The 2026 Proposal Roughly to Merge FSW Particularly, CEC and FSTP Seriously Into One Federal High Skilled Program
Imagine reading three separate sets of eligibility rules — one for Federal Skilled Worker, one for Canadian Experience Class, one for the Federal Skilled Trades Program — trying to work out which one your profile fits, before you’ve even opened an Express Entry account. IRCC has floated a change that would remove that step entirely.
Between 23 April and 24 May 2026, IRCC ran a public consultation setting out the proposal to merge FSW CEC and FSTP into one program. Here is what the discussion paper actually says, and what it doesn’t — starting with the fact that this is a consultation document, not a bill already before Parliament.
The three programs being folded into one
Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Program are currently three distinct programs under Express Entry, each with its own minimum requirements and its own selection grid. The IRCC discussion paper federal high skilled reform proposes replacing all three with a single Federal High Skilled program, with one shared set of minimum requirements rather than three separate gatekeepers.
What the new minimum would look like
The proposed common floor is Canadian high-school-equivalent education, CLB or NCLC 6 in all four language abilities, and one year of cumulative TEER 0–3 skilled work experience, acquired either inside Canada or abroad. That last detail matters for offshore applicants specifically — unlike the newer “with Canadian work experience” categories, this proposed minimum explicitly allows foreign-earned experience to count.
Two structural pieces would disappear alongside it. Dropping the 67 point FSW grid proposal would remove the standalone selection grid it currently uses to determine basic eligibility, separate from CRS itself. The Federal Skilled Trades Program’s certificate-of-qualification and job-offer requirement would also go, folded into the same simplified minimum as everyone else.
What is still just a discussion paper
None of this is in force. IRCC’s own consultation explicitly frames these as proposals requiring amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and to the Ministerial Instructions before anything changes — steps that hadn’t been taken as at this writing, and for which no implementation date has been announced. The consultation also stated plainly that it doesn’t touch the existing occupation-based categories at all; whatever happens to these three merging programs, French-language proficiency, healthcare, trades and the rest continue operating under their own current rules regardless.
What to actually do with this
Treat the CLB 6 minimum across all programs proposed as exactly that: not yet in force. The programs you would apply under today are still the three separate ones, with their current separate rules, until any regulatory change is actually made and announced. Nothing about this plan to fold the three programs into a single stream is active yet, and treating it as though it already were would be the mistake to avoid. Following the consultation is worthwhile for understanding where Express Entry might be heading; acting as though it has already happened wouldn’t be.
The same discussion paper floated a second, related idea worth knowing about separately: bringing back some form of job-offer CRS points, but only for high-wage occupations, and only as a proposal at this stage too. Neither idea has a publication date for the actual regulatory amendment, and IRCC has not said which, if either, will move first.
We’ll update Cape2Canada’s Express Entry Explained guide the moment any of this becomes a rule rather than a discussion paper.