Express Entry; A more Dynamic Application Process for the Highest-Scoring Canada’s immigration Candidates
Don’t worry if you don’t have any job offers and work experience in Canada. Express Entry program is for you! Express Entry is the cheapest and fastest way to get permanent residency in Canada in the shortest possible time. This stream selects skilled-workers immigrants who plan to become a permanent residents. Thus, immigrants will be selected based on their abilities and qualifications to contribute to Canada’s economy.
The applications which Express Entry manages are for three economic programs as follows:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program
- Federal Skilled Trades Program
- Canadian Experience Class
Moreover, Express Entry’s applicants are recruited by Provinces and territories through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to meet their labor market needs. It’s interesting to know that over 108,000 permanent residents entered Canada through this stream in early 2022.
Table of Contents
Federal Skilled Worker Program
The program is for those skilled workers who have foreign work experience and want to immigrate to Canada and get permanent residency. Your application shall be assessed based on your age, education, and work experience in one National Occupational Classification (NOC) TEER categories (TEER 0 TEER 1 TEER 2 TEER 3), whether you have a valid job offer, language skills in French and English, and the way you will settle in Canada if you meet all the minimum requirements (skilled work experience, language ability, and education).
Moreover, you must present proof of your funds for you and your family to settle in Canada. The Federal Skilled Worker program has a 100-point grid for assessing your eligibility. The minimum pass mark is 67 points currently.
You can find the requirements in details below:
Requirements for Work Experience to Qualify for Immigration:
To qualify for immigration based on work experience, there are several requirements that you must meet.
- You must have at least one year of continuous paid work experience within the past 10 years in the same job type as your primary occupation.
- You must also have performed the essential and most important duties listed in the occupational description of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
- Additionally, you need to have worked for a minimum of 1,560 hours, which can be achieved through full-time work for 12 months, an equal amount of part-time work for 24 months, or full-time work at more than one job.
- Lastly, your work experience must be paid, and volunteer work or unpaid internships do not count towards the requirement.
By meeting these requirements, you can show that you have the necessary work experience to qualify for immigration based on your skills.
Student Work Experience
If you have gained work experience while studying, it may count towards your minimum work experience requirements for the Program, as long as the work meets certain criteria.
- The work must have been paid by wages or commissions
- There should be no gaps in employment.
- Additionally, the work must meet all the other requirements of the Program.
Language Ability
- You must take approved language tests in English or French for all 4skills.
- You must obtain a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 score in all four language abilities.
- You should enter your test results in your Express Entry profile
Keep in mind that your language test results are valid for two years from the date of the test. It is essential to ensure that the test results are valid on the day you apply for permanent residence.
Education
To meet the educational requirement for immigration to Canada, you must:
- either have a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian high school or post-secondary institution, if you completed your education in Canada.
However,
- if you completed your education outside Canada, you must have a completed credential and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes from a designated organization.
- The ECA should demonstrate that your education is equivalent to a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian high school or post-secondary institution.
Proof of Funds
If they invite you to apply, you must give written proof that you have enough money to settle in Canada.
| Number of family members | Funds required in CAD |
| 1 | $13,757 |
| 2 | $17,127 |
| 3 | $21,055 |
| 4 | $25,564 |
| 5 | $28,994 |
| 6 | $32,700 |
| 7 | $36,407 |
| For each additional family member | $3,706 |
- To calculate the size of your family include: yourself, your spouse or common-law partner, your dependent children and, your spouse or common-law partner’s dependent children.
- Regardless of their citizenship status, whether they are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or not accompanying you to Canada, it is mandatory to include your spouse or common-law partner and dependent children in your immigration application.
Who Does Not Need Proof of Funds
you do not need to demonstrate that you have enough funds to support yourself and your family if:
- you are applying for immigration under the Canadian Experience Class,
- or if you are authorized to work in Canada and have a valid job offer,
- It is important to keep your funds information up to date in your profile since the system may determine that you are eligible for more than one program. It is not always possible to know beforehand which program you will be invited under.
