Canada’s Express Entry program is once again poised for major changes. As the trend toward selecting specific talent—such as healthcare professionals, French speakers, senior managers, and researchers—has become increasingly pronounced since the start of 2026, the Canadian federal government has begun discussions on how to implement Category-Based Selection for Express Entry in 2027. Of particular note in these discussions are four key areas: U.S. H-1B visa holders, research personnel, global talent that aligns with the International Talent Attraction Strategy, and highly skilled workers (limited to IT professionals, mathematicians, and civil, electrical, mining, and aerospace engineers and technicians) entering through the Global Talent Stream. While the information currently released does not represent the final, confirmed selection criteria for 2027—but rather a consultation phase for future category restructuring—it is highly significant in that it provides a fairly specific indication of the types of talent Canada intends to prioritize in the future.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) adjusts the Express Entry categories annually in line with labor market conditions and national economic policies. Currently, the 2026 Express Entry system features a total of 10 categories, including French language proficiency, healthcare and social services, STEM, skilled trades, education, and transportation occupations, as well as doctors with Canadian work experience, senior managers, researchers, and skilled military personnel recruited by the Canadian Armed Forces. Notably, for existing categories, the required work experience criteria have been tightened from the past six months to one year within the last three years. Ultimately, simply being included in a category does not automatically increase one’s chances of obtaining permanent residency; rather, it has become increasingly important to consider which categories the government actually selects from, how frequently it does so, and how many spots it allocates to each. IRCC has also explained that category-based selection serves to supplement general selection and program-specific selection, and that if the required number of candidates has already been secured through other selection methods, there is no obligation to conduct selection for a specific category.
In this context, the government’s primary focus as it prepares for 2027 is on holders of U.S. H-1B visas. The H-1B is a visa commonly used by professionals seeking employment in the United States, and it includes a significant number of highly skilled workers in STEM fields such as IT, software, engineering, data, and science and technology. The reason Canada is focusing on this group is clear: if it can attract professionals who have already been recognized for their expertise and are employed by U.S. companies, Canada can utilize them in high-tech industries without a lengthy adjustment period. Particularly as competition among nations for global tech talent intensifies, Canada is seeking opportunities to actively absorb highly skilled workers who are considering relocating due to changes in U.S. immigration policy.
Therefore, if H-1B holders are included in a separate Express Entry category or an equivalent preferential category in the future, a new option—Canadian permanent residency—may open up for IT developers, engineers, AI and data specialists, and others currently working in the United States. The key point here is that Canada is not necessarily moving toward a policy that prioritizes only those who “studied in Canada and built their careers in Canada.” Of course, Canadian work experience remains an important factor and is heavily weighted in the newly introduced categories for physicians, researchers, and senior managers in 2026. However, at the same time, another policy direction is emerging: Canada intends to actively recruit talent who have already established a high level of experience and expertise overseas—even if they lack Canadian experience—in fields where there is a national need.
The second area is research personnel. A new category for researchers with existing Canadian work experience was established in the 2026 Express Entry system. Currently, this category is designed to focus on occupations such as university professors and lecturers, as well as teaching and research assistants at institutions of higher education. However, discussions for 2027 suggest that the scope may be expanded beyond this. This is because there are signs of an effort to link the federal government’s policy to attract global research talent with the Express Entry system. The government is already pursuing a large-scale strategy to attract world-class researchers to Canada, and the inclusion of researchers and senior managers in new priority categories within Express Entry is an extension of this policy.
The research fields of interest to Canada are also quite specific. Key areas cited include cutting-edge digital technologies such as AI, quantum technology, and cybersecurity; healthcare, including biotechnology; clean technology and the resources sector; climate change and Arctic research; food and water security; advanced manufacturing and new materials; and defense and dual-use technologies. This suggests that, going forward, the question of “whether one’s research is linked to industries that Canada seeks to strategically develop” will become more important than the title of “researcher” itself. It is also worth noting that this global talent acquisition strategy may include not only professors and PhD holders but also young researchers such as doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career researchers.
