7 Big Express Entry Draw Changes Proposed In New Report

Last Updated On 8 September 2026, 9:33 AM EDT (Toronto Time)

Canada’s flagship immigration selection system is under pressure, and one of the country’s largest banks is calling for a dramatic overhaul.

The Royal Bank of Canada published a sweeping report on September 1, 2026, titled “A Smarter Immigration Strategy,” arguing that Express Entry is no longer working as originally intended.

The central finding is stark: category-based selection rounds are allowing lower-scoring candidates to leapfrog higher-ranking applicants who have been waiting in the EE pool.

RBC found that admission through the Canadian Experience Class requires more than 100 CRS points higher on average than admission through some category-based selections.

The report calls for restoring the original points-based model, prioritizing the highest-scoring Express Entry candidates, and potentially reversing the 2022 legislative changes that first opened the door to additional category-based draws.

We (Immigration News Canada) have grouped the report’s major Express Entry-related proposals into 7 potential changes and explain what each could mean for candidates.

1. Restore the Points-Based System by Admitting the Highest-Ranking Candidates First

RBC’s first and most direct recommendation is to return Express Entry to its founding purpose: selecting applicants with the highest projected earning potential.

The Comprehensive Ranking System was designed to score candidates on factors including education, language ability, work experience and age, then invite the top scorers first.

RBC’s report notes that Express Entry has delivered strong results when it operates this way.

According to IRCC data cited in the report, immigrants arriving through the Canadian Experience Class earned median incomes of $92,100 after 10 years, compared with $67,400 for the broader economic immigrant group and $47,600 for Canadians overall.

Those outcomes are driven by the points system selecting applicants most likely to thrive economically.

RBC argues that the introduction of category-based draws has eroded this advantage by creating parallel streams where candidates with lower CRS scores receive invitations ahead of higher-scoring applicants.

Under the report’s proposed framework, Express Entry draws would consistently prioritize the highest-ranking candidates in the pool regardless of occupation or category eligibility.

If adopted, this would move federal selection closer to a model in which candidates are primarily prioritized by CRS ranking rather than occupation-specific federal category eligibility.

2. Rein In or Remove Federal Category-Based Express Entry Draws

The second recommendation directly targets the category-based selection framework that IRCC introduced in 2023.

RBC argues that sub-categories within Express Entry are undermining the program by creating lower entry thresholds for specific occupation groups.

The report illustrates this with a concrete example: a teaching assistant selected through the educational occupations category may receive an invitation ahead of an engineer or nurse practitioner with a significantly higher CRS score in the general pool.

This dynamic has played out throughout 2026, with French-language proficiency draws inviting candidates at CRS scores as low as 382, while Canadian Experience Class draws have required scores above 500.

Healthcare and trades occupation draws have similarly invited candidates at CRS cutoffs well below the CEC threshold.

RBC recommends that Canada “refrain from leveraging the Express Entry program to advance short-term aims by adding sub-categories within it or other federal economic immigration categories alongside it.”

IRCC’s spring 2026 consultations separately explored merging the three federal high-skilled programs into a single Federal High Skilled program.

Those consultations explicitly excluded category-based selection, which IRCC reviews through a separate process.

RBC suggests going further by eliminating the category-based draw structure entirely at the federal level.

This is RBC’s recommendation, not an IRCC policy decision.

3. Reverse the 2022 Legislation That Enabled Additional Category-Based Draws

RBC goes beyond recommending administrative changes and suggests that Parliament may need to reverse the legislation itself.

In 2022, the federal government introduced legislative amendments that gave the immigration minister authority to create EE categories beyond the original three programs: the Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program, and Federal Skilled Trades Program.

That legislative change is what enabled IRCC to conduct category-based draws targeting healthcare workers, French-language speakers, STEM professionals, trades workers, transport occupations and education professionals.

RBC notes that the list of the categories has already changed multiple times since 2022 and argues this illustrates “how quickly skill demands change and the futility of designing permanent immigration around them at a national level.”

The 2026 category restructuring announced by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab in February added five new occupation categories, including physicians, senior managers and military recruits, while modifying work experience requirements for existing categories.

RBC argues that reversing the 2022 authority could end federal category-based draws and return federal Express Entry selection to a much stronger points-based focus, while targeted labour-market selection would largely shift to provinces and territories.

This is the most aggressive of the seven potential changes outlined here and would require Parliamentary action, not simply a ministerial instruction change.

4. Set a Minimum Proportion of Economic Immigration Through Express Entry

RBC recommends that policymakers consider whether guaranteeing a minimum share of permanent economic immigration through Express Entry would strengthen both economic outcomes and public confidence in the system.

The report highlights a striking long-term trend: in 2000, nearly 80% of economic immigrants were admitted through federally managed points-based selection, but that share has dropped to roughly 30% in recent years.

