November 3 rules preview
Express Entry is changing.
See where you fit.
Eligible Canadian experience or a qualifying offer in a listed high-wage occupation could improve your score. Understand the rules before you update your profile.
01 / The essentials
One new factor. Two ways to qualify.
IRCC will compare your entire Canadian experience score with your qualifying offer score. You receive the higher result.
Canadian experience
Keep the points for how long you worked. Add one high-wage bonus of 20, 40 or 70 if you have at least 12 eligible months.
A qualifying offer
An eligible offer in a listed occupation can provide 50, 70 or 100 points instead of the entire experience route.
“High-wage” describes the occupation, not your pay. IRCC uses national median earnings for the NOC. Earning a higher personal salary does not move you into another tier.
1.3× to <1.5×
of the national workforce median
- Experience bonus
- +20
- Offer alternative
- 50
1.5× to <2×
of the national workforce median
- Experience bonus
- +40
- Offer alternative
- 70
2× or more
of the national workforce median
- Experience bonus
- +70
- Offer alternative
- 100
These wage tiers are separate from NOC TEER categories. Maximum new factor: 150 points without an accompanying spouse or partner, or 140 with one. Offer route maximum: 100.
IRCC’s points and assessment rules02 / Find your NOC
Explore every included occupation.
Search the complete published list, then open a result for its tier and potential points.
Match your actual duties to the NOC. A matching job title alone does not establish eligibility.
186 occupations found · showing 12
00011Senior government managers and officials2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
00012Senior managers - financial, communications and other business services2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
00013Senior managers - health, education, social and community services and membership organizations2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
10010Financial managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
10011Human resources managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
10012Purchasing managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
10020Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
10021Banking, credit and other investment managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
20010Engineering managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
20011Architecture and science managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
20012Computer and information systems managers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
21330Mining engineers2× tier
National occupation wage tier: 2× or more. This classification is not based on your salary and is separate from the NOC's TEER category.
- Experience bonus, if eligible
- +70points, added to Canadian duration points
- Qualifying offer alternative
- 100points, compared with the entire experience route
The experience bonus needs at least 12 qualifying months at this level or above. An offer must meet the valid-offer requirements. The two routes do not stack.
All 186 official entries are included: 31 in the 2× tier, 89 in the 1.5× tier, and 66 in the 1.3× tier. Source list verified October 16, 2026.
How is the list determined?
IRCC uses Job Bank, Labour Force Survey and Census of Population data from the previous three years. Each occupation receives the highest wage tier it reached during that period. The announced list uses 2023–2025 data.
If the list changes after your invitation to apply (ITA), IRCC says it will use the tier that applied on your invitation date, including if an occupation moves, is added or is removed. This is protection for the occupation-list assessment, not a freeze on every eligibility condition or personal circumstance.
How IRCC determines occupations03 / Understand the points
Compare the whole route, not just the bonus.
The higher of (Canadian duration + high-wage bonus) or the offer score becomes your new Labour Market Integration factor.
Illustration · announced November 3 rules
Explore the new factor, not your full CRS score. Every month entered must already meet IRCC's Canadian-work rules. These values stay on this page and are not saved.
Use non-overlapping, full-time-equivalent months within the last 10 years. Count each month once, in its actual tier. Overtime cannot compress the 12-month minimum.
New Labour Market Integration factor
60points
- Canadian duration
- 40
- High-wage experience bonus
- + 20
- Entire experience route
- 60
- Offer alternative
- 0
The experience route is higher. Only the higher result counts.
+20 compared with the pre-reform score60 new factor − 40 duration points already counted. All other CRS factors held constant.
This simplified illustration uses completed whole months. It does not determine work or offer eligibility, assess evidence, calculate skill transferability, or predict an invitation.
How mixed experience and duration points work
The bonus is the highest threshold you meet: 12 months in the 2× tier earns 70; otherwise 12 months combined at 1.5× or above earns 40; otherwise 12 months across all listed tiers earns 20. Less than 12 eligible high-wage months earns no bonus.
For example, six eligible months at 2× plus six at 1.5× earns 40 bonus points. Six at 2× plus six at 1.3× earns 20. The bonuses never add together.
| Completed years | With accompanying partner | Without accompanying partner |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 35 | 40 |
| 2 | 46 | 53 |
| 3 | 56 | 64 |
| 4 | 63 | 72 |
| 5 or more | 70 | 80 |
Duration points already sit inside today’s CRS total. Only the difference between the new factor and those existing duration points is an increase, assuming everything else stays the same.
Official scoring tables04 / Check the conditions
A listed NOC is the starting point.
