Express Entry

A selection system for Canadian immigration, designed to select skilled workers for immigration to Canada.

Express Entry is a completely electronic process involving the federal government, provincial governments, and Canadian employers. In order to best serve your needs, please choose whether you are a potential candidate for Canadian immigration or a Canadian employer interested in hiring skilled workers.

Express Entry is not an immigration program in itself, but rather a system used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to select candidates for immigration to Canada using the following economic immigration programs:

Federal Skilled Worker Class 

Federal Skilled Trades Class 

Canadian Experience Class

Some parts of Provincial Nominee Programs

Determine your eligibility and Process

If you are eligible, you can move on to the next step in the process.

If you are not currently eligible, you may strive to become eligible by improving your core human capital factors in areas such as your skills, work experience, language ability, and education credentials. Becoming eligible for one of the federal economic immigration programs is the first step toward immigrating to Canada through Express Entry.

Complete an online Express Entry profile

Candidates for Canadian permanent residence who are eligible for one of the federal economic immigration programs make an expression of interest in immigrating to Canada by creating an online profile. They provide information about their skills, work experience, language ability, education, and other personal information.

Candidates who meet the criteria of one of the aforementioned federal economic immigration programs are placed in a pool of candidates who are ranked according to a Comprehensive Ranking System. If a candidate does not already have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer or a provincial nomination, he or she may register with Canada’s Job Bank. As of June 6, 2017, registration in Canada’s Job Bank is no longer mandatory. However, registering in the Job Bank may improve a candidate’s visibility to Canadian employers.

Improve your profile and ranking

Candidates in the Express Entry pool are ranked according to the Comprehensive Ranking System, which ranks candidates under the following components:

• core human capital factors;
• accompanying spouse or common-law partner factors, if applicable;
• skill transferability factors; and
• Factors relating to a provincial nomination, qualifying offer of arranged employment, Canadian study experience, a sibling in Canada, and/or French language ability. 

There is a total of 1,200 points available under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

How to prepare for Express Entry

• Prepare for language exams
  • IELTS Preparation Online Course — prepare and get the results you need to immigrate to Canada.
  • French language testing, including the (TEF Canada), and the (TCF Canada).
• Get your foreign credentials assessed according to Canadian standards.
• Learn more about the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and use the free CRS Calculator tool.
• Deal with any medical inadmissibility or criminal inadmissibility issues you may have.
• Browse available Provincial Nominee Programs that have an enhanced stream aligned with Express Entry.
• Use the Search tool to search for available positions across Canada.

UNDERSTANDING CSR CALCULATOR

The Comprehensive Ranking System ranks eligible candidates for immigration to Canada through Express Entry under the following components:

Core human capital factors;

Skill transferability factors; and

Additional factors relating to a provincial nomination, a qualifying offer of arranged employment, Canadian study experience, a sibling in Canada, and/or French language ability

Candidates in the Express Entry pool can also take steps to improve their profile and increase their CRS score

Breakdown of Points

There is a total of 1,200 points available under the Comprehensive Ranking System.

For candidates without an accompanying spouse or common-law partner, there are:

• a maximum of 500 points available for core human capital factors;
• a maximum of 100 points available for skill transferability factors; and
• 600 points available for additional factors (including a provincial nomination, an offer of arranged employment, Canadian study experience, a sibling in Canada, and/or French language ability). 

For candidates with an accompanying spouse or common-law partner, there are:

• a maximum of 460 points available for core human capital factors of the principal applicant;
• a maximum of 40 points for the core human capital factors of the spouse or common-law partner;
• a maximum of 100 points available for skill transferability factors; and
• 600 points available for additional factors (including a provincial nomination, an offer of arranged employment, Canadian study experience, a sibling in Canada, and/or French language ability).

June 6, 2017, changes to the Comprehensive Ranking System include additional points awarded to candidates with French ability and to candidates with a sibling in Canada.

French ability

• 15 additional points for French-speaking candidates who prove adequate intermediate (equivalent to Canadian Language Benchmark 7) or better French ability, and English language test result of CLB 4 or lower, or no English test results at all.
• 30 additional points for French-speaking candidates who prove adequate intermediate or better French ability, and who also prove English language test result of CLB 5 or better.

Sibling in Canada

• 15 additional points for candidates with a sibling in Canada who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of at least 18 years of age. These points may also be awarded if the candidate’s spouse or common-law partner has a sibling in Canada. The candidate or his or her spouse/common-law partner must share a mother and/or father with the sibling in Canada. This relationship can be through blood, adoption, marriage, or common-law partnership.

Comprehensive Ranking System: Core Human Capital Factors

For the purposes of this table, “PA” refers to the principal applicant and “spouse” refers to the spouse or common-law partner.

Age -Level of education

First Language Ability (English or French)

*Points in the above chart are for each language ability: speaking, writing, reading, and listening, respectively.

Second Language Ability (English or French)

*Points in the above chart are for each language ability: speaking, writing, reading, and listening, respectively.

Canadian Work Experience

Comprehensive Ranking System: Skill Transferability Factors

A maximum of 100 points are awarded for a candidate’s skill transferability factors. There are five combinations of such skill transferability, with a maximum of 50 points awarded for each combination. Even if a candidate scores more than 100 points in total, only 100 points will be awarded under the Comprehensive Ranking System. Candidates with or without an accompanying spouse or common-law partner are awarded points for skill transferability in exactly the same way. There are no points available for the skill transferability of a candidate’s spouse or common-law partner.

For the purposes of this table, “CLB” refers to Canadian Language Benchmark.

Education and Canadian Work Experience

Education and Language Ability

Language Ability and Non-Canadian Work Experience

Canadian and non-Canadian Work Experience

Certificate of Qualification in a Trade and Language Ability

Comprehensive Ranking System: Additional Points

Points are only assigned for Canadian study experience if, for the purpose of obtaining the credential, the candidate:

• studied in Canada at a Canadian educational institution;
• was enrolled in full-time study or training for at least eight months; and
• was physically present in Canada for at least eight months.

A maximum of 15 points may be awarded for a sibling in Canada, regardless of how many siblings the candidate (and his or her spouse/common-law partner, if applicable) has in Canada.

The maximum available number of points for these additional factors for anyone candidate is 600 points. Therefore, if a candidate has completed a Canadian post-secondary study program and obtains an enhanced nomination certificate from a Canadian province, he or she will be awarded 600 points for these additional factors (rather than 615 or 630 points).