Express Entry #450: 5,000 French-language invitations

Round #450: 5,000 French-language invitations

IRCC held Express Entry round #450 on October 16, 2026 at 10:25:13 UTC. This was a category-based round for French-language proficiency (2026, version 2). It issued 5,000 invitations to apply (ITAs), and the lowest-ranked candidate invited had a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 435. The round was open to candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Program who met the category requirements.

IRCC's tie-breaking rule was October 6, 2026 at 21:31:22 UTC. Candidates with exactly 435 points were invited only if they had submitted their profile before that time and met all of the category and program requirements.

Express Entry changes take effect November 3, 2026

IRCC announced the changes the same day. They are announced, not yet in force, and take effect on November 3, 2026.

A new Labour Market Integration factor gives additional CRS points for Canadian work experience in a high-wage occupation, or for a qualifying job offer in a high-wage occupation.
A candidate receives points under either the work-experience route or the job-offer route, whichever scores higher. The two routes cannot be combined. The maximum is 150 points for a candidate without an accompanying spouse or partner and 140 points with one.
The points now awarded for the length of Canadian work experience do not change. The new high-wage points are added to them.
All profiles in the pool will be recalculated automatically. IRCC says this may take up to two weeks and that invitation rounds will pause while it happens.
Candidates who want job-offer points need to update their profile before November 3.

How the high-wage points work

An occupation counts as high-wage when its national median wage (by NOC code) is at least 1.3 times the median wage of the overall Canadian workforce. The classification depends on the occupation, not on the candidate's own salary. The Ghasedak table of high-wage occupations lists all 186 occupations in IRCC's three published tiers.

Occupation's median wage compared with the overall median	Canadian work experience (added points)	Qualifying job offer (points)
At least 2.0 times	70	100
At least 1.5 times, below 2.0 times	40	70
At least 1.3 times, below 1.5 times	20	50

For the work-experience route, a candidate needs at least 12 months, or 1,560 hours, of qualifying Canadian work experience in the occupation. The 12 months do not need to be continuous.

The LMIA requirement ends, but offers are still checked

From November 3, a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) is no longer required for a qualifying job offer to earn CRS points, or to meet the job-offer requirement of the Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Federal Skilled Trades Program. For invited candidates this is done through a temporary public policy. An LMIA will not add points or priority by itself.

IRCC will still assess whether a job offer is genuine. Because the online profile has not yet been updated, IRCC has published temporary instructions for candidates whose job offer has no LMIA. They answer “Yes” to having a positive LMIA and enter LMIA number 00000, issue date January 1, 2026 and expiry date January 1, 2029. Candidates should follow IRCC's current instructions when they update their profile.

Check the date. Until November 3, 2026 the rules in force today still apply. These changes are not yet in force.

PEI issues 163 Labour and Express Entry invitations

Prince Edward Island's October 16, 2026 draw issued 163 invitations in its Labour and Express Entry category and none in the Business Work Permit Entrepreneur category. PEI does not publish a minimum score for these draws. The province's page shows 1,482 invitations issued in 2026 after this draw.

Ontario launches the 2026–27 REDI round in six communities

Ontario has launched a new round of the Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) initiative within the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). It runs to the end of 2027. The participating communities are Greater Sudbury, Kenora District, Nipissing District, Rainy River District, Renfrew County and Thunder Bay.

REDI is a pathway for skilled foreign workers who want to live and work in a participating community. There is no separate REDI application: candidates must meet the requirements of an OINP stream. The October 16 update did not announce an invitation count or a score, so it is not recorded as a draw.

Arrima will be unavailable for four hours on October 19

Québec says the Arrima platform will be unavailable on Monday, October 19, 2026, from 8 p.m. to midnight Montréal time, for an update. Applicants should save their work and avoid planning a submission or document upload during that time. Québec did not announce any change to eligibility rules or deadlines.

General information only. This article is not legal advice. Immigration rules and program instructions can change, and the result depends on the facts of each case.

French-language Express Entry round invites 5,000 candidates at CRS 435.