Announced, not yet in force. IRCC announced this list on October 16, 2026. It takes effect on November 3, 2026, together with the new Labour Market Integration factor in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Until then, the current CRS rules apply.
What a high-wage occupation is
Under Express Entry, an occupation is high-wage if the median wage of everyone in Canada working in that National Occupational Classification (NOC) is at least 1.3 times the average median wage of the overall Canadian workforce. The level belongs to the occupation, not to you: your own salary does not decide or change it.
IRCC groups high-wage occupations into three levels:
- 2× level: median wage at least twice the average median wage (31 occupations)
- 1.5× level: at least 1.5 times, but less than twice (89 occupations)
- 1.3× level: at least 1.3 times, but less than 1.5 times (66 occupations)
That makes 186 occupations in total. IRCC uses data from Job Bank, the Labour Force Survey and the Census of Population over the last 3 years. The first list is based on 2023 to 2025 data. Each NOC is placed at the highest level its median wage reached in those 3 years.
How the levels turn into CRS points
From November 3, 2026, the Labour Market Integration factor gives you points for either your Canadian work experience or a qualifying job offer, whichever gives the higher score. The two do not add together. The maximum is 150 points.
| Route | With a spouse or partner | Without a spouse or partner |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian work experience (maximum) | 140: 70 for length of work + 70 high-wage | 150: 80 for length of work + 70 high-wage |
| Qualifying job offer (maximum) | 100 | 100 |
High-wage experience points (added to the existing work-length points)
| Qualifying Canadian work experience | Points |
|---|---|
| At least 12 months in one or more 2× occupations | 70 |
| Otherwise, at least 12 months combined in 1.5× (or higher) occupations | 40 |
| Otherwise, at least 12 months combined in 1.3× (or higher) occupations | 20 |
| Less than 12 months in high-wage occupations | 0 |
The 12 months (1,560 hours) must meet the existing rules for qualifying Canadian work experience. They can be continuous or not, full-time or an equal amount of part-time, and combined across more than one high-wage job. If you held two jobs at the same time, hours count only up to 30 per week. Work-length points stay as they are now (for example 40 points for 1 year without a spouse, up to 80 for 5 years or more).
Job-offer points
| Job offer in an occupation at | Points |
|---|---|
| 2× level | 100 |
| 1.5× level | 70 |
| 1.3× level | 50 |
| Not a high-wage occupation | 0 |
The job offer must be valid under Express Entry. From November 3, 2026, an LMIA is no longer needed for a job offer to count for program eligibility or CRS points, and having an LMIA no longer adds points or priority. An officer will check that the offer is genuine when you apply. Skills transferability points are not changing.
Profiles with an LMIA-free job offer. IRCC says its online profile system will not yet reflect the change on November 3. If you have a job offer without an LMIA, IRCC tells you to answer “Yes” to the LMIA question and use LMIA number 00000, issue date 2026-01-01 and expiry date 2029-01-01. Check the IRCC changes page before you update your profile.
The full high-wage occupation list
All 186 occupations, as published by IRCC, sorted by NOC code within each level.
Showing all 186 occupations. Type to filter the tables below; for any NOC not on this list, use the high-wage occupation checker.
