In 2015, Canada introduced the new Express Entry system for processing applications to most federal economic immigration programs. All three programs under the Express Entry system are highly competitive. Immigration candidates are ranked against one another and only the highest-ranking candidates are selected to become Canadian permanent residents.
In order to rank immigration candidates, the Canadian government developed a merit-based points system which assigns a score to each candidate in the Express Entry pool. This points system is called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and the score assigned to each candidate is called the CRS score.Express Entry manages three programs:
Any person who submits a profile to the Express Entry pool of candidates is assigned a CRS score out of 1200 points. Approximately every two weeks, the Canadian government conducts an Express Entry draw, where they issue a round of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence to the highest-ranking candidates.Note that IRCC does not disclose information regarding the date of the draw, number of ITAs that will be issued, or minimum required CRS score in advance of the draw.
CRS Score
The tables below explain how many points Express Entry candidates may receive for each factor under the Comprehensive Ranking System.
Did you know?
If your spouse or partner is not accompanying you to Canada, or if they are a citizen or permanent resident, you will earn points as if you don’t have a spouse or partner.
Summary of maximum points per factor for Express Entry candidates
Factors
Maximum Points Available
A. Core / Human Capital Factors
460 (with spouse)
500 (without spouse)
B. Spouse or Common-Law Factors
40
C. Skill Transferability Factors
100
D. Additional Points
600
Maximum Total Points
1200
A. Core / Human Capital Factors
Factors
Points
With a spouse or common-law partner
Without a spouse or common-law partner
Age
100
110
Level of education
140
150
Official languages proficiency
150
160
Canadian work experience
70
80
Maximum
460
500
B. Spouse or common-law partner factors
Factors
Points
Level of education
10
Official language proficiency
20
Canadian Work Experience
10
Maximum
40
A. Core/human capital + B. Spouse or common-law partner factors = Maximum 500 points (with OR without a spouse or common-law partner)
C. Skill Transferability factors (Maximum 100 points)
Factor
Points
Education
With good/strong official languages proficiency and a post-secondary degree
50
With Canadian work experience and a post-secondary degree
50
Maximum
50
Foreign work experience
With good/strong official languages proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark [CLB] level 7 or higher) and foreign work experience
50
With Canadian work experience and foreign work experience
50
Maximum
50
Certificate of qualification (for people in trade occupations)
With good/strong official languages proficiency and a certificate of qualification
50
Maximum
50
Maximum
100
A. Core/human capital + B. Spouse or common-law partner + C. Transferability factors = Maximum 600 points
D. Additional points (Maximum 600 points)
Factor
Points
Brother or sister living in Canada (citizen or permanent resident)
15
French language skills
30
Post-secondary education in Canada
30
Arranged employment
200
PN nomination
600
Maximum
600
A. Core/human capital + B. Spouse or common-law partner factors + C. Transferability factors + D. Additional points = Grand total – Maximum 1,200 points
Points breakdown, section by section
A – Core / human capital factors
With a spouse or common-law partner: Maximum 460 points total for all factors.
Without a spouse or common-law partner: Maximum 500 points total for all factors.
Age Factors
Age
With a spouse or common-law partner
Without a spouse or common-law partner
17 years of age or less
0
0
18 years of age
90
99
19 years of age
95
105
20 to 29 years of age
100
110
30 years of age
95
105
31 years of age
90
99
32 years of age
85
94
33 years of age
80
88
34 years of age
75
83
35 years of age
70
77
36 years of age
65
72
37 years of age
60
66
38 years of age
55
61
39 years of age
50
55
40 years of age
45
50
41 years of age
35
39
42 years of age
25
28
43 years of age
15
17
44 years of age
5
6
45 years of age or more
0
0
Maximum
100
110
Education Factors
Level of Education
With a spouse or common-law partner
Without a spouse or common-law partner
Less than secondary school (high school)
0
0
Secondary diploma (high school graduation)
28
30
One-year degree, diploma or certificate from a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute
84
90
Two-year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute
91
98
Bachelor's degree OR a three or more year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute
112
120
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three or more years
119
128
Master's degree, OR professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession (For “professional degree,” the degree program must have been in: medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, law, chiropractic medicine, or pharmacy.)
126
135
Doctoral level university degree (Ph.D.)
