Canada is updating its immigration system to support sustainable growth and strengthen the economy, the federal government said on Tuesday.

The focus is on attracting highly skilled workers through the International Talent Attraction Strategy.

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lena Metlege Diab, introduced new 2026 categories under the Express Entry system.

These will target foreign medical doctors with Canadian experience, researchers, senior managers, and skilled military personnel.

There are also new streams for pilots, aircraft mechanics, and inspectors.

Existing categories for French-speaking workers and skilled trades like carpentry, plumbing, and machining will continue. Health care roles, including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and psychologists, remain in demand.

“Canada’s future depends on a workforce ready for a changing economy. Express Entry now focuses on the skills our communities need,” said Minister Metlege Diab.

Immigration accounts for nearly all of Canada’s labour force growth.

The first draw for foreign medical doctors is planned in the coming days, with ongoing draws for other skilled workers through early 2026. These changes aim to bring in top talent and strengthen critical sectors like health care, defence, and research.

A United States federal court has sentenced a Nigerian national, Matthew Akande, to eight years in prison for masterminding a cyber fraud scheme that defrauded the U.S. government of more than $1.3 million through fraudulent tax filings.

Akande, 37, was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, according to a statement published on the U.S. government’s website.

In addition to the prison term, he was ordered to pay $1,393,230 in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.

The statement read in part: “A Nigerian national living in Mexico, who was extradited to the United States, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to break into Massachusetts tax preparation firms’ computer networks and to file fraudulent tax returns.”

Authorities said Akande was arrested in October 2024 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom at the request of U.S. officials and was extradited to the United States on March 5, 2025.

He had earlier been indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2022 on multiple charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized access to protected computers, theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors revealed that between June 2016 and June 2021, Akande and his accomplices carried out phishing attacks targeting tax preparation firms in Massachusetts.

The fraudulent emails, disguised as inquiries from prospective clients, were designed to trick recipients into installing remote-access trojan malware, including a program known as Warzone RAT.

According to the statement, “Akande worked with others to steal money from the United States government using taxpayers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to file fraudulent tax returns in the taxpayers’ names.”

Investigators said the malware enabled the group to access clients’ personal information and prior-year tax records.

Using the stolen data, they filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in refunds.

The refunds were directed to bank accounts opened by co-conspirators in the United States, who withdrew the funds in cash and transferred a portion to third parties in Mexico at Akande’s direction.

“In total, Akande and his coconspirators filed more than 1,000 fraudulent tax returns seeking over $8.1 million in fraudulent tax refunds over approximately five years.

“They successfully obtained over $1.3 million in fraudulent tax refunds,” the statement added.