What the Work Category Demands From Physicians on Canadian Experience
Canada created a brand-new Express Entry category in December 2025 aimed at one specific shortage: doctors. This physicians with canadian work experience category reference lays out exactly who it covers, what it demands, and why its cut-off scores have been the lowest recorded in the entire 2022–2026 draw window.
Where it came from
IRCC announced the category on 8 December 2025 in a news release titled “Targeted immigration measures to boost Canada’s supply of doctors.” Alongside the category, the package gave provinces extra federal nomination spaces reserved for doctors who already have a job offer, and committed to 14-day work permit processing for doctors nominated under those provincial spots.
Physicians category eligible occupations
Only three occupations qualify:
- General practitioners and family physicians
- Specialists in surgery
- Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
That’s the whole list. A doctor working in a different specialty, or in a role adjacent to medicine but not directly one of these three, does not qualify through this specific category no matter how strong the rest of their profile is.
The catch: Canadian experience only
This is an express entry category for doctors built entirely around experience already gained inside Canada — at least one year, full-time or the part-time equivalent, within the previous three years. There is no path into this category for a physician who has only ever practised abroad. A foreign medical doctors canada immigration category it is not; it is a Canadian-experience category that happens to be built around medical occupations.
What the cut-offs have looked like
The category has drawn twice so far. Round 397 on 19 February 2026 issued 391 ITAs at a CRS cut-off of just 169 — the second-lowest cut-off recorded anywhere in the March 2022 to July 2026 dataset. Round 421 on 24 June 2026 issued 271 ITAs at CRS 223. Both numbers sit dramatically below CEC’s 500-plus cut-offs, reflecting how narrow and specific the eligible pool is.
Part of a wider pattern
Physicians was the first of three Canadian-experience-only categories to appear in this window, with senior managers and researchers following in February 2026. All three share the identical structure: a short, specific occupation list, a Canada-only experience rule, and — so far, where a round has run — cut-offs well beneath what CEC or PNP rounds have demanded.
What it doesn’t do
An Express Entry invitation, even at a rock-bottom CRS score, is not a licence to practise medicine in Canada. A South African-trained doctor still has to satisfy the relevant provincial medical regulator — a separate, and usually much slower, process than immigration itself. An Educational Credential Assessment is not a substitute for that either.
South African doctors weighing this route should get an assessment from a licensed RCIC or immigration lawyer rather than relying on a general explainer like this one. What’s clear from the draw record, and what this category keeps confirming for physicians with Canadian work experience draw after draw, is that if you already have that year of Canadian experience in one of the three listed occupations, this has been the single easiest door in Express Entry to walk through.