140
150
Maximum
140
150
First Official Language Factors
Official languages proficiency – first official languageMaximum points for each ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening)
32 with a spouse or common-law partner
34 without a spouse or common-law partner
Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level per ability
With a spouse or common-law partner
Without a spouse or common-law partner
*Points are awarded for each language ability
Less than CLB 4
0
0
CLB 4 or 5
6
6
CLB 6
8
9
CLB 7
16
17
CLB 8
22
23
CLB 9
29
31
CLB 10 or more
32
34
Maximum
128
136
Second Official Language Factors
Official languages proficiency – second official languageMaximum points for each ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening)
6 with a spouse or common-law partner up to a maximum of 22 points
6 without a spouse or common-law partner up to a maximum of 24 points
Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level per ability
With a spouse or common-law partner
Without a spouse or common-law partner
*Points are awarded for each language ability
CLB 4 or less
0
0
CLB 5 or 6
1
1
CLB 7 or 8
3
3
CLB 9 or more
6
6
Maximum
22
24
Canadian Work Experience Factors
Canadian work experience
With a spouse or common-law partner
Without a spouse or common-law partner
None or less than a year
0
0
1 year
35
40
2 years
46
53
3 years
56
64
4 years
63
72
5 years or more
70
80
Maximum
70
80
Subtotal: A – Core / human capital factors
With a spouse or common-law partner – Maximum 460 points
Without a spouse or common-law partner – Maximum 500 points
B - Spouse or common-law partner factors
Level of Education
Spouse’s or common-law partner’s level of education
With spouse or common-law partner
Without spouse or common-law partner
Less than secondary school (high school)
0
n/a
Secondary school (high school graduation)
2
n/a
One-year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute
6
n/a
Two-year program at a university, college, trade or technical in school, or other institute
7
n/a
Bachelor's degree OR a three or more year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute
8
n/a
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three or more years
9
n/a
Master's degree, or professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession (For “professional degree”, the degree program must have been in: medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, law, chiropractic medicine, or pharmacy.)
10
n/a
Doctoral level university degree (PhD)
10
n/a
Maximum
10
Does Not Apply
Spouse’s or common-law partner’s official languages proficiency - first official language
Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level per ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening )
With spouse or common-law Partner
Without spouse or common-law partner
*Points are awarded for each language ability
CLB 4 or less
0
n/a
CLB 5 or 6
1
n/a
CLB 7 or 8
3
n/a
CLB 9 or more
5
n/a
Maximum
20
Does Not Apply
Note: (n/a) means that this factor does not apply in this case.
Spouse or Common-Law Partner's Canadian Work Experience
Spouse's Canadian work experience
With spouse or common-law partner
Without spouse or common-law partner
None or less than a year
0
n/a
1 year
5
n/a
2 years
7
n/a
3 years
8
n/a
4 years
9
n/a
5 years or more
10
n/a
Maximum
10
Does Not Apply
Note: (n/a) means that this factor does not apply in this case.
Subtotal: A – Core / human capital + B – Spouse or common-law partner factors – Maximum 500 points
C - Skill Transferability factors (Maximum 100 points for this section)
Education and Language Proficiency
With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 7 or higher) and a post-secondary degree
Points for CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities, with one or more under CLB 9
Points for CLB 9 or more on all four first official language abilities
Secondary school (high school) credential or less
0
0
Post-secondary program credential of one year or longer
13
25
Two or more post-secondary program credentials AND at least one of these credentials was issued on completion of a post-secondary program of three years or longer
25
50
Maximum
25
50
Education and Canadian Work Experience
With Canadian work experience and a post-secondary degree
Points for education + 1 year of Canadian work experience
Points for education + 2 years or more of Canadian work experience
Secondary school (high school) credential or less
0
0
Post-secondary program credential of one year or longer
13
25
Two or more post-secondary program credentials AND at least one of these credentials was issued on completion of a post-secondary program of three years or longer
25
50
Maximum
25
50
Foreign work experience - with good official language proficiency (CLB 7 or higher)
Years of experience
Points for foreign work experience + CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities, one or more under 9
Points for foreign work experience + CLB 9 or more on all four first official language abilities
No foreign work experience
0
0
1 or 2 years of foreign work experience
13
25
3 years or more of foreign work experience
25
50
Maximum
25
50
Foreign work experience - with Canadian work experience
Years of experience
Points for foreign work experience + 1 year of Canadian work experience
Points for foreign work experience + 2 years or more of Canadian work experience
No foreign work experience
0
0
1 or 2 years of foreign work experience
13
25
3 years or more of foreign work experience
25
50
Maximum
25
50
Trade Certificate and Language Proficiency
Certificate of qualification (trade occupations) – With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 5 or higher)
Points for certificate of qualification + CLB 5 or more on all first official language abilities, one or more under 7
Points for certificate of qualification + CLB 7 or more on all four first official language abilities
With a certificate of qualification
25
50
Maximum
25
50
Subtotal: A – Core / human capital + B – Spouse or common-law partner + C – Skill transferability factors – Maximum 600 points
D - Additional points (Maximum 600 points)
Additional Points
Factor
Points
Brother or sister living in Canada (citizen or permanent resident)
15
French language skills
30
Post-secondary education in Canada
30
Arranged employment
200
PN nomination
600
Maximum
600
A. Core/human capital + B. Spouse or common-law partner factors + C. Transferability factors + D. Additional points = Grand total – Maximum 1,200 points
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