Canada’s Express Entry System has made some major changes to its scoring criteria. As of March 25, 2025, Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) backed job offers will no longer give candidates extra Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. The change was implemented through the latest Ministerial Instructions and now focuses on an employee’s skills, education, and work experience when applying for permanent residency.
Here are the details and what it means for you as a candidate or an employer:
Why Remove Bonus CRS Points?
Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced on December 18, 2024, that Canada would remove CRS job offers backed by LMIA. Before the new changes, candidates could earn:
- 200 points for senior management job offers (NOC 00)
- 50 points for other skilled job offers (TEER 0-3).
The main reason for removing the extra CRS points was to fight fraud. Corrupt employers and immigration consultants were highly selling LMIA backed job offers, leaving candidates jobless and stranded. With the new policy, potential candidates must find other ways of improving their scores other than relying on CRS points.
Impacts of the New Changes to Express Entry Candidates
As an Express Entry Applicant, here’s what these changes mean for your Canadian Immigration journey:
- Harder to get an Invitation to Apply (ITA): Without the extra CRS points, some candidates may find it tough to get the required score for an ITA.
- Job offers no longer contribute to CRS scores: To get a high ranking in Express Entry you will now have to focus on other parts of your profile such as age, education, language ability and experience.
- PNPs are the way to boost your CRS scores: You earn 600 CRS points from the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) which guarantees you an ITA.
- Less exploitation through fraud: As mentioned above, removing the CRS points on LMIA-tied job offers will help minimize manipulation of the immigration system and protect candidates from being exploited.
