Express Entry Healthcare Category 2026: Full NOC List, Eligibility, and Recent Cutoffs

The 2026 Healthcare category cleared at CRS 467 in February—well below general draws. Full NOC list, the 1-year experience rule, and how to qualify.

Pathway Canada Editorial Team·May 10, 2026·12 min read

The short version

The 2026 Healthcare and Social Services category covers 18+ NOC codes with cutoffs as low as CRS 467 (February 2026 draw, 4,000 ITAs) — well below the 480–510 range general draws have been hovering at. You need 1 year of full-time experience in a single eligible NOC in the past 3 years (this was 6 months until the 2025 reform). No job offer required.

The Healthcare and Social Services category is one of six priority Express Entry streams in 2026 — and consistently the easiest path to PR for foreign-trained healthcare workers. The February 20, 2026 healthcare draw cleared at CRS 467, well below the 480 – 510 range general draws have been hovering at all year.

This guide covers the full 2026 NOC list (expanded in late 2025 to include allied-health and technical roles), the eligibility rules (the work-experience threshold doubled in 2025 — most outdated articles still quote the old number), and how to position yourself in the category if you're a nurse, pharmacist, social worker, or one of the dozen-plus other now-eligible occupations.

At a glance

Recent cutoff: 467 CRS in the February 20, 2026 draw (4,000 invitations issued).
Work experience required: Minimum 1 year of full-time (or equivalent part-time) experience in the past 3 years in a single eligible NOC. This was 6 months until the 2025 reform — many older guides still quote the old number.
Job offer required? No. The category does not require a Canadian job offer or PNP nomination.
Where the experience can be gained: In Canada or abroad.
Eligible NOCs: 18+ codes covering physicians, nurses, allied health, social services, and select TEER 3 support roles.
Source: IRCC category-based selection page.

How do category-based draws work?

Express Entry runs three flavors of draws:

General — open to all candidates in the pool, ranked by CRS. Cutoffs in 2026 have been 475 – 510.
Program-specific — Provincial Nominee Program (CRS 700+ practically every time), CEC, FSW.
Category-based — restricted to candidates who meet a category's specific criteria. CRS cutoffs are lower because the eligible pool is smaller.

In 2026, the categories are:

French-language proficiency
Healthcare and social services ← this guide
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
Trades
Agriculture and agri-food
Education

The healthcare category was reset and expanded in 2025 to address acute provincial shortages — particularly in long-term care, primary care, and pharmacy. The 2026 NOC list is the broadest it has ever been.

Full eligible NOC list (2026)

Eligibility is by NOC 2021 code. You need 1 year of cumulative full-time experience in the same NOC in the past three years.

Physicians and dentists (TEER 0–1)

NOC	Title	TEER
31100	Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine	1
31101	Specialists in surgery	1
31102	General practitioners and family physicians	1
31110	Dentists	1
31111	Optometrists	1

Nurses (TEER 1–2)

NOC	Title	TEER
31300	Nursing coordinators and supervisors	1
31301	Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses	1
32101	Licensed practical nurses	2

Pharmacy and pharmacology (TEER 1–3)

NOC	Title	TEER
31120	Pharmacists	1
32124	Pharmacy technicians	2
33103	Pharmacy assistants	3

Allied health professions (TEER 1–2)

NOC	Title	TEER
31112	Audiologists and speech-language pathologists	1
31201	Chiropractors	1
31202	Physiotherapists	1
31203	Occupational therapists	1
31204	Kinesiologists and other professional occupations in therapy and assessment	1
31209	Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating	1
32102	Paramedical occupations	2
32103	Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists, and cardiopulmonary technologists	2
32109	Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment	2

Diagnostic and lab technologists (TEER 2)

NOC	Title	TEER
32111	Dental hygienists and dental therapists	2
32120	Medical laboratory technologists	2
32121	Medical radiation technologists	2
32122	Medical sonographers	2
32123	Cardiology technologists and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists	2
32129	Other medical technologists and technicians	2

Patient-care support (TEER 3)

NOC	Title	TEER
33102	Nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates	3

NOC	Title	TEER
41300	Social workers	1
41301	Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies	1
41320	Educational counsellors	1
41321	Career development practitioners and career counsellors	1

Veterinary (TEER 1)

NOC	Title	TEER
31103	Veterinarians	1

The 2025 expansion added the TEER 2 and TEER 3 roles (medical lab/radiation tech, dental hygienists, paramedics, respiratory therapists, pharmacy techs, nurse aides, pharmacy assistants). For most of those, this was the first time they qualified for any Express Entry category-based stream.

Source: Liberty Immigration — Express Entry 2026 Full NOC List, Canada.ca category-based selection.

