Among the occupations currently prioritized for permanent residence by the Canadian federal government, approximately 40% are slated to receive enhanced priority through the proposed high-wage occupation factor.

Presently, 89 occupations are prioritized through category-based selection (CBS), enabling eligible candidates to be chosen as permanent residents at lower scores via Express Entry, the government’s primary application management system for skilled workers seeking to establish in Canada outside Quebec.

Skilled workers in 37 of the 89 existing priority occupations are positioned to score higher under the government ranking system in the proposed regime.

The increased scoring will be in the form of additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) awarded to candidates with occupations paying significantly above Canada’s median wage.

The proposed new system will grant three tiers of bonus points to occupations paying at least 2x, 1.5x, and 1.3x the median wage.

Below are the category-based draw eligible occupations, ranked by their potential benefits under the proposed regime and data from the Canadian federal government’s Job Bank.

Jobs paying at least 2x the median annual wage

Occupation	Category	CRS cut-off of most recent draw	Occupation’s median hourly wage
Architecture and science managers (20011)	STEM	N/A	$62.56
*General practitioners and family physicians (31102)	– Healthcare and social services; and – Physicians with Canadian work experience	467; 169	$111.64