Express Entry Trades Category 2026: Why Cooks Were Axed & What It Means for CRS Scores
Executive Summary: The 2026 Trades Category Overhaul
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has quietly but fundamentally altered the Express Entry Trade Occupations category for 2026. The changes are designed to prioritize hands-on construction workers over food service employees.
- Removed: Cooks (NOC 63200) and Chefs (NOC 62200) are no longer eligible for Trades draws.
- Added: Butchers (NOC 63201) have been moved into the Trades category.
- New Rules: The work experience requirement has shifted from 6 months continuous to 12 months (continuous or non-continuous), heavily benefiting construction workers.
- The CRS Impact: Without Cooks inflating the pool's scores, the CRS cut-off for future Trades draws is expected to drop significantly.
A Quiet Change Has Reshaped Express Entry’s Skilled Trades Category
When Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab stood before the Canadian Club in Toronto on February 18, 2026, to announce the new Express Entry categories for military recruits, transport, and senior managers, a massive shift to an existing category flew completely under the radar.
IRCC has quietly overhauled the Trade Occupations category. By removing food service workers and tweaking the work experience rules, Canada is actively ensuring that the people invited under this category are actually the ones building the country's homes and infrastructure.
Find Out if Your NOC Code is on the 2026 Trades List1. The Problem: Cooks Were Taking All the ITAs
In October 2024, the federal government identified Trade Occupations as a priority category. The stated purpose was clear: bring in skilled tradespeople to build more housing and increase housing affordability across Canada.
However, the Express Entry system operates on a points-based hierarchy. IRCC data revealed a glaring flaw in the pool composition: Cooks had significantly higher Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores than construction workers.
The Eye-Opening Data from January 2025
IRCC determined that if they had issued a 2,000-person Trades draw on January 31, 2025, the results would have been disastrous for the construction sector. Out of 2,000 ITAs, a staggering 1,121 invitations would have gone to Cooks alone, compared to just 401 ITAs distributed across twenty critical construction trades combined.
Here is what that hypothetical distribution of construction ITAs looked like:
| Hands-On Construction Trade | Estimated ITAs (Out of 2,000) |
|---|---|
| Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors (72100) | 122 |
| Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics (72400) | 53 |
| Welders and related machine operators (72106) | 53 |
| Carpenters (72310) | 48 |
| Painters and decorators (73112) | 36 |
| Electricians (except industrial and power system) (72200) | 19 |
| Cabinetmakers (72311) | 13 |
| Industrial electricians (72201) | 11 |
| Concrete finishers (73100) | 8 |
| Electrical mechanics (72422) | 8 |
| Plumbers (72300) | 7 |
| Heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics (72402) | 6 |
| Floor covering installers (73113) | 5 |
| Roofers and shinglers (73110) | 4 |
| Sheet metal workers (72102) | 4 |
| Gas fitters (72302) | 3 |
| Bricklayers (72320) | 1 |
| Elevator constructors/mechanics, Machine fitters, Residential installers | 0 |
| Total ITAs for 20 Construction Trades Combined | 401 |
This massive imbalance explains why IRCC held only a single, small trade occupations draw in 2025 (issuing just 1,250 ITAs, down from 3,600 in 2024). They needed to fix the category first.
2. The 2026 Solution: Removing Cooks and Chefs
To resolve the issue and realign the category with Canada's housing goals, IRCC updated the web page for category-based draws on February 18, 2026, implementing the following changes:
- REMOVED: Cooks (63200) and Chefs (62200) are officially disqualified from targeted Trades draws.
- ADDED: Butchers (63201) have been added to the Trades category. (This was the sole remaining occupation in the now-retired agriculture and agri-food category).
With the high-scoring demographic of cooks removed from the applicant pool, the baseline CRS cut-off for future Trade Occupations draws is expected to drop significantly. If you are a carpenter, plumber, or electrician with a score around 390-400, your chances of selection have skyrocketed in 2026.
3. The "Continuous Work" Rule Has Been Scrapped
Perhaps the most beneficial update for tradespeople is a shift in how work experience is calculated.
Previously, to qualify for a Category-Based Draw, candidates needed 6 months of continuous work experience in the target sector. In 2026, IRCC changed this rule across all occupational categories. Candidates now need 12 months of work experience within the past three years—but it no longer needs to be continuous.
The jettisoning of the "continuous" requirement is a game-changer for skilled tradespeople. Workers in the construction industry are frequently subject to seasonal layoffs, contract endings, and project-based gaps in employment. They can now piece together 12 months of non-continuous experience to qualify for PR.
4. What to Expect Next
As of the time of writing, IRCC has not yet held a Trade Occupations draw in 2026. However, with the pool now properly filtered to target housing and infrastructure workers, a dedicated draw with a substantially lower CRS cut-off is highly anticipated in the coming weeks.
Are You Ready for the First Trades Draw of 2026?
With Cooks and Chefs removed, the door is wide open for construction and industrial workers. Let our experts optimize your Express Entry profile to ensure you perfectly meet the new 12-month non-continuous experience rule.
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