Canada express entry requirements – Do you wish to immigrate to Canada without your family? If yes, see check eligibility for express entry here.
Every year, more than 300,000 foreign visitors arrive in Canada. Immigrants with job offers from Canadian companies can easily become permanent residents.
What is Express Entry?
In January 2015, the Canadian government launched a new electronic immigration system that allows skilled and qualified immigrants to enter Canada quickly.
The new Express Entry program will manage applications for permanent residence for immigrants who can fill jobs where skilled Canadian workers are in short supply.
Canada Express Entry Requirements
Eligibility requirements vary depending on the program, but for all programs, you must be legally admissible to Canada and intend to live in a province or territory other than Quebec. In addition, candidates must achieve a minimum score on the Comprehensive Ranking System. Age, education, language ability, certifications, and Canadian and non-Canadian work experience can all earn you points.
Here are some of the major requirements for each of the three economic programs:
01. Federal Skilled Workers Program
Work experience must be a year of full-time or equivalent part-time paid work in the same job within the last 10 years, and the job must be of skill type 0 or skill levels A or B of the 2011 National Occupational Classification. The language requirements include proof of Canadian Language Benchmark 7 in the form of CIC-approved language test results from within the last two years. For education, applicants need either a Canadian secondary (high school) or post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, or a completed foreign credential and an assessment of that credential from a CIC-approved agency that shows that the completed education is equivalent to a comparable Canadian credential.
Applications are also assessed based on federal skilled worker points. CIC will assign points based on the following factors:
- skills in English and/or French
- education
- work experience
- age
- presence/absence of a valid job offer, and
- the applicant’s perceived adaptability to live in Canada.
Furthermore, applicants need to be able to prove that they have sufficient funds to support themselves and their family, unless they can already legally work in or have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada.
02. Federal Skilled Trades Program
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, skilled workers for the Federal Skilled Trades Program must fulfill minimum work experience and language ability requirements.
Work experience must include at least two years of full-time work experience (or equivalent part-time work experience) within the last five years in a skilled trade. Applicants must also show that they have experience performing the duties for an eligible skilled trade outlined by the National Occupation Classification (NOC) in Major Group 72, 72, 82, or 92, or Minor Group 632 or 633.
Language ability scores can be lower than those for the skilled workers program: Canadian Language Benchmark 5 for speaking and listening, and Canadian Language Benchmark 4 for reading and writing. Satisfactory results from a CIC-approved language test are also required.
Applicants must also have either an offer of full-time employment for a full year minimum or be certified in their skilled trade by a Canadian provincial or territorial authority. Individual provinces /territories have specific requirements regarding trades qualifications and the process for assessment, so finding out how the program works in the province/territory where you wish to live is important.
03. Canada Experience Class
Minimum work experience is 12 months of skilled work experience (or equivalent part-time) in Canada, with the proper authorisation, within the three years prior to applying for CEC. This work must fit the requirements of the National Occupation Classification for one of the following: managerial jobs (NOC skill level 0), professional jobs (NOC skill type A), or technical jobs and skilled trades (NOC skill type B). The applicant must also be able to demonstrate that their work experience includes having fulfilled the duties detailed by the NOC.
Minimum language levels are Canadian Language Benchmark 7 for NOC 0 or A jobs or Canadian Language Benchmark 5 for NOC B jobs, with results proven by a CIC-approved language test.
Proof of Funds
You must be able to have the required amount above readily available for you. This means that you can not use equity on real estate or borrow money from another person.
If your spouse is coming with you, you can count money you have together in a joint account.
For proof, you must get official letters from any banks or financial institutions where you’re keeping money.
Letter(s) must
- be printed on the financial institution’s letterhead
- include their contact information (address, telephone number and email address)
- include your name
- list outstanding debts such as credit card debts and loans
- include, for each current bank and investment account, the
- account numbers
- date each account was opened
- current balance of each account
- average balance for the past 6 months