BREAKING: Canada Announces Major Changes to Express Entry Categories

Publish Date: 28/02/2025

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced key updates to the Express Entry system for 2025.

A major highlight is the introduction of the Education category for the first time, while the Transport category has been removed. Additionally, the Healthcare category now includes more social service occupations.

Updated Express Entry Categories for 2025

Category	Status
French-language proficiency	Retained
Healthcare and Social Service occupations	Expanded
Agriculture and Agri-Food occupations	Retained
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) occupations	Updated
Trades occupations	Expanded
Education occupations	New

Priority Categories for 2025

IRCC has confirmed that the following four categories will receive priority in category-based draws:

French-language proficiency
Healthcare and Social Service occupations
Trades occupations
Education occupations

New Occupations Under the Education Category

Job Title	NOC Code	TEER Level
Elementary and Secondary School Teacher Assistants	43100	3
Instructors of Persons with Disabilities	42203	2
Early Childhood Educators and Assistants	42202	2
Elementary School and Kindergarten Teachers	41221	1
Secondary School Teachers	41220	1

Changes to Other Categories

Several occupations have been added or removed within existing categories:

Healthcare and Social Services

Change	Job Title	NOC Code	TEER Level
Added	Animal Health Technologists and Veterinary Technicians	32104	2
Added	Social Workers	41300	1
Removed	Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists	32200	2

STEM

Change	Job Title	NOC Code	TEER Level
Added	Geological Engineers	21331	1
Removed	Software Developers and Programmers	21232	1

Trades

Change	Job Title	NOC Code	TEER Level
Added	Industrial Electricians	72201	2
Removed	Residential and Commercial Installers and Servicers	73200	3