This decline reflects the growth of the Provincial Nominee Program, which now accounts for a significant portion of economic admissions, along with the introduction of other non-points-based federal pathways.

Under the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, Canada has set a 2026 target of 109,000 admissions under Federal High Skilled programs, which include the federal programs managed through Express Entry, within an overall economic immigration target of 239,800.

IRCC separately describes Federal High Skilled admissions as accounting for roughly 45% of economic immigration admissions.

RBC is proposing that policymakers consider establishing a minimum share for the admissions so that points-based federal selection retains a significant role in economic immigration.

5. Re-Introduce a Minimum Core CRS Score for Express Entry

One of the less-discussed recommendations in the report is reintroducing a minimum CRS threshold for Express Entry draws based on core selection factors.

RBC notes that CRS cut-off scores dropped from the mid-400s before the pandemic to as low as 75 in 2021 when Canada sought to meet permanent residency targets during travel restrictions.

Although scores have recovered significantly since then, with CEC draws in 2026 consistently requiring scores above 500 and French-language draws reaching as low as 382, the original points system was built with a formal minimum threshold that had to be met for any admission.

RBC recommends considering a minimum cut-off based on core selection factors, explicitly excluding points awarded for a provincial nomination.

The distinction matters because provincial nominees receive an automatic 600-point CRS boost, which pushes PNP draw cutoffs into the 700-plus range regardless of a candidate’s underlying human capital score.

This change would affect candidates at the lower end of the CRS score distribution and could permanently close the door on the ultra-low cutoffs seen during the pandemic years.

6. Shift Category-Based Selection to Provinces and Territories

Rather than eliminating category-based immigration entirely, RBC recommends relocating it from the federal level to the provincial and territorial level.

The logic is that talent shortages in healthcare, skilled trades and other sectors vary dramatically by region, making provinces better positioned to identify and recruit for specific occupations.

RBC points to the Provincial Nominee Program’s track record of distributing immigration benefits across Canada as evidence that this approach works.

When the PNP launched in 1998, only 11% of economic immigrants settled outside Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, but by 2024 that proportion had risen to 37%.

However, RBC also flags serious problems with the current PNP landscape, including roughly 80 provincial pathways that vary significantly across provinces despite addressing similar needs.

The report recommends that provinces coordinate to reduce system complexity by moving toward fewer, more stable categories with adjustable criteria.

RBC also notes that provincial nominees selected from the Express Entry pool tend to earn about 30% more after three years than nominees selected through non-EE streams, suggesting provinces should lean more heavily on the pool for their nominations.

Under this model, the federal government would focus on high-CRS selection through Express Entry, while provinces handle occupation-specific recruitment through their own nominee programs.

7. Commit to Regular CRS Recalibration Reviews

The final recommendation addresses the scoring formula itself.

RBC argues that Canada should commit to regular reviews of the Comprehensive Ranking System to ensure it reflects changing labour market dynamics, particularly as artificial intelligence reshapes which skills remain valuable.

This recommendation aligns in part with IRCC’s own spring 2026 consultations, which proposed overhauling the CRS to give more weight to factors most strongly associated with economic success.

IRCC identified strong official-language skills and high temporary-resident earnings as the strongest predictors, while Canadian work experience, job offers, university education and younger age were classified as moderate predictors.

Spousal, sibling, French bonus and Canadian-study points were identified as relatively weaker predictors.

IRCC is considering additional CRS points for Canadian work experience or valid job offers in high-wage occupations.

RBC separately suggests incorporating temporary-worker earnings data directly into Canada’s immigration scoring mechanism, which would strengthen the two-step immigration pipeline by rewarding candidates who have already demonstrated high earning potential in the Canadian labour market.

RBC’s recommendation goes beyond a one-time update by calling for a recurring recalibration process that would keep the CRS formula current as the Canadian economy evolves.

If implemented alongside the other changes discussed above, this would create a system where Express Entry is governed by a regularly updated, evidence-based points formula, with no parallel category-based streams at the federal level.

What the 100-Point CRS Gap Means for Current Candidates

The most striking data point in the entire RBC report is the CRS score gap between different Express Entry pathways.

Canadian Experience Class cutoffs have remained above 500 throughout 2026, ranging from a low of 507 to a high of 523 through September 1.

By contrast, category-based draws have operated at significantly lower thresholds, with the physicians category recording a CRS cutoff of just 169 in February 2026, the lowest category-based cutoff since category-based selection began in 2023.

French-language draws have consistently invited candidates around 382 to 420 throughout the year.

RBC’s finding that CEC admission requires “over 100 points more, on average” than category-based admission quantifies what many Express Entry candidates have observed throughout the 2026 draw cycle.

