Express Entry is an intake system for Canadian immigration, designed to select Skilled Workers, Skilled Trades People and workers with Canadian work experience.
Express Entry is a two-step system used to process applications for Canadian Permanent Residency. It was introduced in January of 2015 to make Permanent Resident processing faster and more efficient than ever. It was designed:
To facilitate the immigration of applicants who are most likely to succeed economically in Canada.
The first stage involves an Expression of Interest being submitted by an applicant and the second stage is the applicant submitting a full application after receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
Expression of Interest (EOI)
The applicant completes an online profile, which includes information like their age, education, language abilities and work history. The application is then automatically reviewed for eligibility in one of three categories of economic immigration.
I. Federal Skilled Worker Program
The Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Program is a program designed to select relatively young skilled workers from anywhere in the world who have significant foreign work experience, strong French and/or English language abilities and high levels of education.
II. Federal Skilled Trades Program
The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for skilled workers who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade. Qualified applicants will have at least 2-years of work experience and have valid full-time job offer or a Certificate of Qualification.
III. Canadian Experience Class
The Canadian Experience Class is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience and want to become permanent residents. This is often a pathway for applicants who have studied in Canada, and obtained Canadian work experience on a Post-Graduate Work Permit.
Applicants who meet the requirements of one of these Economic Immigration Programs are placed in a pool of candidates. These candidates are further reviewed and ranked based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Score.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Applicants are ranked and assigned CRS Scores based on 6 selection factors:
- Language: English and/or French Ability
- Education: Highest Canadian education or highest assessed Canadian equivalent
- Work Experience: Canadian and/or foreign full-time or full-time equivalent
- Age: Bell curve with the highest score at 20 to 29 years of age
- Arranged Employment: Valid full-time one-year job offer
- Adaptability: Various factors including family ties and spouse’s language ability
Invitation to Apply
Approximately bi-monthly, the highest-ranking candidates are selected to apply for Canadian Permanent Residency. For every draw there is a certain number of invitations issued, the rank required to be invited to apply, and a cut-off score (the score of the lowest-ranked candidate who was selected).
Once a candidate receives an ITA, they have only 60 days to complete and submit an official electronic Application for Permanent Residence. They must submit a complete application for permanent residence (APR) in their online account. This includes providing all supporting documentation to support the profile they created initially.
Have you received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) and need help submitting your full application for Permanent Residency? Call us today!