Express Entry – What you need to know!

Canada welcomes foreign skilled workers with the necessary work experience and grant them the opportunity to immigrate and become a permanent resident through Express Entry. Express Entry is an online system that manages applications for the following economic immigration programs:

  • Federal Skilled Worker Program
  • Federal Skilled Trades Program
  • Canadian Experience Class

Some provinces and territories (except Quebec which does not have a provincial nominee program) also use the Express Entry system to invite candidates under the Provincial Nominee Program.

How does Express Entry work?

Skilled workers who qualify and meet the criteria of at least one of the economic immigration programs can create an Express Entry profile to become part of the pool of candidates. Once a profile is created, candidates will get a score based on their qualifications which will then determine their rank in the pool. The top-ranking candidates or those that are nominated by a province or territory are then invited to apply for permanent residency.

If a candidate is invited to apply, the candidate has 60 days to submit the application for permanent residence. (Please note that the 90-day period to apply has ended and is only applicable to candidates who were invited before June 29, 2021). Upon submission of complete application with all the supporting documents, the application will be processed in about 6 months or less.

How to create an Express Entry profile?

The system generally considers language skills, age, type and amount of work experience, education, job offer and other factors that will contribute to the economic success of the immigration candidate. Further, although each program has its own eligibility criteria, as a minimum requirement to create a profile, you must be able to provide information from these documents:

  • a passport or travel document;
  • language test results;
  • proof of Canadian education or an educational credential assessment (ECA) report;
  • provincial nomination (if you have one);
  • written job offer from an employer in Canada (if you have one);
  • proof of work experience;
  • Canada-issued certificate of qualification in a trade occupation (if you have one);
  • proof of funds

Candidates without a valid job offer or a provincial/territorial nomination are required to register with the Government of Canada’s Job Bank within the first 30 days following the profile submission. Failure to register with the Job Bank will result to the candidate being ineligible for an invitation to apply.

You can also check if you are eligible here.

Latest News on Invitations to Apply

On August 19, 2021, Canada issued 3,000 invitations to apply. Under this round of invitations, only candidates from Canadian Experience Class with scores of at least 403 were eligible. To be invited, candidate must have ranked 3,000 or above.

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