The third key element is the International Talent Attraction Strategy, or ITAS. This is expected to become a crucial keyword for understanding Canada’s future immigration policy. Through this strategy, the Canadian government aims to actively attract talent capable of directly impacting the national economy in areas such as advanced technology, healthcare, construction, skilled trades, and research and development. While the focus of Canada’s economic immigration in the past was on accepting a relatively broad range of skilled workers, the emphasis has recently shifted toward more carefully selecting workers who can generate significant economic impact and high productivity within limited immigration quotas. IRCC’s 2026–27 plan also explicitly states that it is considering reforms aimed at attracting global talent through Express Entry and placing greater value on job offers in high-paying occupations and Canadian work experience.
The fourth point is the potential link between the Global Talent Stream (GTS) and Express Entry. The GTS is a program created within the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to quickly attract highly skilled talent to Canada. It is particularly closely linked to the IT, software, and digital technology sectors, and recently, its integration with strategies to secure AI talent has become increasingly important. In June 2026, Canada announced a new National AI Strategy, designating AI as a key industry that determines productivity and national competitiveness. Therefore, in the future, there is a possibility that work visas and Express Entry will be designed as a single talent recruitment process to quickly allow highly skilled AI and advanced technology professionals to work in Canada and to provide a more stable pathway to permanent residency after they have built their careers in the country.
There is another aspect that should be viewed as even more important than these four directions: the Canadian government is reportedly considering reducing the number of categories under the Category-Based Selection system or narrowing the eligibility criteria for each category as early as 2027. A key point of discussion is whether to continue selecting candidates broadly across various sectors facing labor shortages, as is currently the case, or to narrow the selection scope to a small number of key industries and occupations deemed essential to the nation. If this direction translates into actual policy, simply checking whether “my occupation is eligible for Express Entry” may no longer be sufficient. Even within STEM fields, distinctions may emerge between strategically important areas—such as AI, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing—and those that are not; and even for research positions, relevance to industries the government aims to foster may become a key factor. Furthermore, within skilled trades, occupations directly required for housing construction or infrastructure expansion are likely to receive higher priority.
In fact, even though certain categories will exist in the 2026 system, this does not mean that all applicants within those categories will be selected in equal numbers. The government establishes categories based on labor market information and economic priorities, and determines the need for each Invitation Round separately. Therefore, applicants preparing for Express Entry in the future must consider not only their CRS score but also their occupation, work experience, language proficiency, and the priority level assigned to their occupation within the federal government’s economic policy. This is because Express Entry is rapidly shifting from a system that “selects applicants in order of highest score” to one that “selects competitive candidates from among the talent needed.”
The major changes extend beyond Category-Based Selection. Through separate discussions on Express Entry reforms in 2026, the Canadian government also considered ways to further simplify the current federal skilled immigration framework—which is currently divided into the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. The key principles of the reform discussions released by the government are to select candidates with a high potential for economic success, reduce overlap between programs, and simplify the overall system. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is also likely to undergo changes. In particular, the system is being reviewed to place greater value on job offers in high-paying occupations and Canadian work experience, as well as to determine how to evaluate professionals in regulated occupations whose qualifications are recognized in Canada.
Ultimately, it is expected that in the Express Entry system, “how much economic value an applicant can generate” will become increasingly important alongside “what kind of work they do.” While the most common strategy to date has been to maximize the CRS score by combining factors such as age, education, English or French proficiency, and work experience in Canada and abroad, it is increasingly likely that factors such as occupation, salary, demand in the Canadian labor market, and whether the occupation falls under a strategic industry will also need to be considered. In particular, if additional assessment criteria for high-wage occupations are actually implemented, a system could emerge where the competitiveness for permanent residency varies depending on the specific occupation and salary—even among applicants with the same age, education level, English proficiency scores, and length of work experience.
These changes are also linked to Canada’s overall immigration policy currently being pursued. Canada has set a permanent residency target of 380,000 for 2026 and plans to maintain the total number of permanent residents at around 380,000 in 2027 and 2028 as well. Conversely, the country is significantly reducing the inflow of new temporary residents. The 2026 target for new students is set at 155,000, and for temporary foreign workers at 230,000; in 2027, these figures will be further adjusted to 150,000 students and 220,000 workers. The government also maintains its goal of reducing the proportion of temporary residents in Canada’s total population to less than 5% by the end of 2027.
