It’s Official — No More Points For A Job Offer in Canada!

This change was expected, with the announcement that LMIA job offer points would be removed published late last year, and the points for IEC Young Professionals in the Express Entry pool removed earlier this year.  

Now that it’s here, here’s what we know: 

Key Takeaways 

• No Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points are directly available for a valid job offer, effective March 25, 2025.  

• You may still be asked about a job offer when completing your Express Entry profile. This is because some immigration pathways require you to have a job offer to be eligible for the stream (ie. Federal Skilled Trades and multiple PNPs). 

• If you are already in the Express Entry pool and have points for a valid job offer, they will be removed automatically within the next 7 days.
• If you already received your invitation to apply and you had points for a valid job offer, those points will still count and your invitation is still valid.  
• We’ve updated our CRS calculator to reflect this points change. Get your updated CRS points score using our CRS calculator tool.

Who Will Be Impacted By This Change? 

Express Entry candidates no longer receive additional points for having a job offer. This means all Express Entry candidates, including those currently working on an approved LMIA and those working on an LMIA-exempt work permit. 

Anyone who is currently in the Express Entry pool and are working in senior management positions classified OO under the National Occupation Classification system will have 200 points removed from their CRS, while those with a valid job offer in any other skilled occupation will have their CRS reduced by 50 points.  

Applicants who have already received an Invitation to Apply (ITA), and applicants who have submitted an application for permanent residence will not be affected by this change. 

What If You Have a Job Offer But Haven’t Been Invited Yet? 

Your CRS points will be automatically updated in your Express Entry profile. IRCC noted in an announcement today that it may take a few days for your score to show correctly (with the points for a job offer removed).  

You do not need to contact IRCC to change your points unless your profile is still showing points for a job offer on April 1, 2025.  

Will There Be a Canadian Experience Class Draw Soon?  

Our team believes that IRCC was waiting for the job offer points change to hold a Canadian Experience Class draw. With this change out the way, we would not be surprised to see a CEC draw next week – likely on Wednesday or Thursday.  

However, there is also the risk that some technical issues with the points removal will delay the draws further.  

We do want to note that, even if we see a very large draw, there is a good chance that the CRS points cut-off for the first few CEC draws will remain quite high.  

There are more than 25,000 people in the pool with a CRS score of 501-600. It’s likely, based on past figures showing the totals of people with arranged employment, that around 15-20% of these candidates have an LMIA job offer. This leaves at least 20,000 candidates with a score of 501-600 who will not be impacted by this change.  

• Learn more about when we predict we’ll see the next Express Entry draw.

Will IRCC Reinstate Points For A Job Offer In The Future? 

This is a temporary measure, although information on when and how job offer points will be reinstated is not stated. 

It remains uncertain how long this temporary measure will be in place. It is therefore essential for candidates with valid job offers to explore other ways to enhance their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores. 

One of the most effective strategies to boost your CRS score is to learn or improve your French language proficiency. Achieving a moderate to high level of French competency can earn you significant additional CRS points, and make you eligible to receive an ITA in a French language proficiency draw. 

If you would like to explore other CRS boosting activities, use our CRS calculator to test possible scenarios. 

What Other Ways Could IRCC Reduce LMIA Fraud? 

While what’s done is done – we can’t help but note how punishing this change is for those who have a legitimate job offer in Canada. It seems fairly counterintuitive to us to have an economic immigration program that doesn’t offer a benefit to those people who apply and who already have a job…  

Here are some of the ways we see that IRCC could have achieved fraud reduction without removing points for a legitimate job offer:  

Maintaining Points for LMIA Exempt Job Offers 

The premise behind this change is to reduce fraud by removing the incentive to illegally buy and sell LMIAs. 

With this in mind, the logical move may have been to eliminate points attributed to an LMIA-approved job offer, keeping the status quo for LMIA-exempt job offers. 

Recognizing Those Currently Working In Canada 

We suspect that most of the LMIA fraud exists within new LMIAs, where the applicant is not currently working for the approved employer.  

That is not to say that there is no corruption within this category of job offers, but the saying It is better to let a few guilty go free than to punish the innocent comes to mind here.  

IRCC could have restricted the elimination of job offer points to only new LMIA applicants, who are not currently working for the approved employer. 

Target the Root Cause 

The idea behind removing points for a job offer is not addressing the underlying issue. Fraudulent LMIAs are being approved. And while they may no longer give CRS ranking points, a foreign national who has obtained a fraudulent LMIA may still work in Canada and acquire Canadian Experience Class.  

Rather than focusing on the result (extra CRS points), IRCC could advocate for a focus on the problem: the system has allowed for and incentivised the issuance of fraudulent LMIAs.