The 2026 Transport Honestly Category's Occupation List Compared With the One It Replaced
Same category name, almost entirely different occupations. The 2026 transport category occupation list compared with the one it replaced tells a story that’s easy to miss if you only glance at the category title without checking who’s actually eligible underneath it.
The 2023–24 version
Transport occupations launched as one of the original six categories in May 2023, holding its first round on 20 September 2023 — 1,000 invitations at a CRS cut-off of 435. This version leaned heavily on the occupations that had become newly eligible for Express Entry the year before, under the 2022 NOC transition, transport truck drivers chief among them. It ran through 2023 and 2024, then was quietly dropped for 2025, receiving no draws at all that year.
The 2026 version
Old transport category truck drivers versus new pilots is the plainest way to describe what happened next. The transport category returned for 2026 with a completely rebuilt occupation list — one built around aviation and automotive roles rather than road freight: air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors; automotive service technicians; and aircraft mechanics and inspectors. Which occupations are on the 2026 transport list has almost nothing in common with which occupations were on the 2023 list carrying the same category name.
Side by side
| 2023–24 version | 2026 version | |
|---|---|---|
| First round | 20 September 2023 | No draw held yet as of the most recent data |
| Occupation focus | Truck-driver-heavy road transport | Aviation and automotive |
| 2025 status | No draws — category not active | Category re-launched for 2026 |
Why the name stayed the same while the substance changed
This is the trap in tracking category names alone: “transport occupations” sounds like a continuation, but a candidate whose profile matched the 2023 list has no guarantee of matching the 2026 one, and vice versa. Transport category changes from 2023 to 2026 didn’t add occupations to an existing list — they replaced the list almost entirely, with only the category’s name surviving the transition intact.
What this means if you work in transport
If your occupation is a road-transport role that once qualified under the 2023 version, that door has closed — the current list doesn’t include it. If your occupation sits in aviation maintenance, piloting, or automotive service, a category has opened that didn’t previously exist in this form. Either way, checking the current occupation list directly, rather than relying on a category’s reputation from a year or two ago, is the only reliable way to know where you stand.
The broader lesson
Category names are labels IRCC reuses; the occupation lists underneath them are what actually determine eligibility, and those lists can be rebuilt from the ground up between one year and the next. Before assuming any category — transport or otherwise — fits your profile, check the current list on IRCC’s own category-based selection page, and if your occupation sits near a boundary or a recent change, a licensed RCIC can help confirm where you actually stand.