A valid job offer from a Canadian employer can add significant CRS points to an Express Entry candidate's score — up to 200 points for senior management roles in NOC TEER 0 Major Group 00, or 50 points for other skilled occupations. In most cases, the employer must obtain a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) before the job offer qualifies for CRS points. However, candidates who are already working in Canada on certain LMIA-exempt work permits can receive job offer points through the IRCC Employer Portal without a new LMIA. This page explains what makes a job offer valid for Express Entry, the LMIA and LMIA-exempt pathways, and common situations where job offer points do not apply.

For current job offer requirements and the Express Entry job offer tool, refer to the IRCC Express Entry job offer page.

• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), s 82 — arranged employment and the points attributed to a valid job offer in the federal Express Entry programs
• Ministerial Instructions respecting Express Entry — CRS criteria — the CRS scoring factors including job offer points (s 10.1–10.3 IRPA framework)
• IRCC: Express Entry — job offer — canada.ca/express-entry-job-offer
• IRCC: CRS criteria — canada.ca/crs-criteria

CRS points for a valid job offer

A valid job offer adds one of two point values to the candidate's CRS score:

• 200 CRS points: for a job offer in a NOC TEER 0 Major Group 00 occupation — the senior management and legislative officer group (CEO, senior government managers, legislators). These are the highest-paid, most senior management roles in the NOC classification
• 50 CRS points: for a job offer in any other eligible skilled occupation — this covers all NOC TEER 0 (non-Major Group 00) occupations, plus all TEER 1 (professional/university-degree occupations), TEER 2 (college-degree occupations), and TEER 3 (apprenticeship or job training occupations)

No CRS points are awarded for job offers in TEER 4 or TEER 5 occupations — these lower-skilled occupations are not included in the job offer points component, even if the candidate has a valid job offer in such an occupation.

LMIA-required pathway — most common

In most cases, for a job offer to be valid for Express Entry purposes, the Canadian employer must hold a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). The LMIA requirements for a job offer to support an Express Entry application are:

• The positive LMIA must specifically name the Express Entry candidate and the specific position — a general-purpose LMIA for the occupation is not sufficient
• The LMIA must indicate that it was obtained to support the candidate's application for permanent residence through Express Entry (as distinct from an LMIA for a work permit only)
• The LMIA must be valid and not have expired at the time the Express Entry profile is created and at the time the ITA is issued

The LMIA process is administered by ESDC. For information on the LMIA process generally, refer to the LMIA streams page.

LMIA-exempt pathway — Employer Portal

Certain candidates can receive job offer points without their employer obtaining a new LMIA. The LMIA-exempt pathway applies in the following main situations:

• The candidate is currently working in Canada on a work permit that is exempt from the LMIA requirement under an international agreement (for example, a CUSMA/USMCA work permit) and their current employer makes a job offer for the same or similar position
• The candidate is working on a work permit exempt under a Federal-Provincial-Territorial agreement and certain other designated LMIA-exempt categories

For the LMIA-exempt pathway, the employer must file an Offer of Employment through the IRCC Employer Portal. The employer portal filing generates an offer of employment number that the candidate then adds to their Express Entry profile. The employer must pay a filing fee when submitting through the Employer Portal.

For information on which work permit categories are LMIA-exempt, see the LMIA exemptions page.

A work permit is NOT a job offer

A common misunderstanding: holding a work permit — including an open work permit — is not in itself a valid job offer for Express Entry. The following do NOT qualify as a job offer for CRS points purposes:

• A Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) — even if the holder is working full-time in a skilled occupation
• A Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP)
• An IEC Working Holiday open work permit
• A spousal open work permit
• Any other open work permit

What is required is a specific, signed written offer of employment from a specific employer, supported by either a valid LMIA or an IRCC Employer Portal filing number (for LMIA-exempt employers).

Job offer must remain valid

The job offer must remain valid throughout the Express Entry process:

• At the time the Express Entry profile is created (the offer and supporting LMIA or portal filing must be current)
• At the time the ITA is issued — IRCC checks job offer validity when selecting candidates
• At the time the PR application is submitted following the ITA

If the job offer falls through between the ITA and application submission — for example, if the employer withdraws the offer or the employer's LMIA expires — the candidate must remove the job offer from their profile, the job offer points are removed, and the ITA may be invalidated if the revised CRS score would have been below the cut-off in the relevant round. Candidates in this situation should seek advice immediately.

Job offer points vs provincial nomination

A provincial nomination under a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) adds 600 CRS points — significantly more than the 50 or 200 points from a job offer. Where a candidate has both a provincial nomination and a job offer, both sets of points are added (although the provincial nomination alone is generally sufficient to secure an ITA in any subsequent round). For information on provincial nominations and their interaction with Express Entry, refer to the provincial nominee program page.

The 200-point NOC TEER 0 Major Group 00 job offer is essentially a guarantee of an ITA in any round — the cut-off CRS score rarely reaches that range. For most candidates, however, the realistic impact of a job offer is the 50-point addition, which may or may not be sufficient to push a score above the typical cut-off depending on the candidate's other attributes. Candidates who are close to the cut-off score and have a genuine employment relationship with a Canadian employer should explore whether their employer is willing to obtain an LMIA or file through the Employer Portal — but the employer must understand the obligations involved and the LMIA advertising requirements. For current job offer requirements, the Employer Portal process, and Express Entry draw history, refer to the IRCC Express Entry job offer page.