Will IRCC Really Remove CRS Points For Valid Job Offers in Express Entry?

But this is coming to an end, as Immigration Minister Marc Miller has confirmed the elimination of additional CRS points for valid job offers / offers of arranged employment.  

With little information on how and when this will be rolled out, we are taking a guess on what this might look like so you can prepare for the worst. 

Before we get into this, let’s do a recap on what a valid job offer and how many points are available.

What Makes A Job Offer Valid?

A work permit or a letter of employment on its own is not a valid job offer. 

In all cases, for a job offer to be valid, it must:

• Be with one employer
• Be continuous
• Be paid
• Be full-time (at least 30 hours per week)
• Not be seasonal
• Be for at least one year after the issuance of the permanent resident visa
• Be in a NOC TEER category 0, 1, 2, or 3.

The job offer must also fall into one of the following categories:

Category 1: It must be from an employer with a new positive LMIA that approves the offer and specifies the applicant’s name and position.

Category 2: It must be with a Canadian employer for whom the applicant is currently working in a NOC TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupation under a work permit issued based on an LMIA. The applicant must be authorized to work in Canada both at the time of applying for and when issued a permanent resident visa.

Category 3: It must be with a Canadian employer for whom the applicant has been working for at least one year (full-time) in a NOC TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupation under a closed work permit that is LMIA exempt.

Remember these categories, it will be important when we explore how IRCC can remove job offer points. 

Reminder: What Points Are Currently Available For a Valid Job Offer?

Since 2016 applicants have been able to claim an additional 50 CRS points for valid job offers in an NOC TEER 1, 2 or 3, or any TEER 0 other than Major group 00 and 200 CRS points are available for valid job offers in a TEER 0, Major group 00.

How Will IRCC Remove Points For Job Offers in Canada?

There are various ways in which IRCC can reign in the number of applicants claiming points for a valid job offer under the Express Entry system. We’ve highlighted three options we see that IRCC might choose to adopt when it eliminates the additional points for job offers. IRCC has not yet published any guidance about how it plans to do this, so remember, this is just our best guess at the moment. 

Option 1: All Categories Are Removed- No Valid Job Offers Get CRS Points. 

IRCC could turn around and abolish job offer points for all three categories. This is unlikely given to date, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has focused any talk on the valid job offer points in relation to LMIA fraud. This suggest that any change will be focused at Category 2 and Category 3 job offers.

If IRCC proceeds with eliminating all Job Offer points, this would likely cause a drop in the CRS cut-off for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Category-based draws are less likely to be affected.

Option 2: Category 3 Job Offers Are Safe

In his statement from December 18th 2024, Minister Marc Miller says:

“We are implementing further measures that will reinforce program integrity and reduce potential LMIA fraud, such as removing additional points that candidates receive under Express Entry for having a job offer. This measure is expected to remove the incentive for candidates to purchase an LMIA, resulting in increased fairness and integrity in the system.”

This suggests that when these changes are made official, category 3 workers, who are LMIA-exempt, are safe from the points reduction. This includes workers who are on a closed work permit, which specifies the employer’s name. This could include CUSMA work permits, Intra- Company Transfer Work Permits and International Experience Canada Young Professional permits (although it is unlikely that workers on the YP permit will meet all the criteria of a valid job offer).

If IRCC saves LMIA-exempt job offers then we would expect a small drop in the CRS cut-off for CEC Draws but given how competitive the composition of the pool is at present, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the CRS score. Again, PNP and category-based draws will likely be unaffected by this. 

Option 3: Category 2 and Category 3 Job Offers Are Safe

This is where we are hoping it will land. In this case, only category 1 job offers will be eliminated. We suspect that most of the LMIA fraud exists within this category. By limiting the elimination of points to only category 1 job offers, those who are currently working in Canada for the last year on an LMIA-supported work permit (and therefore are more likely to have legitimate job offer) are spared from the actions of others. 

That is not to say that there is no corruption within category 2 to 3 job offers, but the saying It is better to let a few guilty go free than to punish the innocent comes to mind here. 

Like option 3, if this is initially rolled out, we expect it to have limited impact on the CRS cut-off score given the competitiveness of the profiles currently in the pool. We might see a more significant drop in the CRS cut-off later in 2025.

What Other Options Are Available?

The idea behind removing points for an LMIA-supported 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 points), IRCC could advocate for a focus on the problem, fraudulent LMIAs being approved.

However, LMIAs are processed by Service Canada, an arm of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), not Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Whilst it is unlikely that Service Canada would be able to completely eradicate fraudulent LMIAs, better checks and balances, along with ongoing feedback and suggestions from IRCC could tackle the root cause of this issue – instead of penalizing those with genuine job offers. 

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

As Hugo O’Doherty, Director of Partnerships here at Moving2Canada, pointed out: not having additional points for economic immigrants with a valid job offer is an absurd result. Economic immigrants are brought to Canada to boost economic growth by filling and creating jobs. It’s a significant purpose of the program.

So, regardless of how the elimination of these additional points is initially implemented, we would not be surprised if the points system undergoes several changes in the coming months and years. We hope the ride isn’t too bumpy along the way.