Three new occupational priority categories for permanent residence have been added to the Express Entry system to attract highly talented workers and address critical labour shortages. As per the new update, Canada will prioritize researchers and senior managers with Canadian work experience, transport occupations, and military personnel.
The researchers and senior managers with Canadian work experience category has been added to attract individuals with work experience in job roles such as university professors, post-secondary research assistants, and senior managers across sectors including finance, health care, construction, transportation, trade, etc. The transport occupations category will target professionals such as pilots, flying instructors, aircraft mechanics, aircraft inspectors, etc. The skilled military recruits occupations category will target operations members, specialized service members, and commissioned officers.
The minimum work experience requirement for Express Entry categories has been increased from six months to one year of eligible work experience within the last three years.
The existing priority categories, which are French language proficiency, health and social services, trades, and physicians with Canadian experience, will continue alongside the new categories. The first draw of physicians with Canadian experience category, which was added on 8th December 2025, is stated to take place this week.
The new categories have been introduced to fill the labour requirement in the key sectors, important for the long-term development of the country.
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