A candidate with a CRS score of 495 who qualifies only for CEC draws has not received an invitation in 2026, while a candidate at CRS 400 who met the French-language category requirements could have received an invitation in several 2026 French-language rounds.

This gap has created a two-tier dynamic within Express Entry where category eligibility often matters more than overall human capital score.

What Ending Category-Based Draws Could Mean for Specific Groups

If RBC’s recommendations were adopted, the effects would ripple across every candidate profile in the Express Entry pool.

CEC candidates with high CRS scores could be among the biggest beneficiaries if a larger share of federal invitations were issued through CRS-driven selection instead of being allocated to category-based rounds.

French-language candidates currently benefit from dedicated draws that account for a large share of all category-based invitations and offer cutoffs roughly 100 points below CEC thresholds.

Under current CRS rules, French-speaking candidates can receive up to 50 additional CRS points for French proficiency, depending on their English-language results.

If dedicated French-language category draws were eliminated, those candidates would lose that separate selection pathway, while any future treatment of French bonus points would depend on accompanying CRS reforms.

Healthcare workers, skilled trades professionals, education workers and transport occupation candidates who currently qualify for the lower-cutoff category draw would similarly need to compete on overall CRS score alone.

RBC acknowledges this tension directly, noting that “one could argue that all of Canada’s economic immigration should come through Express Entry,” but that doing so “would ignore talent shortages in communities across the country.”

That is precisely why the report proposes shifting category-based selection to the provincial level rather than eliminating it entirely.

Provinces would continue running targeted draws for healthcare, trades and other shortage occupations through their own nominee programs, while the federal EE system would focus on top CRS scorers.

IRCC Has Not Announced These Changes

It is essential that Express Entry candidates understand the distinction between a policy recommendation from a private-sector institution and an official government announcement.

RBC is Canada’s largest bank and its thought leadership reports carry significant weight in public policy discussions.

However, IRCC continues to operate category-based Express Entry draws as of September 2026.

IRCC continues to operate category-based selection in 2026 and has conducted rounds for French-language proficiency, healthcare and social services, trades, physicians, senior managers, transport and skilled military recruits, among others.

The Immigration Levels Plan itself does not publish separate admission targets for each Express Entry category.

IRCC’s own spring 2026 public consultations on Express Entry reform explored significant changes to the CRS formula and program structure, but no final regulations have been published.

The 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan consultations closed in June 2026, and the new plan is expected to be tabled by November 2026.

Implementation would depend on the change.

Some reforms could be made through Ministerial Instructions, regulatory amendments would be published through the Canada Gazette process, and reversing the 2022 statutory authority for category-based selection would require Parliament.

What Candidates Should Watch Next

The RBC report arrives at a moment when Express Entry is already in the middle of its most significant policy discussion in years.

IRCC’s own consultations have proposed merging the three existing programs into a single Federal High Skilled program and overhauling the CRS formula, signalling that the department recognizes some of the same structural problems RBC has identified.

The question now is how far the government is willing to go. Candidates should monitor three developments closely in the months ahead.

The first is the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, expected in fall 2026, which will reveal whether Ottawa changes the overall Federal High Skilled allocation and broader economic immigration priorities.

The second is the outcome of IRCC’s Express Entry consultations, which are expected to inform future amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and Ministerial Instructions.

IRCC has not announced a final implementation timeline.

The third is whether any political momentum builds around reversing the 2022 legislation, which would be the most consequential structural change to Express Entry since the program launched in 2015.

Until official changes are announced, category-based Express Entry draws remain active, and candidates should continue building their profiles accordingly.

RBC’s ‘A Smarter Immigration Strategy’ report makes a detailed private-sector case for fundamentally restructuring how Canada selects economic immigrants through Express Entry.

Whether Ottawa acts on any of these proposals will depend on political will, the upcoming 2027–2029 Levels Plan, and the outcome of IRCC’s own ongoing consultations.

For now, Express Entry candidates should focus on maximizing their CRS scores, exploring provincial nomination pathways and monitoring official IRCC announcements for any confirmed policy changes.

Follow Immigration News Canada for complete coverage of every Express Entry draw result, IRCC policy announcement and immigration reform development as it happens.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Fact-Checked: All data and recommendations attributed to RBC in this article are drawn directly from the “A Smarter Immigration Strategy” report published on September 1, 2026, by RBC Thought Leadership. CRS cutoff scores and Express Entry draw data referenced throughout are based on official IRCC rounds of invitation results as published through September 2026. This article has been reviewed to ensure no government policy decisions, official quotes, dates or statistics have been fabricated or misrepresented.

Disclaimer: This article is published by Immigration News Canada for informational purposes only and does not constitute immigration advice. RBC’s recommendations have not been adopted by the federal government, and IRCC has not announced any plans to end category-based Express Entry draws. Candidates should consult a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or licensed immigration lawyer before making decisions based on potential future policy changes.

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