Eligibility rules in detail

1. One year of work experience in the past three years

This is the rule that changed in 2025. Until then, the threshold was 6 months. Now:

Full-time (30+ hours per week): 1,560 hours of paid work in a 12-month period in a single eligible NOC.
Part-time equivalent: 30 hours per week × 52 weeks × 1 year, or any combination of part-time hours that totals 1,560 hours over multiple jobs in the same NOC.
The 12 months can be continuous or non-continuous, as long as it's all within the last 36 months before the draw.

If you have 6 months of experience plus a job offer, you don't qualify. The category is based on completed paid work experience in the eligible NOC.

2. Same NOC throughout

If you spent the past 3 years split between NOC 31301 (registered nurse) and 32101 (licensed practical nurse), only the time in each NOC counts on its own — they don't add together. You need 1 year in a single eligible NOC.

This trips up workers who got promoted: a nurse who spent 8 months as a 32101 LPN and then 6 months as a 31301 RN does not qualify for the healthcare category yet — neither role hits 12 months. They'd be eligible after 6 more months in the RN role.

3. The work has to match the NOC's main duties

This is the same "80% match, never word-for-word" rule discussed in the Reference Letter guide. Your reference letter from the employer must list duties that align with the NOC 2021 main duties section for your code. Generic duties or copy-pasted NOC text get flagged.

4. Underlying program eligibility

The category-based draw still requires you to be eligible for one of the three federal programs:

Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) — most foreign-trained healthcare workers without Canadian experience.
Canadian Experience Class (CEC) — if you have at least 1 year of Canadian skilled work experience.
Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) — for trades-classified roles (less common in healthcare).

You must also meet the language minimums (CLB 7 in all 4 abilities for FSW, CLB 7 for TEER 0/1 jobs in CEC, CLB 5 for TEER 2/3 jobs in CEC).

Recent draw history

Healthcare draws have been more frequent and larger than in previous years.

Date	Stream	ITAs issued	CRS cutoff
Feb 20, 2026	Healthcare V3	4,000	467
Dec 18, 2025	Healthcare V3	3,000	480
Oct 31, 2025	Healthcare V2	1,000	510
Aug 6, 2025	Healthcare V2	4,000	470

The "V2" and "V3" labels reflect the two NOC-list expansions in 2025. The most-recent V3 list (covering all the NOCs above) is what 2026 draws use.

For context: General draws in the same period have cleared at 480 – 510 CRS. The healthcare category is consistently 10 – 30 points lower.

Source: Liberty Immigration draw tracker, IRCC rounds of invitations page.

How do I qualify and position myself?

If you're already in an eligible NOC with 12 months of experience:

Take a language test (IELTS General Training, CELPIP General, TEF, or TCF). CLB 9+ in all four abilities is the single highest-leverage CRS lever for most healthcare candidates. Adding French at CLB 7 is worth +50 bonus points.
Get an ECA from a designated organization (WES is fastest for most countries — see WES vs IQAS guide). Without an ECA your foreign credential gives you zero CRS points.
Document your experience precisely. Reference letters need duties, hours, salary, supervisor signature — see the Reference Letter Template.
Submit your Express Entry profile. You don't need an ITA to start — your profile sits in the pool and is included in every healthcare draw automatically.
Schedule your upfront medical as soon as ITA is in sight — don't wait, panel physicians book 2–3 weeks out.

If you're 6 – 11 months into your experience, the right move is usually to wait. Don't submit an Express Entry profile until you cross 12 months, because the eligibility check happens at draw time.

Common questions

Does Canadian work experience count more than foreign?

Both count toward the 1-year category requirement — but Canadian experience earns separate CRS points (up to 80 for 5 years), while foreign experience only counts via the "skill transferability" combinations.

Do I need to be licensed in Canada?

No, not for the category-based draw. You just need experience in the eligible NOC abroad or in Canada. For practice in Canada after PR, almost every healthcare role requires provincial licensing — but that's a separate process from immigration.

Are RPNs (registered psychiatric nurses) included?

Yes — NOC 31301 covers both RNs and RPNs. The same eligibility rules apply.

What if my role doesn't appear on the list?

You're not eligible for the healthcare category — but you may qualify elsewhere. Try the STEM category if your role is research/data-related, the general draw if your CRS is high, or a PNP if a province has a relevant stream.

Are nurse aides really included? They're TEER 3.

Yes — NOC 33102 (nurse aides, orderlies, patient service associates) was added in the 2025 V3 expansion. This was a major change — TEER 3 roles are normally not category-eligible. The driver was the long-term care worker shortage post-COVID.

What's the difference between the healthcare category and PNP?

The category is a federal draw; PNP is a provincial nomination. The healthcare category selects from the Express Entry pool federally. PNP gives you 600 CRS points via provincial nomination. You can pursue both routes simultaneously.

Editorial note

This article is informational and was last updated on 10 May 2026. It is not legal advice. Canadian immigration rules change frequently — verify specifics against Canada.ca before relying on them. For guidance on your individual situation, consult a licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or immigration lawyer.