On the other hand, the Federal High-Skilled program—the cornerstone of economic immigration—remains in place. The target for 2026 is 109,000, and it is set at 111,000 for 2027. According to government plans, the upper limit of this range is open to as many as 122,000. While the era of indiscriminately expanding overall immigration numbers is coming to an end, this means that Canada is maintaining a proactive recruitment strategy for the highly skilled workers needed by its economy. Therefore, one should not interpret this to mean that all opportunities for permanent residency are shrinking equally simply because the Canadian immigration market has recently become more challenging. To be precise, Canada is shifting from “immigration that accepts more people” to “immigration that selectively accepts the people it needs.” Alongside French speakers, healthcare and social services professionals, and skilled tradespeople, priorities are likely to become even more refined in the future to include AI and advanced technology professionals, researchers, high-earning professionals, and H-1B workers who have already proven their competitiveness in the United States.
We will need to wait for further government policy announcements to see how the final Express Entry categories will be determined in 2027. In particular, it remains to be seen whether the four areas currently under discussion will become independent categories, be incorporated into existing categories such as STEM or researchers, or be subject to separate preferential criteria. However, one direction is becoming quite clear. The Canadian government is taking a much more strategic approach than before to determining who will be allocated the limited immigration quotas.
It is now becoming increasingly difficult to assess one’s chances based solely on current CRS scores when preparing for Express Entry. If you are aiming for permanent residency in 2027 or beyond, you need to take a long-term view—not only of which category your current occupation falls under, but also of how closely it aligns with the industries Canada plans to prioritize, whether you need to build a Canadian work history or can compete with professional experience gained abroad, whether you need to learn French in addition to English, and how you will increase your salary level over time. Future Canadian immigration policies are likely to shift toward opening wider doors for specific talent rather than broadening access for everyone. The discussions surrounding the 2027 Express Entry overhaul can be seen as a key indicator of the direction in which this change is heading.
Canada’s Express Entry program is once again poised for major changes. As the trend toward selecting specific talent—such as healthcare professionals, French speakers, senior managers, and researchers—has become increasingly pronounced since the start of 2026, the Canadian federal government has begun discussions on how to implement Category-Based Selection for Express Entry in 2027. Of particular note in these discussions are four key areas: U.S. H-1B visa holders, research personnel, global talent that aligns with the International Talent Attraction Strategy, and highly skilled workers (limited to IT professionals, mathematicians, and civil, electrical, mining, and aerospace engineers and technicians) entering through the Global Talent Stream. While the information currently released does not represent the final, confirmed selection criteria for 2027—but rather a consultation phase for future category restructuring—it is highly significant in that it provides a fairly specific indication of the types of talent Canada intends to prioritize in the future.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) adjusts the Express Entry categories annually in line with labor market conditions and national economic policies. Currently, the 2026 Express Entry system features a total of 10 categories, including French language proficiency, healthcare and social services, STEM, skilled trades, education, and transportation occupations, as well as doctors with Canadian work experience, senior managers, researchers, and skilled military personnel recruited by the Canadian Armed Forces. Notably, for existing categories, the required work experience criteria have been tightened from the past six months to one year within the last three years. Ultimately, simply being included in a category does not automatically increase one’s chances of obtaining permanent residency; rather, it has become increasingly important to consider which categories the government actually selects from, how frequently it does so, and how many spots it allocates to each. IRCC has also explained that category-based selection serves to supplement general selection and program-specific selection, and that if the required number of candidates has already been secured through other selection methods, there is no obligation to conduct selection for a specific category.
In this context, the government’s primary focus as it prepares for 2027 is on holders of U.S. H-1B visas. The H-1B is a visa commonly used by professionals seeking employment in the United States, and it includes a significant number of highly skilled workers in STEM fields such as IT, software, engineering, data, and science and technology. The reason Canada is focusing on this group is clear: if it can attract professionals who have already been recognized for their expertise and are employed by U.S. companies, Canada can utilize them in high-tech industries without a lengthy adjustment period. Particularly as competition among nations for global tech talent intensifies, Canada is seeking opportunities to actively absorb highly skilled workers who are considering relocating due to changes in U.S. immigration policy.
