Beginning March 25, 2025 and until further notice, applicants under the Express Entry system will no longer be able to gain points for having a job offer, called an offer of arranged employment.
REASONS
According to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), this change, having been made via an amendment to the Ministerial Instructions which govern the operation of the Express Entry (EE) system, was done primarily as a way to combat immigration fraud by discouraging purchase of job offers and filing of fraudulent applications for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) with the purpose of being awarded additional points while applying for a permanent residence through the EE system.
RESULT
This change results in the removal of 50 points (specialized knowledge workers) or 200 points (executives and senior managers) that would have previously been added to the individual’s comprehensive ranking system (CRS) score as a result of having a confirmed offer of employment also known as arranged employment.
Notably, the arranged employment factor is still mandatory for certain immigration programs; proof of an active job offer must still be submitted with applications where it is required, such as in certain applications for provincial nomination. The only difference is that now no extra points will be added to the profile. This means that affected individuals’ scores (those already in the pool of candidates) will drop by the corresponding amount of points.
Another amendment made was the removal of expanded qualifying arranged employment criteria for physicians. Whereas previously a physician’s offer of employment would qualify if it were for less than one year provided the job offer was made by a certain entity, now this opportunity has been removed altogether.
IMPACT
This change impacts individuals who are currently in the EE pool of candidates, having submitted a profile but not yet received an invitation to apply (ITA). This change also impacts anyone who is not yet in the EE pool, but intends to submit a profile in the future.
This change does not affect individuals who have already received an ITA before the change was implemented, and those who have already submitted their application for permanent residence after receiving an ITA.
