Government looking to address long-term labour market shortages, support economic growth through Francophone immigration outside Quebec
The federal government is working on its immigration plan for 2026 and is seeking input from stakeholders.
Specifically, Ottawa is requesting public insight on the Express Entry program.
Category-based selection provides more flexibility in the way economic immigrants are selected through Express Entry, the online system the government uses to manage immigration applications from skilled workers, according to Ottawa.
These categories also inform the eligibility criteria for the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program, a temporary residence initiative that provides work experience opportunities to recent international graduates.
“This input allows us to explore whether and how category-based selection can be used as a tool to address particular needs and priorities, and whether other immigration tools may be more appropriate (such as temporary programs, federal pilots, regional immigration programs, etc.),” said the federal government.
Express Entry is Canada’s flagship application management system for those seeking to immigrate permanently through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.
For 2026, the federal government is considering where to focus its selection of economic immigrants while taking into account broader objectives, including a return to sustainable immigration levels, domestic capacity, and the need to ensure a well-managed immigration system.
“This year, our proposed economic priorities for Express Entry include a continued focus on addressing long-term labour market shortages and supporting economic growth through Francophone immigration outside Quebec,” said the federal government.
“In addition, we’re considering a new priority to facilitate leadership and innovation to support Canada’s growth and innovation. We also will engage federal, provincial and territorial partners on these priorities, and review labour market information and past results on category-based selection.”
Those who want to provide feedback can complete the survey here.
Ottawa has made numerous changes to its immigration program in recent years.
Express Entry is an online system used to manage applications for three federal skilled immigration programs:
The system allows prospective immigrants currently living abroad, as well as many temporary residents (former international students and temporary workers) already in Canada, to apply for permanent residence.
Occupations eligible for these programs require a high level of training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER categories 0, 1, 2 and 3).
Express Entry is designed to select individuals on the basis of factors—such as official language proficiency, education, and work experience—known to predict positive economic outcomes, including higher employment rates and earnings.
In 2023, Ottawa introduced “category-based” invitation rounds, where candidates eligible for a category defined by the Minister and with the highest Comprehensive Ranking Score are invited to apply for permanent residence.
The following table offers data on ITAs issued to category-eligible candidates in 2023 and 2024 by category:
Meanwhile, the 2025 Express Entry system focuses on category-based invitations in key areas, including:
Ottawa also revised the eligibility requirements for international students under the PGWP to align with the 2025 Express Entry priorities.
