Express Entry and OINP Changes 2026: What to Know Before Nov. 3

On October 16, 2026, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced changes that start on November 3, 2026. IRCC's stated aim is to focus Express Entry on high-wage skilled workers.

You can earn points in a new factor if you have either:

An occupation is high-wage if its median wage is at least 1.3 times the median wage of the overall Canadian workforce. This is based on the occupation, not on your own salary. IRCC says it will keep the list using Job Bank, Labour Force Survey and Census data from the previous three years.

You need at least 12 months of eligible Canadian work experience, generally gained in the past 10 years in a TEER 0 to 3 occupation.

The job must generally be full-time, continuous work in Canada for at least one year after you become a permanent resident. Skilled trades and certain physicians have special rules.

From November 3, 2026, an LMIA is not required for a qualifying job offer to earn these points. A temporary public policy also exempts candidates invited on or after that date from the LMIA and LMIA-exemption requirement for job offers used to meet Federal Skilled Worker or Federal Skilled Trades eligibility, if they meet its conditions.

This does not mean any job offer will do. IRCC officers still check that the offer is genuine: the employer must be actively in business, the job must reflect a real hiring need, the employer must be able to meet the terms, you must be qualified, and the employer must follow federal and provincial employment and recruitment laws. A revoked job offer no longer counts.

IRCC says it will recalculate existing scores automatically, including points for eligible Canadian work experience. The recalculation may take up to two weeks, and invitation rounds will be paused while it happens. Candidates who want job offer points should update their profile before November 3 with all the required job offer details.

Ontario has redesigned the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program in phases. Phase 1 is now in effect.

In mid-2026 Ontario removed eight former streams, including the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, In-Demand Skills and International Student streams, the Master's and PhD Graduate streams, and the Express Entry Human Capital Priorities, French-speaking Skilled Worker and Skilled Trades streams. They are replaced by the Ontario Workforce Priority (OWP) stream.

The EOI portal for the new stream opened on August 4, 2026. Expressions of interest under the former streams that did not lead to an invitation were withdrawn. Applications already submitted after an invitation are assessed under the rules in effect when they were submitted.

Employers in rural census divisions (population under 150,000) have lower gross annual revenue requirements.

You submit an Expression of Interest, your employer submits the job offer, and Ontario scores eligible profiles and invites the highest scoring candidates to apply for nomination. Ontario work experience and Canadian income tax history carry the most weight. Other factors include wages, official-language ability, job location, education, occupation and status in Canada. Ontario has said jobs outside Toronto earn extra points, so check how your own job location is scored. Invitation rounds can happen without notice.

Ontario announced on October 5 and applied on October 7 that registrants who earned $80,000 or more in any single year within the past five years, verified by a CRA Notice of Assessment, receive 10 points under the Canadian work experience earnings factor. The change applied automatically to existing EOIs.

On October 16, Ontario launched a new Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) round that runs to the end of 2027. It covers Greater Sudbury, Kenora District, Nipissing District, Rainy River District, Renfrew County and Thunder Bay. There is no separate application, and you must meet OINP eligibility.

In recent rounds, employers generally had 14 calendar days from the invitation to submit their application and candidates had 17 days, with a shorter window for graduate rounds. Ontario also cut the response time for notices of intent to issue an administrative monetary penalty or ban from 60 days to 30 days. Employers should keep their hiring and pay records in order.

Ontario calls this the first of two phases. It has not published a date or details for Phase 2, so check the Ontario government page for updates.

These changes affect people differently depending on their occupation, wages, job offer and status in Canada. Commonwealth Migration Group Inc. offers online consultations for clients in Brampton, Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton and across Canada, and cases are filed by Pankaj Khanna, RCIC (R711256), regardless of location. Book a consultation to find out how the changes apply to you.

This article is general information and is not legal advice or a guarantee of any immigration outcome. All decisions rest with IRCC and the Government of Ontario. Rules, point values and occupation lists change, so check the sources below before acting.