Proposed high-wage factor offers boon to Express Entry candidates in these priority occupations
Of the occupations currently being prioritized for permanent residence by the Canadian federal government, about four in ten are set to receive a further boost in priority through the proposed high-wage occupation factor.
As it stands today, 89 occupations are prioritized through category-based selection (CBS), which allows qualifying candidates to be selected as permanent residents at lower scores through Express Entry, the government’s flagship application management system for skilled workers looking to settle in Canada outside Quebec.
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Skilled workers in 37 of the 89 existing priority occupations are currently positioned to score more highly under the government ranking system in the proposed regime.
The higher scoring is set to come in the form of additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) being awarded to candidates with occupations paying significantly higher than Canada’s median wage.
In the form currently proposed, the new system will award three tiers of bonus points, to occupations paying at least 2x, 1.5x, and 1.3x the median wage.
Here are the category-based draw eligible occupations, ranked by how much they stand to benefit, based on the proposed regime and currently available data from the Canadian federal government’s Job Bank.
Jobs paying at least 2x the median annual wage
| Occupation | Category | CRS cut-off of most recent draw | Occupation’s median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture and science managers (20011) | STEM | N/A | $62.56 |
| *General practitioners and family physicians (31102) | - Healthcare and social services; and - Physicians with Canadian work experience | 467; 169 | $111.64 |
| Nurse practitioners (31302) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $61.54 |
| Senior managers - financial, communications and other business services (00012) | Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 429 | $96.15 |
| *Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (31100) | - Healthcare and social services; and - Physicians with Canadian work experience | 467; 169 | $149.66 |
| Specialists in surgery (31101) | - Healthcare and social services; and - Physicians with Canadian work experience | 467; 169 | $201.52 |
*NOCs 31102, 31100, and 31101 fall under two Express Entry categories (Healthcare and social services, Physicians with Canadian work experience), and can be drawn through either.
Jobs paying at least 1.5x the median annual wage
| Occupation | Category | CRS cut-off of most recent draw | Occupation’s median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors (72600) | Transport | N/A | $52.00 |
| Civil engineers (21300) | STEM | N/A | $48.56 |
| Commissioned officers of the Canadian Armed Forces (40042) | Skilled military recruits | N/A | $55.03 |
| Construction managers (70010) | Trade | 477 | $48.72 |
| Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services (82021) | Trade | 477 | $50.00 |
| Cybersecurity specialists (21220) | STEM | N/A | $49.52 |
| Dentists (31110) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $52.88 |
| Electrical and electronics engineers (21310) | STEM | N/A | $50.67 |
| Geological Engineers (21331) | STEM | N/A | $49.81 |
| Nursing coordinators and supervisors (31300) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $46.43 |
| Pharmacists (31120) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $55.49 |
| Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals (31303) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $46.81 |
| Psychologists (31200) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $52.88 |
| University professors and lecturers (41200) | Researchers with Canadian work experience | N/A | $58.89 |
| Veterinarians (31103) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $60.00 |
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Jobs paying at least 1.3x the median annual wage
| Occupation | Category | CRS cut-off of most recent draw | Occupation’s median hourly wage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft instrument, electrical and avionics mechanics, technicians and inspectors (22313) | Transport | N/A | $40.47 |
| Audiologists and speech-language pathologists (31112) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $46.15 |
| Dental hygienists and dental therapists (32111) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $45.00 |
| Dietitians and nutritionists (31121) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $41.63 |
| Elementary school and kindergarten teachers (41221) | Education | 462 | $43.27 |
| Industrial and manufacturing engineers (21321) | STEM | N/A | $44.23 |
| Industrial electricians (72201) | Trade | 477 | $42.00 |
| Mechanical Engineers (21301) | STEM | N/A | $45.67 |
| Medical sonographers (32122) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $42.00 |
| Occupational therapists (31203) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $46.00 |
| Physiotherapists (31202) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $46.15 |
| Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (31301) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $43.27 |
| Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists (32103) | Healthcare and social services | 467 | $41.00 |
| Secondary school teachers (41220) | Education | 462 | $45.67 |
| Senior managers - construction, transportation, production and utilities (00015) | Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 429 | $46.04 |
| Senior managers - trade, broadcasting and other services (00014) | Senior managers with Canadian work experience | 429 | $42.38 |
How occupations are expected to qualify
To calculate the tiers above, we used a median hourly wage of $30.77—the latest reported for the year 2025 in Statistics Canada’s Labour Market Survey and Census—which immigration department officials said would be used to establish the median wage for the high-wage factor.
We were unable to assess the Senior managers - health, education, social and community services and membership organizations (NOC 00013), as the necessary Job Bank data was not available.
The immigration department has announced that once the program changes have been implemented, the department will maintain an official, complete list of eligible occupations for the high-wage factor, which “will be published on the IRCC website and updated regularly, likely annually.”
What we know so far about the proposed high-wage occupation factor
Under the proposed regime, whether or not a candidate will qualify for the high-wage factor is based on the Job Bank median wage of the occupation(s) in which the candidate has work experience and/or a job offer.
An individual candidate’s previous, current, or future rate of pay is not considered.
The government has not said when the new high-wage factor will be implemented.
The factor was proposed alongside a suite of reforms to Express Entry, including consolidating eligibility into a single stream, and additional changes to the CRS.
Officials have provided a timeline of 12–18 months for the full implementation, but have also said that the rollout of the high-wage factor and other reforms to the CRS could happen much earlier.
About Express Entry’s category-based selection
Express Entry candidates who qualify for category-based selection have a higher chance of being invited to apply for permanent residence.
There are currently 9 occupational-based categories:
- Healthcare and social services;
- Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM);
- Trade;
- Education;
- Transport;
- Physicians with Canadian work experience;
- Senior managers with Canadian work experience;
- Researchers with Canadian work experience; and
- Skilled military recruits.
To qualify for category-based selection, candidates are required to (unless otherwise specified) have accumulated at least 12 months of work experience in a single eligible occupation within the past three years. The work experience can be from within Canada and/or abroad, and does not need to be continuous.
The federal government periodically conducts draws in which they extend invitations only to candidates within a specific category, which allows CBS-eligible candidates to receive invitations at lower CRS cut-off scores.
As of the time of this writing, there have been 10 category-based draws in 2026. The cut-off scores for occupational category-based draws ranged from 169–477, compared to 507–518 for Canadian Experience Class draws.
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