Points, program eligibility, and permission to work are separate questions. Open the route that applies to the example you are exploring.
Canadian experience: what must qualify?
- Meet the existing CRS Canadian-work requirements. Generally, this means eligible work in Canada within the previous 10 years in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, with the required authorization and temporary resident status.
- For the extra high-wage bonus, complete at least one year (12 months / 1,560 hours at full-time equivalence) in one or more listed occupations.
- Eligible periods may be continuous or interrupted, full-time or equivalent part-time. Multiple jobs can combine, but concurrent hours count only up to 30 per week. Overtime does not shorten the one-year minimum.
- Ordinary self-employment, work during full-time study and unauthorized work do not count under the current CRS work rules. Certain physicians providing publicly funded medical services have special provisions.
For concurrent jobs across different tiers, the published guidance does not resolve every allocation question. Do not treat this page’s simplified example as a determination of which months qualify.
Canadian work outside the high-wage list can still receive duration points. Skill-transferability rules remain unchanged and assess Canadian experience using the existing length requirements.
Job offer: what still matters without an LMIA?
From November 3, IRCC says an LMIA will no longer be required for a qualifying Express Entry offer. Having an LMIA will not add points or give priority. The position and employer may be existing or new.
- The offer must be valid under Express Entry and in a listed occupation to earn the new offer points.
- Generally, it must provide continuous, paid, full-time work (at least 30 hours a week), not seasonal work, in Canada for at least one year after becoming a permanent resident. Trades and certain publicly funded physicians have specific provisions.
- Keep a recent written offer setting out pay, deductions, duties, hours and employment conditions. An embassy, high commission or consulate in Canada cannot provide a valid offer. A work permit alone is not an offer.
- An officer must find the offer genuine: the employer must operate the business, need the role, be able to honour the terms and comply with employment and recruitment laws. You must be qualified, able, and likely to accept and do the work.
- A revoked offer no longer qualifies. Licensing or certification requirements can still apply.
The offer route does not require the 12 high-wage Canadian months used for the experience bonus. It does require a qualifying offer; this is not an automatic award for holding a listed job.
IRCC’s job-offer page still has older LMIA and same-employer wording below its new dated notice. Read the November 3 notice with the program rules. This guide does not turn those mixed instructions into a definitive offer-eligibility checker.
Program eligibility, earlier invitations, and Ontario
A valid offer outside the high-wage list may still matter for Federal Skilled Worker or Federal Skilled Trades eligibility even though it earns no high-wage offer points. Each program’s conditions still apply; the reform does not merge the programs.
The announced temporary public policy for FSW/FST job offers exempts LMIA and LMIA-exemption requirements for candidates invited on or after November 3, 2026, subject to that policy’s conditions. Do not assume it applies to an earlier ITA or decline an invitation on that assumption.
Federal CRS points and Ontario’s expression-of-interest (EOI) points are different systems. This list and comparison do not calculate or change your Ontario EOI score.
The reform does not remove work-permit requirements or guarantee an invitation. It does not itself implement consultation proposals about age, language, education or family points.
05 / Your next steps
Prepare now. Watch the transition.
An accurate profile matters more than a predicted score or draw date.
- Before November 3
Review your occupation and offer details.
Check your NOC against your duties and gather work and offer evidence. IRCC asks candidates seeking offer points to review and update the required offer information before November 3.
- From November 3
Follow the dated profile instructions.
The no-LMIA placeholder procedure is explicitly dated “as of November 3”. That timing differs from the request to update offers beforehand. Do not use placeholder values early on the basis of this guide; check the current IRCC instructions when updating your profile.
IRCC’s profile-update procedure - During recalculation
Allow up to two weeks for existing profiles.
IRCC says existing profiles will be recalculated automatically. Invitation rounds pause during this process and resume when it is complete. Two weeks is an estimate, not a promised draw on November 17.
- After recalculation
Check the result in your IRCC account.
Review the recalculated score and profile information. More points do not guarantee an invitation: the round’s criteria and cutoff still decide who is invited.
Source notes / Last verified October 16, 2026
Published guidance, with its limits.
This guide explains IRCC’s October 16 announcement for November 3. At our last check, the consolidated Ministerial Instructions still showed March 25, 2025 and did not contain the new Labour Market Integration factor. We have not verified the complete future legal instruments or the full new LMIA-exemption public policy. Recheck them before relying on detailed transition conclusions.
Maple is an independent information service. This preview is not a full CRS calculator, an eligibility decision or legal advice. For an earlier invitation, unusual work history, physician exception or uncertain offer, use current IRCC guidance or an authorized immigration professional.