Therefore, if H-1B holders are included in a separate Express Entry category or an equivalent preferential category in the future, a new option—Canadian permanent residency—may open up for IT developers, engineers, AI and data specialists, and others currently working in the United States. The key point here is that Canada is not necessarily moving toward a policy that prioritizes only those who “studied in Canada and built their careers in Canada.” Of course, Canadian work experience remains an important factor and is heavily weighted in the newly introduced categories for physicians, researchers, and senior managers in 2026. However, at the same time, another policy direction is emerging: Canada intends to actively recruit talent who have already established a high level of experience and expertise overseas—even if they lack Canadian experience—in fields where there is a national need.
The second area is research personnel. A new category for researchers with existing Canadian work experience was established in the 2026 Express Entry system. Currently, this category is designed to focus on occupations such as university professors and lecturers, as well as teaching and research assistants at institutions of higher education. However, discussions for 2027 suggest that the scope may be expanded beyond this. This is because there are signs of an effort to link the federal government’s policy to attract global research talent with the Express Entry system. The government is already pursuing a large-scale strategy to attract world-class researchers to Canada, and the inclusion of researchers and senior managers in new priority categories within Express Entry is an extension of this policy.
The research fields of interest to Canada are also quite specific. Key areas cited include cutting-edge digital technologies such as AI, quantum technology, and cybersecurity; healthcare, including biotechnology; clean technology and the resources sector; climate change and Arctic research; food and water security; advanced manufacturing and new materials; and defense and dual-use technologies. This suggests that, going forward, the question of “whether one’s research is linked to industries that Canada seeks to strategically develop” will become more important than the title of “researcher” itself. It is also worth noting that this global talent acquisition strategy may include not only professors and PhD holders but also young researchers such as doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career researchers.
The third key element is the International Talent Attraction Strategy, or ITAS. This is expected to become a crucial keyword for understanding Canada’s future immigration policy. Through this strategy, the Canadian government aims to actively attract talent capable of directly impacting the national economy in areas such as advanced technology, healthcare, construction, skilled trades, and research and development. While the focus of Canada’s economic immigration in the past was on accepting a relatively broad range of skilled workers, the emphasis has recently shifted toward more carefully selecting workers who can generate significant economic impact and high productivity within limited immigration quotas. IRCC’s 2026–27 plan also explicitly states that it is considering reforms aimed at attracting global talent through Express Entry and placing greater value on job offers in high-paying occupations and Canadian work experience.
The fourth point is the potential link between the Global Talent Stream (GTS) and Express Entry. The GTS is a program created within the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to quickly attract highly skilled talent to Canada. It is particularly closely linked to the IT, software, and digital technology sectors, and recently, its integration with strategies to secure AI talent has become increasingly important. In June 2026, Canada announced a new National AI Strategy, designating AI as a key industry that determines productivity and national competitiveness. Therefore, in the future, there is a possibility that work visas and Express Entry will be designed as a single talent recruitment process to quickly allow highly skilled AI and advanced technology professionals to work in Canada and to provide a more stable pathway to permanent residency after they have built their careers in the country.
There is another aspect that should be viewed as even more important than these four directions: the Canadian government is reportedly considering reducing the number of categories under the Category-Based Selection system or narrowing the eligibility criteria for each category as early as 2027. A key point of discussion is whether to continue selecting candidates broadly across various sectors facing labor shortages, as is currently the case, or to narrow the selection scope to a small number of key industries and occupations deemed essential to the nation. If this direction translates into actual policy, simply checking whether “my occupation is eligible for Express Entry” may no longer be sufficient. Even within STEM fields, distinctions may emerge between strategically important areas—such as AI, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing—and those that are not; and even for research positions, relevance to industries the government aims to foster may become a key factor. Furthermore, within skilled trades, occupations directly required for housing construction or infrastructure expansion are likely to receive higher priority.
