On September 4, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held this year's third Express Entry draw targeting healthcare and social services occupations, issuing 3,500 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence with a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 475 — unchanged from the previous healthcare round on June 25 and above the 467 recorded in the category's first round of the year on February 20. The category has now issued 11,500 invitations in 2026. The round was also IRCC's 53rd Express Entry draw of the year, pushing the 2026 total past 126,000 invitations, of which the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the French-language proficiency category together account for more than 80 percent — a distribution that reflects Ottawa's current preference for candidates already in Canada while still steering capacity toward shortage occupations. Since IRCC refreshed its category framework on February 19, 2026 and raised the minimum work-experience requirement for renewed categories from six months to one year, healthcare cut-offs have trended higher overall, leaving eligible health and social services workers to reassess both their scores and their timing.

Nova Scotia announced on its immigration website on August 6, 2026 that it will begin charging application fees under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) on September 1, 2026, setting a flat CAD $1,000 fee for all three work streams and $2,000 for the entrepreneur streams, where until now the province charged nothing at all for a provincial nomination application; the fee applies only to candidates selected from the Expression of Interest (EOI) pool for assessment on or after September 1, leaving anyone who received a selection notice on or before August 31 unaffected, and work stream candidates must pay within seven calendar days of being selected while entrepreneur candidates get either 90 or 180 days depending on the pathway, with any EOI that misses the deadline closed and never assessed; the province's stated reason is that demand for nominations keeps outrunning the annual allocation Ottawa gives it — provincial open data shows the 2026 NSNP allocation at just 2,344 places, down more than 30 percent from 3,570 in 2024, while 7,942 unprocessed NSNP expressions of interest were still sitting in the pool at the end of the second quarter of 2026, roughly 3.4 times the entire year's allocation; submitting an EOI remains free, and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) still carries no provincial application fee.

On June 2, 2026, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) held its 12th selection round of the year, issuing no fewer than 357 invitations to apply (ITAs) across its Skills Immigration (SI) and Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) categories. The SI draw accounted for 342 invitations targeting early childhood educators, healthcare and veterinary professionals, and construction trades workers under the province's Care and Build priorities announced on April 23, with minimum scores falling by 4 to 10 points across all four categories compared with the May 6 draw. On the entrepreneur side, the EI Base Stream issued 15 invitations—the largest single Base Stream round of 2026. As of June 2, British Columbia has issued 2,485 ITAs through the SI category and no fewer than 64 through the EI category this year.

Nova Scotia has launched a new initiative called "Critical Vacancies" and begun sending Notices of Interest (NOIs) to candidates in the federal Express Entry pool, with the aim of connecting qualified foreign skilled workers to local employers who have been unable to fill roles domestically. For now the initiative covers only two sectors with long-standing labour shortages — construction and healthcare — and while the province has uploaded dedicated forms for six construction occupations, it has not yet named any specific healthcare occupations. Candidates need only hold an active Express Entry profile to receive an NOI, with no requirement for Canadian or Nova Scotia work experience. Crucially, an NOI is neither an invitation to apply (ITA) for provincial nomination under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nor an endorsement under the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP); it functions instead as a bridge between job seekers and employers, though candidates who land a job offer through this channel are typically better positioned for a subsequent federal or provincial immigration pathway — and some may even receive an ITA directly in their Express Entry account. The move aligns with the provincial nomination priorities Nova Scotia announced in April 2026, and is the latest step in an immigration system the province has been steadily reshaping since late 2025.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced on May 11, 2026, that the Four Falls land port of entry in northwestern New Brunswick will be permanently closed, formalizing a suspension that began as a temporary COVID-19 measure on May 17, 2020 and ending six full years of inactivity at the small seasonal crossing; CBSA cited four factors — seasonal-only operations, low traveller volumes, the density of alternative crossings nearby, and the absence of any corresponding U.S. port of entry on the opposite side of the border — and argued that the move aligns Canadian operations with what U.S. Customs and Border Protection already does on this stretch of the boundary, leaving travellers between northwestern New Brunswick and Maine to reroute through one of two alternative ports of entry within 15 km of Four Falls, the 24/7 Andover crossing and the Gillespie Portage crossing (open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), with CBSA reminding the public that all travellers must still report to a designated port of entry on arrival or risk fines, seizures, loss of trusted-traveller status, or prosecution under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or the Customs Act.

Effective May 4, 2026, the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) is restricting invitations to apply (ITAs) under the NB Experience pathway of its Skilled Worker Stream to candidates working in just three sectors — healthcare, education, and construction trades — until further notice; the province has attributed the change to the limited nomination space remaining under the stream, with industry trackers estimating New Brunswick's total 2026 allocation at roughly 3,603, well short of the federal-level expansion that pushed the national PNP target to 91,500 spots for the year; this marks the second major sector-focused tightening within four months, following the February 3, 2026 overhaul that froze the accommodation and food services sector (NAICS 72) and several retail-oriented National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes, and candidates outside the targeted sectors are encouraged to either withdraw and resubmit their Expression of Interest (EOI) under another stream, or open a separate INB profile (using a different email address) to pursue another pathway or an Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) endorsement.

The Government of New Brunswick announced and implemented a wide-ranging set of changes on February 3, 2026, affecting both the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) and the province’s Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP). The updates include removing consideration for accommodation and food services (NAICS 72) roles across multiple pathways, excluding several specific occupations from consideration, moving AIP endorsement processing to a candidate-pool model, temporarily pausing new AIP employer designation applications, and tightening endorsement eligibility for overseas candidates to three priority sectors. In addition, New Brunswick will extend its Private Career College Graduate Pilot through the end of 2026 in a limited capacity for certain international students already enrolled in eligible programs at Oulton College or Eastern College whose completion dates extend beyond the pilot’s original end date.

Under the targeted selection policies of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the healthcare sector has solidified its position as a premier pathway for foreign workers and international students seeking Permanent Residence (PR). Recent policy analysis indicates that not all medical careers require lengthy university education; six specific occupations, requiring only two years or less of college training, are currently being prioritized by the government. Through category-based Express Entry draws, eligible candidates in these fields are receiving invitations to apply with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores significantly lower than those in general streams.

On December 11, 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) conducted the first category-based Express Entry draw of the month, issuing 1,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to candidates in the healthcare and social services sector. With a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 476, the draw highlights Canada’s continued focus on attracting skilled professionals in essential public service fields amid ongoing labour shortages.

On November 28, 2025, Nova Scotia announced a major shift in its immigration intake system, confirming that all submissions under the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program (NSPNP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) will now be processed through an Expression of Interest (EOI) model. Under the new rules, all submissions—regardless of submission date—are considered EOIs, and having a case ID or meeting eligibility criteria no longer guarantees file processing. The province will conduct periodic draws based on current labor market and economic priorities, with priority sectors such as healthcare, construction, trades, STEM, natural resources, and manufacturing. The shift aligns with broader trends driven by reduced provincial nomination allocations from IRCC. With increased immigration targets set for 2026, applicants may soon see improved chances of receiving selections.