Level 2×: median wage at least twice the average (31 occupations)
| NOC | Official title |
|---|---|
| 00011 | Senior government managers and officials |
| 00012 | Senior managers - financial, communications and other business services |
| 00013 | Senior managers - health, education, social and community services and membership organizations |
| 10010 | Financial managers |
| 10011 | Human resources managers |
| 10012 | Purchasing managers |
| 10020 | Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers |
| 10021 | Banking, credit and other investment managers |
| 20010 | Engineering managers |
| 20011 | Architecture and science managers |
| 20012 | Computer and information systems managers |
| 21330 | Mining engineers |
| 21332 | Petroleum engineers |
| 31100 | Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine |
| 31101 | Specialists in surgery |
| 31102 | General practitioners and family physicians |
| 31103 | Veterinarians |
| 31302 | Nurse practitioners |
| 31303 | Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals |
| 40010 | Government managers - health and social policy development and program administration |
| 40011 | Government managers - economic analysis, policy development and program administration |
| 40012 | Government managers - education policy development and program administration |
| 40019 | Other managers in public administration |
| 40040 | Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services |
| 40041 | Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers |
| 41100 | Judges |
| 41101 | Lawyers and Quebec notaries |
| 41200 | University professors and lecturers |
| 60010 | Corporate sales managers |
| 80010 | Managers in natural resources production and fishing |
| 90011 | Utilities managers |
Level 1.5×: at least 1.5 times, less than twice (89 occupations)
| NOC | Official title |
|---|---|
| 00014 | Senior managers - trade, broadcasting and other services |
| 00015 | Senior managers - construction, transportation, production and utilities |
| 10019 | Other administrative services managers |
| 10022 | Advertising, marketing and public relations managers |
| 10029 | Other business services managers |
| 10030 | Telecommunication carriers managers |
| 11103 | Securities agents, investment dealers and brokers |
| 11201 | Professional occupations in business management consulting |
| 21100 | Physicists and astronomers |
| 21102 | Geoscientists and oceanographers |
| 21103 | Meteorologists and climatologists |
| 21109 | Other professional occupations in physical sciences |
| 21111 | Forestry professionals |
| 21120 | Public and environmental health and safety professionals |
| 21202 | Urban and land use planners |
| 21210 | Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries |
| 21211 | Data scientists |
| 21220 | Cybersecurity specialists |
| 21221 | Business systems specialists |
| 21222 | Information systems specialists |
| 21223 | Database analysts and data administrators |
| 21230 | Computer systems developers and programmers |
| 21231 | Software engineers and designers |
| 21232 | Software developers and programmers |
| 21300 | Civil engineers |
| 21301 | Mechanical engineers |
| 21310 | Electrical and electronics engineers |
| 21311 | Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers) |
| 21320 | Chemical engineers |
| 21321 | Industrial and manufacturing engineers |
| 21322 | Metallurgical and materials engineers |
| 21331 | Geological engineers |
| 21390 | Aerospace engineers |
| 21399 | Other professional engineers |
| 22231 | Engineering inspectors and regulatory officers |
| 22312 | Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics |
| 30010 | Managers in health care |
| 31110 | Dentists |
| 31112 | Audiologists and speech-language pathologists |
| 31120 | Pharmacists |
| 31200 | Psychologists |
| 31202 | Physiotherapists |
| 31203 | Occupational therapists |
| 31300 | Nursing coordinators and supervisors |
| 31301 | Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses |
| 32111 | Dental hygienists and dental therapists |
| 40020 | Administrators - post-secondary education and vocational training |
| 40021 | School principals and administrators of elementary and secondary education |
| 40030 | Managers in social, community and correctional services |
| 40042 | Commissioned officers of the Canadian Armed Forces |
| 41210 | College and other vocational instructors |
| 41220 | Secondary school teachers |
| 41221 | Elementary school and kindergarten teachers |
| 41310 | Police investigators and other investigative occupations |
| 41311 | Probation and parole officers |
| 41320 | Educational counsellors |
| 41401 | Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts |
| 41402 | Business development officers and market researchers and analysts |
| 41404 | Health policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41407 | Program officers unique to government |
| 42100 | Police officers (except commissioned) |
| 42101 | Firefighters |
| 50010 | Library, archive, museum and art gallery managers |
| 50011 | Managers - publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and performing arts |
| 51100 | Librarians |
| 70010 | Construction managers |
| 70012 | Facility operation and maintenance managers |
| 70020 | Managers in transportation |
