Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has provided more updates on their plans to remove points for a job offer under Canada’s Express Entry system.
In a recent news release, the department announced that they would be instituting this change in the spring of 2025.
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Currently, Express Entry candidates with valid job offers can receive an additional 50 or 200 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. These additional points can easily make the difference between a candidate receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence, or not being invited at all.
The immigration department further clarified that the removal of additional points for having a valid job offer is a “temporary measure,” but at this time has not stated when it will conclude.
Who is impacted?
Once the removal of Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for a job offer is instituted, it will apply to all new and existing candidates* in the Express Entry pool, including those already “working in Canada temporarily”.
In their news release, IRCC did not distinguish between job offers in different sectors of the economy, instead citing that once the change comes into effect “it will apply to all candidates with job offers”.
This change will not impact newcomers who
- Have already been invited to apply for permanent residence (PR) with a CRS score that still included points for a job offer (under the “arranged employment” criteria); or
- Have already submitted an application for (PR) to IRCC which is currently being processed.
*Note the distinction between “candidates” and “applicants” within the Express Entry system. When a newcomer enters the Express Entry pool they are a candidate, meaning that they have submitted a candidate profile for consideration. Once that newcomer receives an ITA based on information in their candidate profile, they can apply to IRCC for PR. After they have submitted their application to IRCC, they are now an applicant.
Original announcement
On December 17, Immigration Minister Marc Miller first announced that Express Entry candidates seeking Canadian PR will no longer receive additional points in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) for having an LMIA-based job offer.
Currently, Express Entry candidates can receive an additional 50 or 200 CRS points for having a valid job offer.
At the time, he did not provide a date or further details on how this change will be implemented, or which candidates could be impacted.
About Express Entry
Canada’s Express Entry system awards additional points for having arranged employment.
This applies to anyone applying under
Once a candidate has created a profile in the Express Entry system, and is eligible for one of the three programs mentioned above, their profile is assigned a score out of 1200 based on a variety of factors, including their
- Age;
- Education;
- Language proficiency; and
- Work experience.
Candidates can also score up to 600 additional points on their profiles through
- Having a sibling living in Canada as a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
- French language skills;
- Post-secondary education in Canada;
- Arranged employment; and
- Provincial/territorial nomination.
Once the change takes effect in spring 2025, candidates in the pool with valid job offers will not be awarded points for arranged employment.
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