Are you planning to apply for Canadian permanent residence or exploring your immigration options?
Understanding Canada’s high-wage occupations classification 2026 can help you learn more about the Express Entry system and the role of occupational classifications in immigration.
What Are High-Wage Occupations in the Express Entry System?
Under Express Entry, an occupation is considered high-wage when the median wage of people working in that occupation across Canada is at least 1.3 times the average median wage of the overall Canadian workforce.
This classification is based on the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code and wage information for the occupation. It is not determined by an individual’s specific job title or personal salary.
High-wage occupations are divided into three levels:
Level1: Median wage is atleast twice the average median wage.
Level2: Median wage is atleast 1.5times, but less than twice, the average median wage.
Level3:Medianwageisatleast1.3times, but less than1.5times, the average median wage.
These categories help organize occupations according to their wage levels. However, being included in a high-wage category does not automatically make someone eligible for Express Entry or guarantee permanent residence.
How Are Eligible High-Wage Occupations Determined?
The high-wage occupation classification is determined using labour market data collected over a three-year period. The source material identifies the following sources:
- Job Bank
- Labour Force Survey
- Census of Population
For each NOC code, the highest wage level met by its median wage during the assessment period determines its classification.
This means that occupational classifications depend on the relevant wage data rather than the salary an applicant earns.
What Happens If the High-Wage Occupations List Is Updated?
The source material explains that if the high-wage occupations list changes after an Invitation to Apply (ITA) are issued, the level that applied on the invitation date continues to be used for that invitation.
This applies if an occupation:
- Moves from one wage level to
- Is removed from the
- Is added to the
Applicants should always review the applicable official guidance to understand which rules apply to their circumstances.
Express Entry High-Wage Occupations List
Effective date: November 3, 2026
The list is based on wage data from 2023 to 2025 and groups occupations into threecategories according to their median wages.
1. Occupations With a Median Wage at Least Twice the Average Median Wage
|
NOC code |
NOC description |
| 00011 | Senior government managers and officials |
| 00012 | Senior managers-financial, communications and other business services |
| 00013 | Senior managers-health, education, social and community services and membership organizations |
| 10010 | Financial managers |
| 10011 | Human resources managers |
| 10012 | Purchasing managers |
| 10020 | Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers |
| 10021 | Banking, credit and other investment managers |
| 20010 | Engineering managers |
| 20011 | Architecture and science managers |
| 20012 | Computer and information systems managers |
| 21330 | Mining engineers |
| 21332 | Petroleum engineers |
| 31100 | Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine |
| 31101 | Specialists in surgery |
| 31102 | General practitioners and family physicians |
| 31103 | Veterinarians |
| 31302 | Nurse practitioners |
| 31303 | Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals |
| 40010 | Government managers-health and social policy development and program administration |
| 40011 | Government managers-economic analysis, policy development and program administration |
| 40012 | Government managers-education policy development and program administration |
| 40019 | Other managers in public administration |
| 40040 | Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services |
| 40041 | Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers |
| 41100 | Judges |
| 41101 | Lawyers and Quebec notaries |
| 41200 | University professors and lecturers |
| 60010 | Corporate sales managers |
| 80010 | Managers in natural resources production and fishing |
| 90011 | Utilities managers |
2. Occupations With a Median Wage at Least 1.5 Times but Less Than Twice the Average Median Wage
|
NOC code |
NOC description |
| 00014 | Senior managers-trade, broadcasting and other services |
| 00015 | Senior managers-construction, transportation, production and utilities |
| 10019 | Other administrative services managers |
| 10022 | Advertising, marketing and public relations managers |
| 10029 | Other business services managers |
| 10030 | Telecommunication carriers managers |
| 11103 | Securities agents, investment dealers and brokers |
| 11201 | Professional occupations in business management consulting |
| 21100 | Physicists and astronomers |
| 21102 | Geoscientists and oceanographers |
| 21103 | Meteorologists and climatologists |
| 21109 | Other professional occupations in physical sciences |
| 21111 | Forestry professionals |
| 21120 | Public and environmental health and safety professionals |
| 21202 | Urban and land use planners |
| 21210 | Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries |
| 21211 | Data scientists |
| 21220 | Cyber security specialists |
| 21221 | Business systems specialists |
| 21222 | Information systems specialists |
| 21223 | Data base analysts and data administrators |
| 21230 | Computer systems developers and programmers |
| 21231 | Software engineers and designers |
| 21232 | Software developers and programmers |
| 21300 | Civil engineers |
| 21301 | Mechanical engineers |
| 21310 | Electrical and electronics engineers |
| 21311 | Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers) |
| 21320 | Chemical engineers |
| 21321 | Industrial and manufacturing engineers |
| 21322 | Metallurgical and materials engineers |
| 21331 | Geological engineers |
| 21390 | Aerospace engineers |
| 21399 | Other professional engineers |
| 22231 | Engineering inspectors and regulatory officers |
| 22312 | Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics |
| 30010 | Managers in healthcare |
| 31110 | Dentists |
| 31112 | Audiologists and speech-language pathologists |
| 31120 | Pharmacists |
| 31200 | Psychologists |
| 31202 | Physiotherapists |
| 31203 | Occupational therapists |
| 31300 | Nursing coordinators and supervisors |
| 31301 | Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses |
| 32111 | Dental hygienists and dental therapists |
