Canada will prioritize three new occupational categories for permanent residence through Express Entry

The Canadian federal government will be prioritizing three new occupational categories for permanent residence through the Express Entry system: researchers and senior managers with Canadian work experience, transport occupations, and military personnel.

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The minimum work experience requirement for all occupational categories has been increased to one year, up from the previous requirement of six months of continuous work experience.

The one year of required work experience within the past three years does not have to have been continuous.

Immigration minister Lena Metlege Diab announced the changes in a speech at the Canadian Club in Toronto on 18 February, 2026.

Senior managers with Canadian experience occupations

Researchers with Canadian work experience occupations

Skilled military recruits occupations

Transport occupations

Diab also announced that the first draw for the physicians with Canadian work experience category, which was added to the Express Entry categories on Dec 8, 2025, will take place this week.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry categories and streams

The government will continue to prioritize inviting candidates under the categories of French language proficiency, health care and social services, and trades, according to Diab.

Only the agriculture and agri-food occupations category has been retired.

The new transport category contains no occupations from the earlier Express Entry transport category, which was retired in February of 2025.

Under the Express Entry system, foreign nationals with work experience in category-eligible occupations have a higher chance of being selected for permanent residence through category-based selection (CBS), in which the government issues invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence only to those Express Entry candidates meeting the criteria for the chosen occupational category.

The one year of work experience needed to qualify for an occupational category must have been gained within the past three years.

Since April of 2024, category-based selection has been the only way for foreign nationals without Canadian work experience or provincial nominations to be selected as permanent residents through Express Entry, since all non-CBS, non-PNP draws since April 23, 2024 have been conducted under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), which requires at least a year of skilled Canadian work experience.

Diab mentioned that the new changes under Express Entry will serve to support Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, a key pillar of Mark Carney’s nation-building economic program.

This is a breaking news story. CIC News will update this article as details emerge.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry categories and streams

Additional requirements for skilled military recruits

The military recruits category has additional requirements beyond the one year of eligible work experience.

To qualify for the skilled military recruits category, an Express Entry candidate must also

• Be serving in a recognized foreign military with at least ten years of continuous service;
• Have a full-time job offer for at least three years with the Canadian Armed Forces; and
• Have a post-secondary credential from a program of at least two years in length.

About Express Entry

Express Entry is the federal government’s flagship application management system for permanent residence applications.

The government selects foreign nationals for permanent residence by issuing invitations to apply (ITAs) to top-ranking eligible candidates through the Express Entry system.

To qualify for Express Entry, a candidate must have an intention to reside in Canada outside Quebec, and must meet the minimum requirements of at least one of the three Express-Entry managed federal immigration programs:

• The Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
• The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).
• The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

All programs require at least one year of full-time skilled work experience, defined as work in an occupation classified as TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 under Canada’s National Occupation Classification (NOC).

All candidates must achieve a minimum level of proficiency in English or French, as demonstrated by completing a language test from a government-approved third-party language testing provider.

Candidates are scored on the basis of Canada’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which assigns each candidate profile a score from 0-1200, calculated on the basis of the candidate’s work experience, language proficiency, education, and age.

For candidates immigrating with a spouse, their spouse’s Canadian work experience, education, and language proficiency also factor into their CRS score.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry categories and streams

History of category-based selection

IRCC first instituted Express Entry categories in May of 2023, under former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. At the time, category-based selection launched with six categories:

• French-language proficiency;
• Healthcare occupations;
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations;
• Trades occupations;
• Transport occupations; and
• Agriculture and agri-food occupations.

The above categories were maintained until February 27, 2025, when IRCC instituted a major overhaul of both current Express Entry categories and the occupations eligible to be selected under them. As part of this change, the immigration department instituted a new category for education occupations, while simultaneously removing the category for transport occupations.

The addition of new eligible occupations also triggered updated iterations of certain categories, which are reflected in Express Entry rounds as “Version 2” of a given category.

This overhaul was followed by the further addition of a new category on December 8, 2025—the “Physicians with Canadian work experience” category, which was introduced as part of a suite of immigration measures to help boost Canada’s supply of doctors.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry categories and streams

A summary of Express Entry category-based selections, since its inception, can be found below:

Asylum reform

In the Q&A after her speech, Diab emphasized the importance of the asylum reforms in Bill C-12, emphasizing that Canada has clear immigration pathways for skilled workers, and that the asylum system should be used only for those truly in need of asylum, not as a back door to immigration.

“If you have been in Canada for over a year, you should not be claiming asylum,” said Diab.

The bill has passed its third reading in the house of Commons, and is currently under consideration by committee after its second reading at the Senate. To become law, it must pass its third reading in the Senate and then receive royal assent.

Diab also emphasized that foreign nationals coming to Canada for the FIFA World Cup 2026 should not be claiming asylum, and will be subject in full to Canada’s usual entry requirements for visitors.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry categories and streams

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