BREAKING: IRCC plans to bring back job offer points under Express Entry, as part of wider reforms
Canada’s immigration department has revealed plans to reintroduce Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for job offers under the Express Entry system.
More specifically, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced their intention to award points to candidates with “job offers and Canadian work experience in high wage occupations…” under the Express Entry system.
The plan also reveals that IRCC will consider “how to reward those…who are certified to work in regulated occupations” in the context of the Express Entry system.
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The above are part of a “broader suite of reforms” to the Express Entry system, as reported in IRCC’s latest departmental plan.
IRCC does not provide a clear timeline on when the above changes, nor the promised broader reforms, will be implemented in its department plan; noting that the document “…. details…priorities, plans, and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years”.
As of this writing, no further details regarding these changes have been announced.
Many in-demand occupations in Canada, including those included in Express Entry’s occupational categories, are regulated—meaning that to professionally practice them, workers in Canada need to obtain a certification from a regulatory board specific to that profession or industry (usually at the provincial level).=
These planned measures are in support of Canada’s Talent Attraction Strategy, a key part of immigration reforms to attract top global talent, as promised by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s platform on the campaign trail last year.
The removal of job offer points
In March 2025, Canada stopped awarding bonus CRS points to Express Entry candidates who held valid job offers, including those backed by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
The change came into effect on March 25, 2025, after initially being announced in December 2024.
Under the previous system, candidates with a qualifying job offer could receive an additional 50 or 200 CRS points depending on the skill level of the offer, adding significantly to their chances of receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence (PR).
IRCC made the change, citing concerns about fraud — specifically, the practice of candidates purchasing LMIAs to artificially inflate their scores.
By removing the points incentive, Ottawa aimed to undercut a key driver of that market and strengthen the overall integrity of the immigration system.
The change exempted any candidates who had claimed job offer points and who either received an ITA already or had a PR application currently in process; however, any candidates in the Express Entry pool who had been benefiting from job offer points saw their CRS score drop by 50 or 200 points overnight.
This reshuffled the competitive landscape significantly — candidates without job offers, whose scores remained unchanged, suddenly found themselves in a relatively stronger position.
Valid job offers continue to carry weight in other parts of the Express Entry system — it remains relevant for eligibility under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and certain Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams.
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