In fact, even though certain categories will exist in the 2026 system, this does not mean that all applicants within those categories will be selected in equal numbers. The government establishes categories based on labor market information and economic priorities, and determines the need for each Invitation Round separately. Therefore, applicants preparing for Express Entry in the future must consider not only their CRS score but also their occupation, work experience, language proficiency, and the priority level assigned to their occupation within the federal government’s economic policy. This is because Express Entry is rapidly shifting from a system that “selects applicants in order of highest score” to one that “selects competitive candidates from among the talent needed.”
The major changes extend beyond Category-Based Selection. Through separate discussions on Express Entry reforms in 2026, the Canadian government also considered ways to further simplify the current federal skilled immigration framework—which is currently divided into the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. The key principles of the reform discussions released by the government are to select candidates with a high potential for economic success, reduce overlap between programs, and simplify the overall system. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is also likely to undergo changes. In particular, the system is being reviewed to place greater value on job offers in high-paying occupations and Canadian work experience, as well as to determine how to evaluate professionals in regulated occupations whose qualifications are recognized in Canada.
Ultimately, it is expected that in the Express Entry system, “how much economic value an applicant can generate” will become increasingly important alongside “what kind of work they do.” While the most common strategy to date has been to maximize the CRS score by combining factors such as age, education, English or French proficiency, and work experience in Canada and abroad, it is increasingly likely that factors such as occupation, salary, demand in the Canadian labor market, and whether the occupation falls under a strategic industry will also need to be considered. In particular, if additional assessment criteria for high-wage occupations are actually implemented, a system could emerge where the competitiveness for permanent residency varies depending on the specific occupation and salary—even among applicants with the same age, education level, English proficiency scores, and length of work experience.
These changes are also linked to Canada’s overall immigration policy currently being pursued. Canada has set a permanent residency target of 380,000 for 2026 and plans to maintain the total number of permanent residents at around 380,000 in 2027 and 2028 as well. Conversely, the country is significantly reducing the inflow of new temporary residents. The 2026 target for new students is set at 155,000, and for temporary foreign workers at 230,000; in 2027, these figures will be further adjusted to 150,000 students and 220,000 workers. The government also maintains its goal of reducing the proportion of temporary residents in Canada’s total population to less than 5% by the end of 2027.
On the other hand, the Federal High-Skilled program—the cornerstone of economic immigration—remains in place. The target for 2026 is 109,000, and it is set at 111,000 for 2027. According to government plans, the upper limit of this range is open to as many as 122,000. While the era of indiscriminately expanding overall immigration numbers is coming to an end, this means that Canada is maintaining a proactive recruitment strategy for the highly skilled workers needed by its economy. Therefore, one should not interpret this to mean that all opportunities for permanent residency are shrinking equally simply because the Canadian immigration market has recently become more challenging. To be precise, Canada is shifting from “immigration that accepts more people” to “immigration that selectively accepts the people it needs.” Alongside French speakers, healthcare and social services professionals, and skilled tradespeople, priorities are likely to become even more refined in the future to include AI and advanced technology professionals, researchers, high-earning professionals, and H-1B workers who have already proven their competitiveness in the United States.
We will need to wait for further government policy announcements to see how the final Express Entry categories will be determined in 2027. In particular, it remains to be seen whether the four areas currently under discussion will become independent categories, be incorporated into existing categories such as STEM or researchers, or be subject to separate preferential criteria. However, one direction is becoming quite clear. The Canadian government is taking a much more strategic approach than before to determining who will be allocated the limited immigration quotas.
It is now becoming increasingly difficult to assess one’s chances based solely on current CRS scores when preparing for Express Entry. If you are aiming for permanent residency in 2027 or beyond, you need to take a long-term view—not only of which category your current occupation falls under, but also of how closely it aligns with the industries Canada plans to prioritize, whether you need to build a Canadian work history or can compete with professional experience gained abroad, whether you need to learn French in addition to English, and how you will increase your salary level over time. Future Canadian immigration policies are likely to shift toward opening wider doors for specific talent rather than broadening access for everyone. The discussions surrounding the 2027 Express Entry overhaul can be seen as a key indicator of the direction in which this change is heading.