Federal Skilled Trades Program
This Express Entry stream is for skilled workers who dream of becoming permanent residents based on their skilled trade qualifications. To be eligible, you must be: fluent in English, have at least two years of full-time work experience in Canadian or foreign experience in a skilled trade under key groups of NOC B, your work experience must be for paid work, you must have a valid job offer, and certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
You must show that you performed the jobs under these group of the National Occupational Classification (NOC):
- Major Group 72, technical trades and transportation officers and controllers
excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers
- Major Group 73, general trades
- Major Group 82, supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production
- Major Group 83, occupations in natural resources and related production
- Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers
- Major Group 93, central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors
- Minor Group 6320, cooks, butchers and bakers
- Unit Group 62200, chefs
Note: Do you know that you must plan to live outside Quebec province if you apply for Express Entry? Quebec province has its program for selecting skilled workers. So, if you want to live in Quebec, refer to Quebec-selected skilled workers for more information.
You can find the details about requirements below:
Education
The Federal Skilled Trades Program doesn’t require an education level. However, two ways to improve your rank in the Express Entry pool are by having a Canadian certificate, diploma, or degree, or by obtaining an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report for foreign education that shows it is equal to a Canadian educational credential.
These must be from a designated organization.
Language Ability
To qualify for Canadian permanent residence, you must achieve at least Canadian Language Benchmark 5 in speaking and listening, and Canadian Language Benchmark 4 in reading and writing. You need to take approved language tests in writing, reading, listening, and speaking and submit the results in your Express Entry profile.
- The language test results must be valid for 2 years from the test date and on the day you apply for permanent residence.
Proof of Funds
To settle in Canada, you must demonstrate that you have enough funds for yourself and your family. However, this requirement is waived
- if you have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer
- or you are currently authorized to work in Canada.
The required funds are equivalent to those of the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
Canadian Experience Class
Those skilled workers that have work experience in Canada and want to become permanent residents are among this group. To be qualified for this program of Express Entry, you must have the required language fluency, have at least one year of skilled work experience in Canada, and have experience in part-time or full-time work. Your work experience must be paid work, and your total work hour must be up to 1,560 hours for part-time work. Being educated for this program is not required.
The Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC), only considers the work experienced which gained in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 as skilled work experience.
- Your work experience can be in 1 or more of these categories.
Who is not eligible for the Canadian Experience Class?
You will not be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class Program if:
- you’re a refugee claimant in Canada
- you’re working without authorization
- your work experience was gained without temporary resident status in Canada
Admissibility for Express Entry
An essential factor for Express Entry applicants must be permissible under Canada’s immigration law. You could be inadmissible for some reasons, such as security reasons, human or international rights violation, committing a crime, medical reasons, and more other reasons.
There have been some changes in the applications process due to Covid-19. The invitation will be sent to the candidates with the highest score. Keep in mind that your invitation to Express Entry shall be valid for 60 days only. Most complete applications with all supporting documents will be processed in 6 months or less.
Get more details about the eligibility of this program’s streams in the following table:
Note: Primary occupation is the job you have experience in within the last ten years, and if you are invited to apply, you will base your immigration on.
Our last word on Express Entry
So far, we have provided you with all sorts of insights into what you, dear Canada’s immigration applicants, want from us about the Express Entry Program, the fastest way for the skilled-workers to get permanent residency. Let us know how we can improve your immigration.
If you want to check other immigration plans, you can read our articles on Agri-food Pilot, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, Family Sponsorship, Refugee, Atlantic Immigration Plan, and Self-Employed Persons Program.
Get in touch with us if you want to know more about this program. We are happy to help, and we look forward to seeing your comments. You can also read more about Canada’s politics, history, economics, geography, and Socio-cultural aspects.
Last Update: 2023-05-10
