Big Changes Planned for Express Entry 2026

To help ease that uncertainty, we’ve pulled together our thoughts. We cover the following for 2026:  

• What’s coming in 2026: These are the confirmed changes we’re fairly certain will come into effect in 2026, based on government reporting and rules.  

• What we don’t yet know about 2026: These are the things we need more information about next year.  

• Significant changes that may happen, but are not confirmed. These are items that have been discussed by IRCC, but no official proposals have been published just yet. We’ll have to wait and see if anything is coming down the pipeline.  

Confirmed Changes Coming to Express Entry in 2026 

Express Entry Draws for Physicians with Canadian Work Experience 

IRCC will introduce a dedicated Express Entry category for international doctors who meet the following criteria: 

• They have at least one year of continuous work experience in Canada 

• The experience was gained in a single eligible occupation listed below 

• The work experience was obtained within the past three years. 

This category is reserved for GPs and family physicians, surgeons, and clinical and laboratory medical specialists.  

You can learn more about this change in our dedicated article.  

30,267 Target for French Speaking Permanent Residents  

Canada plans to admit 30,267 permanent residents outside Quebec who demonstrate French-language proficiency. This is around 9% of overall admissions. We aren’t sure exactly how many of these admissions will come through the Express Entry draw system in 2026, but we can expect to see regular, large French category-based draws throughout the year.  

We’d guess we’ll see a very large French draw in early February 2026, if the trend from the past two years holds.  

New Changes to Canada’s NOC System 

Did you know Canada updates its National Occupation Classification (NOC) system every five years? The last round of changes happened in 2021, so we’re due for that review in 2026.  

Statistics Canada has confirmed that the 2026 update will be published in December of 2026. This review will be a ‘virtual change’ cycle, which means most of the changes we see will impact job titles and descriptions. 

We’ll cover this in more detail when it happens. But for now, know that it’ll be worth reviewing your profile to make sure your NOC is still accurate once any changes are made. 

New English Language Test for Express Entry 

In August 2025, it was announced that the TOEFL Essentials test will be added to the IRCC list of designated language testing organizations in the future. This process usually takes some time, but we would expect that at some point in 2026, TOEFL Essentials will be accepted by IRCC for economic permanent resident immigration purposes.  

At this stage, we don’t recommend taking the TOEFL test for immigration purposes. We would wait until the official announcement confirming that the test is accepted, just in case.  

You can learn more about English language tests currently accepted by IRCC.  

33,000 Permanent Resident Slots Reserved for In-Canada Applicants in 2026-2027 

The federal government confirmed a one-time measure to speed up the transition of 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residence in 2026 and 2027. We suspect this will happen through the Express Entry system, as opposed to a new economic program but this is not yet confirmed.   

Details about this program are relatively sparse at the moment, but we know that it plans to support workers with strong community ties and who are already contributing to the economy and paying taxes. It’s expected that this program will target workers in rural and regional areas. 

If you want to stay informed about any updates to this program, join our community. We regularly share immigration and settlement information, so you always know what’s happening in Canadian immigration.  

What We Don’t Know (Yet) About Express Entry in 2026 

Frequency of Express Entry draws for CEC and categories 

One of the big unknowns for 2026 is what draw cadence we’re going to see. The huge CEC draws on December 10 and December 16, 2025 have led to some optimism that we’ll see larger, more frequent CEC draws next year. But, after the turbulence and uncertainty in 2025, we’re hoping for the best but preparing for some more inconsistencies in draw scheduling.  

We expect to see fairly regular PNP draws through 2026, and they’ll likely be larger than the average PNP draw in 2025 too. So, we’d guess that we’ll see bi-weekly PNP draws throughout the year.  

We also expect to see regular French draws, potentially following a similar pattern to 2025. 

But, we will need to wait and see whether IRCC offers and trends for CEC and other category-based draws in 2026. We have our fingers crossed for more predictability though! 

Category Updates for Category-Based Draws 

IRCC reviews and updates the category-based draw categories annually. We’d expect to see an announcement about the categories for 2026 in early February.  

In February 2025, we saw the removal of the transport category and the addition of the education category.  

In 2026, we expect that IRCC may add categories for Leadership and Senior Management, Researchers and Scientists, and Highly Skilled Military Recruits to Express Entry. 

Occupation Updates to Category-Based Draws 

In February 2025, IRCC announced fairly significant changes to the occupations eligible under Canada’s category-based draws. The changes included:  

• 8 occupations have been added to the list of eligible occupations for category-based Express Entry draws targeting healthcare workers.   

• 19 trades occupations have been added to the eligible occupations list for 2025.   

• Significant changes to the STEM and Agriculture occupations. 

Unconfirmed Changes to Express Entry in 2026 

Okay, here’s where things get a little more uncertain. Bear in mind that the changes outlined below aren’t confirmed, but have been discussed in official government sources: 

 Innovation Pathways for Top International Talent 

Canada recently announced plans to spend 1.7 billion dollars to attract top international talent, including world-leading researchers. The goal is to improve innovation within Canada.  

Some of the measures Canada plans to introduce to support this program include:  

• $120 million over 12 years is being provided for institutions to attract international early career researchers (ECRs).  

• $133.6 million over three years to enable top international doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers to relocate to Canada. 

We aren’t certain at this point whether this means that we will see additional targeted categories for innovation-focused workers in 2026 (or beyond). But it seems likely that programs may be added or adjusted to allow these workers faster entry to Canada, potentially as permanent residents through Express Entry.  

Occupation-Based Caps for Category-Based Draws 

Internal documents from IRCC reportedly show that IRCC is considering changes to category-based rounds. Possible changes floated in the internal document include NOC-specific caps or excluding specific NOCs from future rounds if they are over-represented.  

Looking Ahead to 2026: Inside IRCC Discussions on Express Entry

These internal IRCC discussions shows growing concern that sector-based categories don’t work as intended.

Key takeaways from discussions:
• Large CRS score gaps within the same category make sector groupings… pic.twitter.com/iZWb6dPAJ2

— Mandeep Lidher (@MannyLidher) December 14, 2025

Based on the language in the documents attached to Manny Lindher’s X post embedded above, it also seems that IRCC is weighing whether candidates will stay in their roles after category-based draws. Their notes compare the barriers to entry for social workers compared to cooks. Cooks are currently included as eligible occupations in the trades category.  

It’s possible we may see changes that attempt to correct the balance between past experience and other occupational barriers to entry with the labour needs in Canada’s job market.