Are you eligible for Express Entry’s new education category?

Foreign trained schoolteachers, early childhood educators, and other professionals in education are now eligible for category-based draws under Express Entry, offering these foreign nationals a new pathway to Canadian permanent residence (PR).

On 27 February, 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) added a new category under the Express Entry system for education occupations, which the department also identified as a priority category for invitations to apply (ITA) for PR for 2025.

Category-based draws have featured the lowest Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score cut-offs of any draw types in the Express Entry system, since their introduction in 2023.

This article will cover

• Which occupations are now included under the education category;
• How to determine whether your work experience qualifies under one of the education occupations; and
• How Express Entry education category-based draws work.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry draws

Which occupations are part of the education category?

Occupations in Canada are organized according to the country’s National Occupation Classification (NOC), which is used to categorize and describe occupations by industry and sector.

Part of the NOC system is the Training Education Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) ranking, which assigns occupations a ranking based on the training, education, and experience required to perform that occupation’s responsibilities. Within this classification, TEER 0 occupations require the highest amount of training, education, and experience, while TEER 5 occupations require the least.

The following table breaks down the occupations included in the new education category, including job titles, TEER levels, and NOC codes.

How can I determine if my work experience is eligible for the education category?

In addition to maintaining a valid Express Entry profile, to be considered as part of the education category foreign nationals must have accumulated six months of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time experience) within the last three years, in a single category-eligible occupation.

To determine your eligibility for the education category, you will need to determine if the NOC that best describes your work experience falls under one of the eligible education occupations.

How do I determine the NOC code and job title associated with my work experience?

Finding the right NOC code for your work experience can be challenging due to the vastness of the NOC system. However, the Government of Canada offers resources that can simplify the process.

The main resource is the Government of Canada’s NOC page, which can be accessed here.

To find the NOC code and occupation title that aligns with your work experience, IRCC recommends the following steps:

1. Scroll to the table at the bottom of the NOC page and type the job title of your work experience into the “Filter items” field at the top of the table.
2. If the exact job title is not available, try entering a close match (for example, instead of entering “speech coach,” try “speech pathologist”).
3. Copy the TEER number and NOC code number from the result that most closely matches your profession.
4. To confirm that this is the correct code, visit the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) webpage, click on the “Search by NOC Code” tab, and enter the NOC code you copied into the search bar. Review the information for the corresponding profession.
   • Pay particular attention to the “main duties” section. Ensure the duties listed match closely with the responsibilities of your work experience.
5. If these duties align, you have likely found the correct NOC that describes your work experience.
   • From here, you can check to see whether this NOC code and occupation title are among the listed occupations eligible for the education category. If the occupation is listed, you are likely eligible for the education category.
6. If the duties do not align, return to step 1 and try again with a different job title.

The table below lists example (alternate) job titles of all eligible occupations within the education category:

Note that the above is not an exhaustive description of education category-eligible occupations. For more information to determine your eligibility—including main duties and exclusions for each occupation—click on the occupation title linked in the table to visit ESDC’s dedicated web pages.

How do education category-based draws work?

Canada’s Express Entry system manages three immigration programs:

• The Canadian Experience Class (CEC);
• The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP); and
• The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

You must meet the eligibility criteria for at least one of these programs to submit an Express Entry candidate profile. As part of your profile submission, you will be given a CRS score based on information entered in your profile.

Express Entry draws take place roughly bi-weekly and invite candidates who meet the CRS score cut-off and eligibility criteria for that draw to apply for PR. Draws can be

• Program-specific;
• General (inviting candidates from all programs);
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)-based; or
• Category-based.

Category-based draws consider all candidates in the Express Entry pool who meet the job experience requirements in an eligible occupation, and the instructions for that specific draw. These draws often feature lower CRS cut-off scores than other draw types, due to the smaller pool of candidates they choose from.

Regardless of the draw type, candidates with the highest CRS scores stand the best chance of receiving an ITA for PR.

Candidates who wish to be considered for category-based draws must first enter an eligible Express Entry profile under one of the three Express Entry-managed programs. When submitting their profile, candidates should also include relevant work experience under a category-eligible occupation in their profile, if applicable.

If the profile is accepted, the candidate has entered the pool. Candidates in the Express Entry pool are considered for all draw types that they are eligible for, meaning that (for example) should a candidate in the education category be eligible for more than one Express Entry category or program, they may receive an ITA through other draws that they can be considered under.

Once a relevant draw is held, candidates may receive an ITA provided they:

• Have a high enough CRS score to meet the cut-off;
• Created an Express Entry profile before the tie-breaking rule cut-off time; and
• Meet all conditions of the draw.

If an ITA is received, candidates have 60 days to submit a complete application for PR to IRCC.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry draws