On Thursday, February 27, 2025, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (“IRCC”) announced the 2025 Express Entry categories, which include a new education category, to align the selection of federal economic immigrants with Canada’s long-term labour shortages. To meet Francophone immigration targets and meet the acute needs in health, trades and education, IRCC will conduct category-based invitation rounds in the following categories:
- strong French language skills, or
- work experience in the following fields:
- health care and social services, such as family physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists and chiropractors
- trades, such as carpenters, plumbers and contractors
- education, such as teachers, child care educators and instructors of persons with disabilities
Categories chosen for 2025
For 2025, the Government of Canada chose these categories:
- French-language proficiency
- Healthcare and social services occupations
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations
- Trade occupations
- Agriculture and agri-food occupations
- Education occupations
Who is eligible
To be eligible for an invitation through a category-based round, the applicant must meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round.
When the Government holds a category-based round of invitations, they will
- rank candidates in the pool who meet the category requirements and
- invite top-ranking candidates to apply for permanent residence
A. Eligibility for the French-language proficiency category
To be eligible, you must
- have French-language test results that show a minimum score of 7 in all 4 language abilities on the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens
- meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round
B. Eligibility for the healthcare occupations category
To be eligible, you must
- have accumulated, within the past 3 years, at least 6 months of continuous work experience (in Canada or abroad) in a single occupation listed, below
- meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round
Full eligibility details will be available in the instructions for each round.
- Animal health technologists and veterinary technicians
- Audiologists and speech language pathologists
- Cardiology technologists and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists
- Chiropractors
- Dental hygienists and dental therapists
- Dentists
- Dieticians and nutritionists
- General practitioners and family physicians
- Licensed practical nurses
- Massage therapists
- Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations
- Medical laboratory technologists
- Medical radiation technologists
- Medical sonographers
- Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
- Nurse practitioners
- Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors
- Occupational therapists
- Optometrists
- Other medical technologists and technicians
- Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating
- Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
- Paramedical occupations
- Pharmacists
- Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
- Pharmacy technicians
- Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals
- Physiotherapists
- Psychologists
- Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
- Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
- Social and community service workers
- Social workers
- Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
- Specialists in surgery
- Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies
- Veterinarians
C. Eligibility for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations category
To be eligible, you must
- have accumulated, within the past 3 years, at least 6 months of continuous work experience (in Canada or abroad) in a single occupation listed, below
- meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round
Full eligibility details will be available in the instructions for each round.
- Architecture and science managers
- Civil engineering technologists and technicians
- Civil Engineers
- Cybersecurity specialists
- Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
- Electrical and electronics engineers
- Geological Engineers
- Industrial and manufacturing engineers
- Insurance agents and brokers
- Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians
- Mechanical Engineers
D. Eligibility for the trade occupations category
To be eligible, you must
- have accumulated, within the past 3 years, at least 6 months of continuous work experience (in Canada or abroad) in a single occupation listed, below
- meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round
Full eligibility details will be available in the instructions for each round.
- Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services
- Floor covering installers
- Painters and decorators (except interior decorators)
- Roofers and shinglers
- Concrete finishers
- Other technical trades and related occupations
- Water well drillers
- Electrical mechanics
- Heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics
- Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
- Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
- Bricklayers
- Cabinetmakers
- Carpenters
- Gas fitters
- Plumbers
- Industrial electricians
- Electricians (except industrial and power system)
- Welders and related machine operators
- Sheet metal workers
- Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
- Home building and renovation managers
- Construction managers
- Cooks
- Construction estimators
E. Eligibility for the agriculture and agri-food occupations category
To be eligible, you must
- have accumulated, within the past 3 years, at least 6 months of continuous work experience (in Canada or abroad) in a single occupation listed, below
- meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round
Full eligibility details will be available in the instructions for each round.
- Butchers – retail and wholesale
F. Eligibility for the education occupations category
To be eligible, you must
- have accumulated, within the past 3 years, at least 6 months of continuous work experience (in Canada or abroad) in a single occupation listed, below
- meet all of the requirements in the instructions for that round
Full eligibility details will be available in the instructions for each round.
- Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants
- Instructors of persons with disabilities
- Early childhood educators and assistants
- Elementary school and kindergarten teachers
- Secondary school teachers