| 40020 | Administrators-post-secondary education and vocational training |
| 40021 | School principals and administrators of elementary and secondary education |
| 40030 | Managers in social, community and correctional services |
| 40042 | Commissioned officers of the Canadian Armed Forces |
| 41210 | Collegeand othervocational instructors |
| 41220 | Secondaryschoolteachers |
| 41221 | Elementary school and kindergarten teachers |
| 41310 | Police investigators and other investigative occupations |
| 41311 | Probation and parole officers |
| 41320 | Educational counsellors |
| 41401 | Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts |
| 41402 | Business development officers and market researchers and analysts |
| 41404 | Health policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41407 | Program officers unique to government |
| 42100 | Police officers (except commissioned) |
| 42101 | Firefighters |
| 50010 | Library, archive, museum and art gallery managers |
| 50011 | Managers – publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and performing arts |
| 51100 | Librarians |
| 70010 | Construction managers |
| 70012 | Facility operation and maintenance managers |
| 70020 | Managers in transportation |
| 70021 | Postal and courier services managers |
| 72011 | Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations |
| 72012 | Contractors and supervisors, pipe fitting trades |
| 72023 | Supervisors, railway transport operations |
| 72103 | Boilermakers |
| 72202 | Powersystem electricians |
| 72203 | Electrical powerline and cable workers |
| 72301 | Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers |
| 72406 | Elevator constructors and mechanics |
| 72600 | Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors |
| 72601 | Air traffic controllers and related occupations |
| 72604 | Railway traffic controllers and marine traffic regulators |
| 73310 | Railway and yard locomotive engineers |
| 82020 | Supervisors, mining and quarrying |
| 82021 | Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services |
| 83101 | Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers |
| 90010 | Manufacturing managers |
| 92011 | Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities |
| 92100 | Power engineers and power systems operators |
| 93100 | Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing |
| 93101 | Central control and process operators, petroleum, gas and chemical processing |
3. Occupations With a Median Wage at Least 1.3 Times but Less Than 1.5 Times the Average Median Wage
| NOC code | NOC description |
| 00010 | Legislators |
| 11100 | Financial auditors and accountants |
| 11101 | Financial and investment analysts |
| 11102 | Financial advisors |
| 11109 | Other financial officers |
| 11200 | Human resources professionals |
| 12201 | Insurance adjusters and claims examiners |
| 12203 | Assessors, business valuators and appraisers |
| 21101 | Chemists |
| 21110 | Biologists and related scientists |
| 21112 | Agricultural representatives, consultants and specialists |
| 21200 | Architects |
| 21201 | Landscape architects |
| 21203 | Land surveyors |
| 21234 | Web developers and programmers |
| 22214 | Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology |
| 22232 | Occupational health and safety specialists |
| 22233 | Construction inspectors |
| 22310 | Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians |
| 22313 | Aircraft instrument, electrical and avionics mechanics, technicians and inspectors |
| 31121 | Dietitians and nutritionists |
| 32102 | Paramedical occupations |
| 32103 | Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists |
| 32120 | Medicallaboratorytechnologists |
| 32121 | Medicalradiation technologists |
| 32122 | Medicalsonographers |
| 41300 | Social workers |
| 41400 | Natural and applied science policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41403 | Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41405 | Education policy researchers, consultants and program officers |
| 41409 | Other professional occupations in social science |
| 43201 | Correctional service officers |
| 43203 | Border services, customs, and immigration officers |
| 50012 | Recreation, sports and fitness program and service directors |
| 51101 | Conservatorsand curators |
| 51102 | Archivists |
| 51111 | Authors and writers (except technical) |
| 51112 | Technical writers |
| 51120 | Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations |
| 52112 | Broadcast technicians |
| 60020 | Retail and wholesale trade managers |
| 60031 | Accommodation service managers |
| 60040 | Managers in customer and personal services |
| 72010 | Contractors and supervisors, machining, metal forming, shaping and erecting trades and related occupations |
| 72013 | Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades |
| 72014 | Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers |
| 72020 | Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades |
| 72021 | Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews |
| 72102 | Sheetmetal workers |
| 72105 | Iron workers |
| 72201 | Industrial electricians |
| 72302 | Gas fitters |
| 72320 | Bricklayers |
| 72321 | Insulators |
| 72401 | Heavy-duty equipment mechanics |
| 72403 | Railway carmen/women |
| 72404 | Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors |
| 72500 | Crane operators |
| 72602 | Deck officers, water transport |
| 72603 | Engineer officers, water transport |
| 73311 | Railway conductors and brakemen/women |
| 82010 | Supervisors, logging and forestry |
| 83100 | Underground production and development miners |
| 83120 | Fishing masters and officers |
| 92010 | Supervisors, mineral and metal processing |
| 93102 | Pulping, paper making and coating control operators |
Get Guidance on Your Canadian Immigration Options
Understanding high-wage occupations is a useful starting point, but your eligibility depends on the complete requirements of the immigration program you intend to pursue.
Whether you are exploring Express Entry, a Provincial Nominee Program, or Canadian work permit options, a thorough review of your application can help you make the best decisions.
If you are looking for a Canadian immigration consultant in Edmonton, then you must contact Imperial Immigration to discuss the available opportunities and the immigration pathways best suitable for your visa.
Contact Imperial Immigration to learn more about your Canadian immigration options and the next steps you may need to take.
