In 2015, Canada introduced the new Express Entry system for processing applications to most federal economic immigration programs. All three programs under the Express Entry system are highly competitive. Immigration candidates are ranked against one another and only the highest-ranking candidates are selected to become Canadian permanent residents.
Curious what your CRS score might be? Canada’s CRS score calculator lets you estimate your CRS score for Express Entry immigration to Canada.
In order to rank immigration candidates, the Canadian government developed a merit-based points system which assigns a score to each candidate in the Express Entry pool. This points system is called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and the score assigned to each candidate is called the CRS score. Express Entry manages three programs:
Federal Skilled Worker (FSW)
Federal Skilled Trades (FST)
Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
Any person who submits a profile to the Express Entry pool of candidates is assigned a CRS score out of 1200 points. Approximately every two weeks, the Canadian government conducts an Express Entry draw, where they issue a round of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence to the highest-ranking candidates. Note that IRCC does not disclose information regarding the date of the draw, number of ITAs that will be issued, or minimum required CRS score in advance of the draw.
