Do you qualify for Express Entry’s new STEM category?
Express Entry’s STEM category looks drastically different than it did two months ago, with 19 occupations having been removed and six having been added.
Many foreign nationals no longer qualify for the STEM category, while other foreign nationals have only recently become eligible.
Check your eligibility for all category-based draws
Qualifying for a category-based draw can make the difference between getting Canadian permanent residency (PR), or never being invited to apply for PR.
This article will cover
Which occupations are eligible under the updated STEM category; and
How to find out if you’re eligible.
Occupations listed under the updated STEM category in 2025
Following the changes in February 2025, the STEM category has 11 occupations in total.
You can find the full list of occupations along with their corresponding National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes below, with the newly added occupations bolded.
OccupationNOC code
Architecture and science managers20011
Civil engineering technologists and technicians22300
Civil Engineers21300
Cybersecurity specialists21220
Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians22310
Electrical and electronics engineers21310
Geological Engineers21331
Industrial and manufacturing engineers21321
Insurance agents and brokers63100
Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians22301
Mechanical Engineers21301
Canada’s National Occupation Classification (NOC) system classifies jobs according to the roles and responsibilities of each occupation. The title corresponding to your NOC code may be different from your job title.
How do I determine whether my work experience is eligible for an Express Entry category?
To be eligible for a category, you must have accumulated at least six months of full-time continuous work experience (or an equal amount of part-time experience) within the past three years in a category-eligible occupation (be it in Canada or abroad).
You also have to meet the minimum criteria for Express Entry, including being eligible for one of the three immigration programs it covers, namely:
Canadian Experience Class
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Federal Skilled Trades Program.
If you are eligible, the next step is to find out if your work experience corresponds to the requirements of the eligible occupations listed.
Step 1: Visiting the Government of Canada’s NOC page and finding the NOC code and occupation that corresponds most closely with your work experience.
Type your job title(s) or other keywords into the “Filter items” search bar. If you don’t find a NOC code, try variations of your job title(s).
Take note of the NOC code(s) which correspond(s) most closely to the work experience for each role you have held in your career, for which you have worked full-time for at least six continuous months during the past three years.
Step 2: Verify this against the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) webpage by clicking on the “Search by NOC Code” tab, looking up each NOC code that corresponds to your work experience.
This will tell you example titles of each NOC code, along with a list of duties that align with each occupation.
Cross references the duties involved in each role of your work experience with the actions in the lead statement of each NOC code. For your role to be considered to correspond to a given NOC, you must have performed a substantial number of the main duties of the occupation, as set out in the NOC description.
Step 3: Check if one of your NOC codes is in the table above. If it is, you are eligible for the STEM category.
Check your eligibility for category-based draws
Newly added occupations to the STEM category with alternate job titles
Here’s a look at the occupations that were added to the STEM category in February 2025. It also lists some alternate or example job titles of the eligible occupations.
NOC Occupation titleExample Job Titles
Civil engineering technologists and technicians Bridge design technician
Building materials technician
Construction specifications writer
Construction technologist
Foundation technologist
Highway technician
Municipal engineering assistant
Soil technologist – civil engineering
Structural design technologist
Structural investigator
Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians Communications technologist
Electricity distribution network technologist
Electronics design technologist
Electronics engineering technician
Electronics engineering technologist
Electronics manufacturing technician
Electronics manufacturing technologist
Lighting technologist
Metering technologist
Microwave maintenance technician
Production support technician – electronics manufacturing
Geological Engineers Geophysical engineer
Hydrogeological engineer – engineering
Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians Aeronautical technologist
Heating designer
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technologist
Machine designer
Marine engineering technologist
Mechanical technologist
Mould designer
Thermal station technician
Tool and die designer
Tool designer
Mechanical Engineers Acoustics engineer
Automotive engineer
Design engineer – mechanical
Energy conservation engineer
Fluid mechanics engineer
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) engineer
Mechanical maintenance engineer
Nuclear engineer
Piping engineer
Power generation engineer
Refrigeration engineer
Robotics engineer
Thermal design engineer
Tool engineer
Insurance agents and brokers Insurance sales representative
Insurance sales supervisor
Removed occupations
The following occupations used to be part of the STEM category, prior to having been removed in February of 2025:
Job TitleNOC Code
Architects21200
Business systems specialists21221
Computer and information systems managers20012
Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)21311
Computer systems developers and programmers21230
Data scientists21211
Database analysts and data administrators21223
Engineering managers20010
Information systems specialists21222
Land surveyors21203
Landscape Architects21201
Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries21210
Metallurgical and materials engineers21322
Natural and applied science policy researchers, consultants, and program officers41400
Software developers and programmers21232
Software engineers and designers21231
Urban and land use planners21202
Web designers21233
Web developers and programmers21234
How can Express Entry categories help my chances of becoming a Canadian PR?
If you qualify for a category-based draw, you have a better chance of receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence through Express Entry. This is because in a category-based draw, IRCC invites only those candidates who meet the category’s criteria, so these draws have a lower CRS cut-off score than general draws and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws.
For instance, in 2024, general draw CRS cut-offs ranged from 524 to 549. And the CRS cut-off for CEC draws ranged between 507 and 547.
But the STEM draw that year had a lower cut-off of 491, with 4,500 candidates receiving invitations to apply for PR.
So, even if your CRS score isn’t high enough (for example, 500 or above) for a general or CEC draw, you could still be invited if you work in an in-demand occupation.
