Sean Fraser, Canadian Immigration Minister, confirmed that Express Entry draws for all programs will restart on Wednesday, July 6, after 18 months of being paused. This article explores how the CRS score works for Express Entry and how you can qualify.The Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program have paused since December 2020. Also, the Canadian Experience Class was on hold in September 2021. So, it is a great time to get your prepare and boos your CRS score to receive an Express Entry invitation soon.

What is Express Entry System?

Express Entry is an online point system used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to select candidates from the pool and send them an invitation to apply for Permanent Residence.The Express Entry system groups individuals who want to immigrate to Canada under the economic class. These individuals are expected to economically establish themselves in Canada and help recover the local economy and labour force. To receive an invitation, candidates must create an Express Entry profile and receive a CRS score. However, it score depends on different factors, such their age, education, language skills, and work experience, among others.

The Express Entry System and the CRS Score

The first step to qualifying for the Express Entry system is assessing their eligibility and creating a profile in the pool. Once the profile is complete, IRCC will give the candidate a score. After that, candidates with higher scores receive invitations to apply every two weeks.Once a candidate receives an ITA, they have 60 days to submit their complete application for permanent residence.

So, how does the CRS score for Express Entry work?

Essentially, a candidate receives points based on their:

Age
language proficiency
level of education
work experience
Adaptability factors, such as having a sibling in Canada

The scoring system of the Express Entry is called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and an individual´s total points are their CRS score. Furthermore, IRCC establishes a cut-off score every two weeks in each Express Entry invitation draw. Then, all candidates with higher points than the cut-off receive an ITA for Canadian immigration.

Programs under the Express Entry System

There are three programs under the Express Entry system:

The Federal Skilled Trade Program and the Canadian Experience Class don´t use separate immigration points systems for their eligibility. Then candidates must meet the program’s minimum criteria to apply.On the other hand, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW) uses another points system in addition to the regular CRS score. So, before calculating the CRS score, all FSW candidates must fulfill the minimum criteria for FSW. Canada determines a candidate’s eligibility FSW program based on a grid point out of 100 points. Therefore, to be eligible to submit an Express Entry profile, candidates must score 67 out of 100 points. These points account for age, education, language proficiency, work experience, and ties to Canada. So, after meeting the 67 points, FSW candidates access the Express Entry pool and become eligible to receive their total CRS score.

What Programs are Part of Express Entry?

Express Entry has three separate programs designed for skilled candidates with different work experience, language and education requirements and NOC skills codes.

Federal Skilled Worker Program

The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) focuses on international skilled workers with experience in occupations under National Occupational Classification skill codes A, B or 0. To qualify, individuals must meet the following criteria:

Have at least one year of full-time work experience over the previous ten years.
Have a Language score of at least CLB7 Canadian Language Benchmark in English or French.
Hold a Canadian educational credential or an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report for their international education.
Prove enough savings to support themselves and their families in Canada.
After meeting the criteria, create their profile to receive their CRS score under the Express Entry system.

Federal Skilled Trades Program

The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) is for international workers who have experience in skilled trades. The eligibility criteria for this program is:

Prospects must have two years of full-time trade work experience or prove they have equivalent part-time work in the past five years.
Candidates must have a full-time job offer or a certificate of qualification from Canada.
Meet a language score of 4 for reading and writing and 5 for speaking and listening.
Create their Express Entry profile to receive their CRS score.

Canadian Experience Class

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) targets candidates who already live and work in Canada. To qualify, individuals must:

Have at least one year of full skilled Canadian work experience in the past three years.
Language skills vary based according to the NOC classification. Candidates with a profession under NOC 0 or A must obtain a CLB of 7. Those candidates under a NOC B, need a CLB 5.
Prospects must plan to live outside of Quebec.
Complete their profile to receive their CRS score for the Express entry system.

CRS Score and Express Entry For 2022

Again, according to IRCC, an all-program draw will resume Wednesday, July 6. It means candidates will be selected from the entire Express Entry pool based on their CRS score, regardless of their program. It is big news since all the Express Entry draws during the pandemic were limited to only one program per draw.Another positive change is Immigration Minister Sean Fraser recently confirmed that new Express Entry invitations would return to their standard time. It means that after a candidate receives an ITA and submits their application, they will have their results in no more than six months.