadian work experience, education, and language of the spouse.
History of category-based selection
Express Entry categories were initially established by IRCC on May 2023 by the then Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser. The selection at its inception was based on category and had six categories, namely:
- French-language proficiency;
- Healthcare occupations;
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) jobs;
- Trades occupations;
- Transport occupations; and
- Agriculture and agriculture job occupations.
These categories were kept until a significant reorganization of existing Express Entry categories, as well as the occupations that can be selected under them, was introduced by IRCC on February 27, 2025. This change also included the introduction by the immigration department of a new category of education occupations with the concomitant removal of the transport occupational category.
New eligible occupations also led to new versions of some of the categories, which are represented in Express Entry rounds as Version 2 of a particular category.
This revision was accompanied by the subsequent introduction of one more category on December 8, 2025 the Physicians with Canadian work experience category which was introduced as one of the packages of immigration measures to assist in increasing the number of doctors in Canada.
An overview of the selections based on categories (Express Entry) since its inception can be provided below:
| Round type | Number of draws held | Total ITAs issued |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and agri-food occupations (Version 1) | 3 | 1,150 |
| Education occupations (Version 1) | 2 | 3,500 |
| French language proficiency (Version 1) | 26 | 79,700 |
| French-Language proficiency 2026-Version 2 | 1 | 8,500 |
| Healthcare and social services occupations (Version 2) | 7 | 14,500 |
| Healthcare occupations (Version 1) | 6 | 15,850 |
| STEM occupations (Version 1) | 3 | 10,900 |
| Trade occupations (Version 1) | 4 | 6,100 |
| Trade occupations (Version 2) | 1 | 1,250 |
| Transport occupations (Version 1) | 3 | 2,645 |
| Total | 56 | 144,095 |
Asylum reform
During the question and answer sessions following the speech, Diab also reiterated that her Bill C-12 asylum reforms were necessary because there are already established immigration pathways in Canada that allow skilled workers, and asylum should not be taken as a backdoor to immigration.
You have been in Canada more than one year, so you should not be seeking asylum, said Diab.
The bill has been read a third time in the house of Commons, and is now undergoing committee after being read the second time at the Senate. It has to pass its third reading within the Senate, and then the royal assent has to be granted to it.
Diab also highlighted that the foreign nationals visiting Canada in order to watch the FIFA world cup 2026 should not be seeking asylum and will be allowed in the country in full compliance to the normal entry requirements of a visitor to Canada.