Express Entry Draws Are Paused: What the CRS Recalculation Means for Your Profile

The Express Entry pool is quiet right now, and that is by design. On its Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) criteria page, IRCC confirms that as of November 3, 2026 it changed how points are awarded for Canadian work experience and valid job offers. The system is now recalculating points in existing profiles, which IRCC says could take up to 2 weeks. While that runs, invitation rounds are paused, and they will start again once the recalculation is complete.

If you are in the pool, you do not need to file anything for the rescore itself. IRCC is doing it automatically. But there is one action IRCC does ask for, and there are a few changes worth understanding before the first new draw lands.

What changed on November 3, 2026

According to the CRS criteria page:

• Points are now awarded differently for Canadian work experience and valid job offers.
• Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirements and LMIA-exemption requirements are removed for all Express Entry job offers.
• The new Labour Market Integration factor carries up to 140 points with a spouse or common-law partner and 150 points without one.

The Labour Market Integration factor gives points for either Canadian work experience (work-length points plus high-wage occupation points) or a high-wage job offer, but not both. You keep whichever is worth more.

The new factor in numbers

For qualifying Canadian work experience, the high-wage occupation tiers are 70 points for occupations with median wages at least twice the median wage, 40 points for at least 1.5 times, and 20 points for at least 1.3 times, each requiring at least 12 months of experience. A high-wage job offer is worth 100 points in the twice-the-median band and 70 points in the 1.5-times band. We walked through the bands and the 186-code occupation list in our earlier high-wage points and occupation list posts.

What has not changed

A valid job offer can still be required for eligibility, not points, under:

• the Federal Skilled Trades Program
• the Federal Skilled Worker Program
• some streams under provincial nominee programs

Those offers can still be in a high-wage or non-high-wage occupation, but an LMIA is no longer required for them. IRCC still asks you to include the details of any job offer in your profile so you remain eligible for these programs.

The one action IRCC asks for

If you have a valid job offer and have not included it in your profile, IRCC says plainly: you should update your profile. There is a catch worth knowing. The online system does not yet reflect the LMIA change and may still ask for LMIA information. IRCC's instruction is to follow the prompts carefully so the job offer is accepted without an LMIA.

What the pause means for cutoff scores

No one can promise a cutoff. What is safe to say is that the pool is being rescored under a different formula, so past cutoffs are a weak guide to the first rounds that follow. The last Canadian Experience Class cutoff before the pause stood at 519. Treat that number as history, not a forecast.

The pause also does not stop the things you control. Language tests, Educational Credential Assessments, and gathering reference letters with the correct National Occupational Classification codes all keep their value. A provincial nomination still adds its own points on top of the recalculated core.

If you want your profile, NOC history, or job offer reviewed against the new rules before rounds resume, contact JSR Immigration & Legals through the consultation page or the Express Entry and work permit pages.

This article is general information current to November 7, 2026, and is not legal or immigration advice. Confirm the live rules on Canada.ca before you act.