Express Entry

Conditions you must meet

• You must qualify for one of the three programs Express Entry managesCanadian Experience Class — for skilled workers with eligible Canadian work experience. Federal Skilled Worker Program — for skilled workers with eligible foreign or Canadian work experience. Federal Skilled Trades Program — for skilled workers qualified in a skilled trade.
• Meet the language ability threshold for your programMeasured on the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB), the Canadian standard for measuring an immigrant's English language ability. Canadian Experience Class: CLB 7 for TEER 0 or TEER 1 occupations, CLB 5 for TEER 2 or TEER 3. Federal Skilled Worker Program: CLB 7. Federal Skilled Trades Program: CLB 5 for speaking and listening, CLB 4 for reading and writing.
• Hold the type of work experience your program requiresOccupations are classified by the National Occupational Classification (NOC), whose six TEER categories are based on the education and training an occupation needs. Canadian Experience Class: Canadian work experience in an occupation in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. Federal Skilled Worker Program: work experience in an occupation in one of TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. Federal Skilled Trades Program: work experience in a skilled trade under key groups of TEER 2 or 3 — major group 72 (technical trades and transportation officers and controllers, excluding sub-major group 726), major group 73 (general trades), major group 82, major group 83, major group 92, major group 93 (excluding sub-major group 932), minor group 6320 (cooks, butchers and bakers) and unit group 62200 (chefs).
• Hold the amount of work experience your program requiresCanadian Experience Class: 1 year in Canada in the last 3 years, in any combination of full-time or part-time work. Federal Skilled Worker Program: 1 year continuous within the last 10 years, which may combine part-time, full-time or more than one job in your primary occupation. Federal Skilled Trades Program: 2 years within the last 5 years, in any combination of full-time or part-time work.
• Job offer — required only for the Federal Skilled Trades ProgramCanadian Experience Class: not required. Federal Skilled Worker Program: not required, but a valid job offer earns selection criteria points. Federal Skilled Trades Program: required — either a valid job offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least 1 year, or a certificate of qualification in the skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
• Education — required only for the Federal Skilled Worker ProgramCanadian Experience Class: not required. Federal Skilled Worker Program: secondary education required, with more selection criteria points available for post-secondary education. Federal Skilled Trades Program: not required.

Documents you must provide

• Get your documents readyIRCC names five document categories for an Express Entry application: language test, education, job offer, funds and police certificates. The requirements and thresholds for each are on a separate get-your-documents-ready page that is not a registered source, so nothing further is claimed about them here.

Steps in the process

• Answer the eligibility questionnaireIRCC offers two routes: the Come to Canada tool, which ends in a personal reference code used to move your information into your Express Entry profile, or the questionnaire inside your IRCC secure account.
• Create a profile and enter the poolIRCC invites the candidates with the most points in rounds; only an invited candidate fills out the application.
• Calculate your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scoreThe CRS score decides which candidates in the pool are invited. IRCC publishes the scoring tables and the cut-off for each round on separate pages that were not read.
• Submit the online permanent residence applicationAvailable only after an invitation to apply. IRCC describes the step as submitting the online form, uploading documents and paying the fees.
• Give your biometrics after you applyIRCC lists biometrics as part of the after-you-apply stage. Neither page read states who must give them or what they cost for a permanent residence application, so no fee is recorded for this step.

Government fees

• Permanent residence application fee (economic immigration, including Express Entry)CAD 1,590.00, which IRCC states includes the processing fee and the right of permanent residence fee. CAD 990.00 is the same application without the right of permanent residence fee. IRCC lists this fee band for the Canadian Experience Class, federal skilled workers and federal skilled trades, alongside several other economic programs.
• Fee to include your spouse or partnerCAD 1,590.00 including the right of permanent residence fee, or CAD 990.00 without it.
• Fee to include a dependent childCAD 270.00 per child.
• Right of permanent residence feeCAD 600.00. It is already inside the CAD 1,590.00 amounts above — the CAD 990.00 variants are those amounts with this fee removed. IRCC states it is payable before you become a permanent resident, that paying it with the application fees avoids delays, that it is refunded if you withdraw or IRCC refuses the application, and that it does not apply to the dependent children of a principal applicant.

VisaAI suggestions

Not required by the authority. These are VisaAI’s suggestions for presenting a clearer application.

• Consider applying through the Provincial Nominee ProgramIRCC presents this as an option, not a requirement: a candidate eligible for one of the three Express Entry programs may also apply through Express Entry for the Provincial Nominee Program, and a nomination earns extra points. PNP criteria are set by each province and were not read.