What Counts as a Valid Job Offer for Express Entry?

IRCC stopped awarding CRS points for job offers on March 25, 2025. That removed the 50 and 200 point bonuses older guides still talk about. What it did not remove is every place where a valid job offer is part of eligibility.

Three of those remain. A valid offer earns up to 10 selection factor points, plus 5 adaptability points, under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. It is one of the two ways to qualify for the Federal Skilled Trades Program. And with authorization to work in Canada, it removes the proof of funds requirement for both programs.

IRCC's basics: the offer must be recent, in writing, and not from an embassy, high commission or consulate in Canada. It has to set out the job, including your pay and deductions, your duties, and the conditions of employment such as your hours.

And one line worth reading twice: a work permit on its own is not a job offer, even an open work permit. Holding a permit proves you may work. It does not prove anyone has offered you a job on the terms below.

The job must come from one employer and be in NOC TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. It must be continuous, paid, full-time at 30 hours a week or more, not seasonal, and last at least one year after you become a permanent resident.

It must also be backed in one of three ways.

First, the employer has a new positive labour market impact assessment that names you and the position.

Second, you already work for that employer in a TEER 0 to 3 job on a work permit that was issued on an LMIA. You are authorized to work when you apply and when the visa is issued, and the employer offers you at least one more year.

Third, you hold an LMIA-exempt work permit for a TEER 0 to 3 job. You currently work for the employer named on it, you have one year of full-time work for them, and they offer you at least one more year.

Here the offer can come from up to two employers together. IRCC's own example is a heavy equipment operator offered 16 hours a week by each of two companies for at least a year, which adds up to full time and is valid. A plumber offered 25 hours a week on a non-contract basis is not, because full time means 30.

The job must be in one of the skilled trade groups the program covers, for at least one year, and backed by an LMIA or an eligible work permit in the same way as above. If you already work for the employer on an LMIA-based permit, the offered job must be in the same NOC minor group as your current one.

In most cases the employer needs a new LMIA to support the offer, and getting it is the employer's job, not yours. IRCC says a new one is needed if you have no work permit, your permit has expired, you are on an open work permit, or the offer is from an employer not named on your permit.

The employer does not need a new LMIA in only two cases. You already work full time for them on an LMIA-based work permit and they are making you a valid offer. Or your permit is exempt from an LMIA under an international agreement, a federal-provincial agreement, or a Canadian interests category such as significant benefit, reciprocal employment, or work designated by the Minister. Charity and religious work is included; volunteering is not.

Even with a valid offer, an officer must be satisfied that you can do the work. If the job is regulated in Canada, the officer must also be satisfied that you are likely to be licensed or certified once you arrive. Licensing is provincial, so the body to ask is in the province where you plan to live.

If you get a new offer while you are in the pool, update your profile. IRCC wants the start date, the employer's name and address, the LMIA number if there is one, and the NOC code for the job. IRCC says to include job offer details even though they no longer score, so that you stay eligible for the programs that need them.

We read the offer letter and the work permit side by side against IRCC's situations. In our experience, offers that fail usually do so on one detail: hours under 30, a seasonal contract, an employer not on the permit, or an LMIA that names the position but not the person.