My partner and I immigrated to Canada last year using the Express Entry mechanism and at that time I was rather confused at to what the full process was and what all the jargon meant.
This is what this guide aims to address.
It’s a simple overview of what Express Entry is and how you can use it to immigrate to Canada to become a permanent resident. I’ll break down all the important steps to arm you with all the information you’ll need to make a successful application.
What is Express Entry?
Express Entry is the mechanism through which the Canadian Federal Government manages applications for permanent residency to Canada from skilled workers. The program was launched at the beginning of 2015 and as at the end of 2019 had admitted around 310,000 new permanent residents, with even more to be welcomed over the next 3 years.
Express Entry is the mechanism through which immigration candidates are selected; it is not an immigration program in itself. Rather, you use the Express Entry mechanism to apply using one of the immigration programs managed by Express Entry.
Which Canadian immigration programs are managed by Express Entry?
There are three immigration programs which are fully managed through the Express Entry mechanism. These are:
- Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Program. For skilled workers with no Canadian work experience.
- Federal Skilled Trades (FST) Program. For qualified tradespeople.
- Canadian Experience Class (CEC). For skilled workers with recent Canadian work experience.
You can read our guide to each program by selecting below.
Individual provinces or territories can also use Express Entry to manage their immigration through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). However in this case you still need to meet the requirements of one of the three programs mentioned above.
Minimum Express Entry requirements
If you want to immigrate to Canada to become a permanent resident using Express Entry there are a number of criteria you need to check if you meet.
The minimum requirements for Express Entry depends on the immigration program you apply under. But, the factors that are considered are:
- Your previous work experience. You must have a minimum of at least one year skilled work experience for all the immigration programs.
- Your language ability in either English or French covering writing, reading, speaking and listening. The minimum requirements vary for each program with FSW requiring the highest ability followed by CEC and FST.
- Your education. Minimum educational requirements only apply to the FSW Program but you should still enter any qualifications you have with the FST and CEC to get as many CRS points as possible (more information on CRS points later).
- Underlying health conditions.
- Criminal record.
- Having enough money to get settled in Canada for both FSW and FST. Not for CEC.
What is Canadian Permanent Residency (PR)?
If you are a Canadian Permanent Resident (Canadian PR) you can live, work and study anywhere in Canada indefinitely.
Your right to remain in the country is not dependent on you having a particular job or studying – i.e. temporary foreign workers and students are not Permanent Residents.
A Canadian Permanent Resident is different to a Canadian Citizen. You have many of the same rights, protections and responsibilities as a Canadian Citizen but you are not allowed to vote, run for political office or hold some high-level security clearance jobs.
To retain your permanent residency status you need to be in Canada for 730 days during the last five years.
Permanent Residency is the route to Canadian Citizenship.
What is the Express Entry Profile?
Your Express Entry Profile is the initial application you create on the online Express Entry portal. It is here that you enter all your details that will get you CRS points like age, education, employment etc.
Creating your profile is the first step in the Express Entry process to being selected to apply for Permanent Residency.
You can apply as a couple for permanent residency and combine your CRS points.
What is Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)?
Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is the method through which Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) assess how many points your Express Entry Profile gets.
How points are awarded depends on your immigration program but the areas where points are awarded cover things such as age, education, language ability, work experience and whether you are applying as an individual or with a skilled partner.
The more points you have the more chance you have of being picked from the Express Entry Pool and invited to apply for permanent residency. You can see how many points you might need to be picked from the pool by looking at previous CRS score cut offs here.
What is Express Entry Pool?
Once you have completed your Express Entry Profile, you will be given a CRS score and placed into the Express Entry Pool. The Express Entry Pool is the group of people who have completed Express Entry Profiles and have corresponding CRS scores.
Your profile will sit in this pool waiting for an Express Entry draw to take place with a low enough CRS score so that you are selected to apply for permanent residency.
What is Express Entry Draw?
Also known as Express Entry rounds of invitations, this is when IRCC selects people with the highest CRS scores from the Express Entry Pool and invites them to apply for Permanent Residency.
Essentially IRCC will decide a minimum CRS score and everyone above that score will be invited to apply.
IRCC will either do a draw only applicable to candidates who applied under a certain program (one of the programs administered by Express Entry: FSW, FST, CEC, PNP) or a draw which will apply to any program as long as they meet the minimum CRS cut off.
There is no fixed schedule for when draws are made but historically there have been about 2 per month. However this convention has been somewhat thrown out in 2021 as a result of the limitations on immigration from outside Canada because of COVID-19.
The number of people who are drawn each round varies. You can see details of all previous rounds of invitation including how many people were invited and at what frequency here.
Once you’ve been drawn from the pool you will be issued with an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residency. Read our article which explains how to complete your Invitation to Apply and what to expect from the process here.
If you are not drawn from the pool and issued an Invitation to Apply within 12 months, your profile will expire. You can create a new profile at this point if you wish to continue.
How long does Express Entry immigration to Canada take?
How long the whole process takes from end to end can vary substantially depending on a number of factors. IRCC used to quote 6-month processing time from the point they receive your Invitation to Apply (which is what you submit after you’ve been picked from the pool). But since the beginning of COVID-19 they have not been giving processing times.
Whilst most applications used to get processed within 6 months, it’s not a guarantee and some can take longer.
When we applied last year, it took pretty much bang on 6 months for us. The part that took the longest for us was waiting on our background checks to complete. You can check out our journey from receiving our Invitation to Apply to arriving in Canada here.
Keep in mind the 6 months does not include the time it takes for you to get picked from the pool. We were lucky and had enough points to be picked from the pool in the first draw a few days after submitting our profile, but depending on how many points you have, it could take a lot longer.
Last point is that the processing time can vary between immigration programs. For example, applications under the Canadian Experience Class seem to be processed quicker than FSW or FST.
Immigration to Quebec
Quebec has its own immigration program and doesn’t use Express Entry.
If your intention is to settle in Quebec then you have to apply through a different process which is set out by the Quebec Government. You can find out about this program here.
It is worth noting however that once you have Canadian Permanent Residency – through the normal Express Entry route – you can live in any province or territory in Canada, including Quebec.
How many immigrants does Canada allow per year?
In its latest immigration plan Canada set an aim to admit 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024, 500,000 in 2025 and 500,000 in 2026.