Who is an ideal candidate for Express Entry?
Is a program for skilled workers with foreign work experience who want to immigrate to Canada permanently.
This program has minimum requirements for:
- Skilled work experience
- Language ability
- Education
You must meet all the minimum requirements to be eligible.
Express Entry is a competitive immigration system, ranking all eligible candidates against one another and then inviting the best ranking candidates to apply for Canadian permanent resident status. Candidates are ranked against one another based on their age, education, language proficiency, work experience, and other factors.
What is the process?
If you meet all the minimum requirements, we’ll then assess your application based on:
- Age
- Education
- Work experience
- Whether you have a valid job offer
- English and/or French language skills
- Adaptability (how well you’re likely to settle in Canada)
These factors are part of a 100-point grid used to assess eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. You earn points for how well you do in each of the 6 factors.
The current pass mark is 67 points.
Skilled Work Experience
Skilled work experience means that you’ve worked in 1 of these National Occupational Classification (NOC) job groups:
- Managerial jobs (skill type 0)
- Professional jobs (skill level A)
- Technical jobs and skilled trades (skill level B)
You must show that while working in your primary occupation, you performed the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC.
This includes all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
- Your skilled work experience must be:
- In the same type of job (have the same NOC) as the job you want to use for your immigration application (called your primary occupation)
- Within the last 10 years
- Paid work (have been paid wages or earned commission—volunteer work or unpaid internships don’t count)
- Full-time at 1 job: 30 hours/week for 12 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)
- Equal amount in part-time: 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)
- Full-time at more than 1 job: 30 hours/week for 12 months at more than 1 job = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)
Language ability
- A minimum score of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in all 4 abilities (writing, reading, listening, speaking).
If you have foreign education, you must have:
- A completed credential, and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes from a designated organization showing that your education is equal to a completed certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:
- secondary institution (high school) or post-secondary institution
Proof of funds
You must show that you have enough money for you and your family to settle in Canada, unless you:
- Are currently able to legally work in Canada
- Have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada
When you fill out your profile, we’ll ask you where you plan to live in Canada. You don’t have to settle in that province or territory.
