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TL;DR
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has proposed replacing the three current Express Entry classes with a single new federal high-skilled immigration class.
The Federal Skilled Worker Class, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades Class would all be repealed under the proposal.
Public consultations are planned for spring 2026. No draft regulations or detailed eligibility rules have been published.
Current Express Entry rules remain in effect until new regulations are adopted.
The federal government is proposing to retire all three immigration programs that currently feed into the Express Entry system and replace them with a single new federal high-skilled class, according to IRCC's Forward Regulatory Plan published on the department's website.
The change, if adopted, would be the most significant structural redesign of Express Entry since the system launched in 2015. It affects anyone building a permanent residence strategy through federal economic immigration, including temporary residents already in Canada, skilled workers abroad, employers, and settlement professionals advising clients.
What IRCC is proposing
The regulatory initiative is titled “Regulations amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to modernize the federal high skilled classes.” In plain terms, IRCC wants to change how skilled workers qualify for Express Entry.
The department's plan says amendments would “introduce a new federal high skilled immigration class with streamlined eligibility requirements, and repeal the existing Federal Skilled Worker Class, Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades Class.”
IRCC says the proposed changes “could positively impact the Canadian economy broadly, and businesses seeking skilled workers, by establishing a more diverse pool of international talent to fill a variety of labour market needs.'“ The department also says a streamlined system would be “easier for clients, employers and partners to understand and navigate.”
Consultations with partners, stakeholders, and the public are planned for spring 2026. No draft regulations have been released.
How the current system works
Under the existing structure, applicants must first qualify under one of three federal programs before entering the Express Entry pool and competing for an invitation to apply for permanent residence.
The Canadian Experience Class is for candidates with recent skilled work experience in Canada. The Federal Skilled Worker Program covers eligible skilled workers, including those outside Canada, who have at least one year of continuous skilled work experience within the last 10 years. The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for qualified tradespeople in eligible occupations.
Since 2015, the criteria for these three classes have functioned as the minimum requirements to enter the Express Entry pool, as IRCC's regulatory plan notes. Candidates in the pool are then ranked using the Comprehensive Ranking System and invited to apply through regular draws.
IRCC now wants a single entry class instead of three separate entry routes.
What remains unknown
IRCC has shared few details on the replacement class. Several questions that matter to applicants and advisors remain open:
What the eligibility rules for the new class will look like
Whether the Comprehensive Ranking System will be preserved in its current form
How the new class will treat Canadian work experience versus foreign work experience
Whether existing candidates in the Express Entry pool will be transitioned or grandfathered
How selection criteria will interact with category-based draws
When final regulations would take effect
Those answers should begin to emerge during the spring 2026 consultations.
Is there a broader policy context?
The proposal fits a pattern of changes IRCC is making to economic immigration in 2026.
In February, IRCC updated its category-based selection priorities under Express Entry. New priority categories now include medical doctors, researchers, and senior managers with Canadian work experience, as well as transport occupations and skilled military recruits with a job offer from the Canadian Armed Forces. The minimum work experience requirement for renewed categories increased to one year from six months.
Separately, the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan says the government is prioritizing "transitioning to permanent residence those who are already in Canada with needed skills and experience." Overall permanent resident admissions are set at 380,000 per year from 2026 to 2028, with increased admissions under the Federal High Skilled and Provincial Nominee Program streams.
These changes suggest a transition toward a simpler base system paired with targeted selection by occupation and labour-market need.
What to watch next
If you are preparing an Express Entry application now, the current rules still apply. No regulations have changed yet.
The next concrete milestone is IRCC's spring 2026 consultation. That process should produce more detail on eligibility requirements, scoring, and transition rules. Draft regulations would follow before any changes take effect.
For anyone tracking this, the Forward Regulatory Plan page is the primary source to bookmark. Updates from IRCC will appear there first.