| 70021 | Postal and courier services managers |
| 72011 | Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations |
| 72012 | Contractors and supervisors, pipefitting trades |
| 72023 | Supervisors, railway transport operations |
| 72103 | Boilermakers |
| 72202 | Power system electricians |
| 72203 | Electrical power line and cable workers |
| 72301 | Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers |
| 72406 | Elevator constructors and mechanics |
| 72600 | Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors |
| 72601 | Air traffic controllers and related occupations |
| 72604 | Railway traffic controllers and marine traffic regulators |
| 73310 | Railway and yard locomotive engineers |
| 82020 | Supervisors, mining and quarrying |
| 82021 | Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services |
| 83101 | Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers |
| 90010 | Manufacturing managers |
| 92011 | Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities |
| 92100 | Power engineers and power systems operators |
| 93100 | Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing |
| 93101 | Central control and process operators, petroleum, gas and chemical processing |
Level 1.3×: at least 1.3 times, less than 1.5 times (66 occupations)
| NOC | Official title |
|---|---|
| 00010 | Legislators |
| 11100 | Financial auditors and accountants |
| 11101 | Financial and investment analysts |
| 11102 | Financial advisors |
| 11109 | Other financial officers |
| 11200 | Human resources professionals |
| 12201 | Insurance adjusters and claims examiners |
| 12203 | Assessors, business valuators and appraisers |
| 21101 | Chemists |
| 21110 | Biologists and related scientists |
| 21112 | Agricultural representatives, consultants and specialists |
| 21200 | Architects |
| 21201 | Landscape architects |
| 21203 | Land surveyors |
| 21234 | Web developers and programmers |
| 22214 | Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology |
| 22232 | Occupational health and safety specialists |
| 22233 | Construction inspectors |
| 22310 | Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians |
| 22313 | Aircraft instrument, electrical and avionics mechanics, technicians and inspectors |
| 31121 | Dietitians and nutritionists |
| 32102 | Paramedical occupations |
| 32103 | Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists |
| 32120 | Medical laboratory technologists |
| 32121 | Medical radiation technologists |
| 32122 | Medical sonographers |
| 41300 | Social workers |
| 41400 | Natural and applied science policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41403 | Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41405 | Education policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41409 | Other professional occupations in social science |
| 43201 | Correctional service officers |
| 43203 | Border services, customs, and immigration officers |
| 50012 | Recreation, sports and fitness program and service directors |
| 51101 | Conservators and curators |
| 51102 | Archivists |
| 51111 | Authors and writers (except technical) |
| 51112 | Technical writers |
| 51120 | Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations |
| 52112 | Broadcast technicians |
| 60020 | Retail and wholesale trade managers |
| 60031 | Accommodation service managers |
| 60040 | Managers in customer and personal services |
| 72010 | Contractors and supervisors, machining, metal forming, shaping and erecting trades and related occupations |
| 72013 | Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades |
| 72014 | Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers |
| 72020 | Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades |
| 72021 | Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews |
| 72102 | Sheet metal workers |
| 72105 | Ironworkers |
| 72201 | Industrial electricians |
| 72302 | Gas fitters |
| 72320 | Bricklayers |
| 72321 | Insulators |
| 72401 | Heavy-duty equipment mechanics |
| 72403 | Railway carmen/women |
| 72404 | Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors |
| 72500 | Crane operators |
| 72602 | Deck officers, water transport |
| 72603 | Engineer officers, water transport |
| 73311 | Railway conductors and brakemen/women |
| 82010 | Supervisors, logging and forestry |
| 83100 | Underground production and development miners |
| 83120 | Fishing masters and officers |
| 92010 | Supervisors, mineral and metal processing |
| 93102 | Pulping, papermaking and coating control operators |
If the list changes
IRCC will update the list over time. If an occupation is added, removed or moves to another level after you receive an invitation to apply (ITA), IRCC keeps using the level that applied on the date you were invited.
This list is used only for CRS points. It is separate from the occupation lists of category-based selection and from LMIA wage rules. Before choosing a NOC, compare its lead statement and main duties with your actual work; our NOC finder can help.
What happens on November 3, 2026
- IRCC will recalculate the CRS score of every profile in the pool. This may take up to two weeks.
- Invitation rounds will pause during the recalculation and restart when it is complete.
- If you have a valid job offer without an LMIA that is not in your profile yet, IRCC says you should add it.