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Express Entry’s STEM category looks drastically different than it did two months ago, with 19 occupations having been removed and six having been added.
Many foreign nationals no longer qualify for the STEM category, while other foreign nationals have only recently become eligible.
Qualifying for a category-based draw can make the difference between getting Canadian permanent residency (PR), or never being invited to apply for PR.
Which occupations are eligible under the updated STEM category; and
How to find out if you’re eligible.
Occupations listed under the updated STEM category in 2025
Following the changes in February 2025, the STEM category has 11 occupations in total.
How do I determine whether my work experience is eligible for an Express Entry category?
To be eligible for a category, you must have accumulated at least six months of full-time continuous work experience (or an equal amount of part-time experience) within the past three years in a category-eligible occupation (be it in Canada or abroad).
You also have to meet the minimum criteria for Express Entry, including being eligible for one of the three immigration programs it covers, namely:
Canadian Experience Class
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Federal Skilled Trades Program.
If you are eligible, the next step is to find out if your work experience corresponds to the requirements of the eligible occupations listed.
Step 1: Visiting the Government of Canada’s NOC page and finding the NOC code and occupation that corresponds most closely with your work experience.
Type your job title(s) or other keywords into the “Filter items” search bar. If you don’t find a NOC code, try variations of your job title(s).
Take note of the NOC code(s) which correspond(s) most closely to the work experience for each role you have held in your career, for which you have worked full-time for at least six continuous months during the past three years.
Step 2: Verify this against the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) webpage by clicking on the “Search by NOC Code” tab, looking up each NOC code that corresponds to your work experience.
Cross-reference the duties involved in each role of your work experience with the actions in the lead statement of each NOC code.
For your role to be considered to correspond to a given NOC, you must have performed a substantial number of the main duties of the occupation, as set out in the NOC description.
Step 3: Check if one of your NOC codes is in the table above. If it is, you are eligible for the STEM category.
Newly added occupations to the STEM category with alternate job titles
How can Express Entry categories help my chances of becoming a Canadian PR?
If you qualify for a category-based draw, you have a better chance of receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence through Express Entry.
This is because in a category-based draw, IRCC invites only those candidates who meet the category’s criteria, so these draws have a lower CRS cut-off score than general draws and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws.
For instance, in 2024, general draw CRS cut-offs ranged from 524 to 549. And the CRS cut-off for CEC draws ranged between 507 and 547.
But the STEM draw that year had a lower cut-off of 491, with 4,500 candidates receiving invitations to apply for PR.
Source: https://www.cicnews.com/2025/04/do-you-still-qualify-for-express-entrys-stem-category-in-2025-0454110.html#gs.l78hwt
