Express Entry

Express Entry is not an immigration program. It is the online system Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses to manage applications for three federal economic programs: the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST). You do not apply to Express Entry. You apply through it, under one of those programs.

Provinces and territories can also choose candidates from the pool through the Express Entry streams of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Eleven provinces and territories take part. Quebec and Nunavut do not. Quebec selects its own skilled workers under a separate system.

The Minister runs Express Entry under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, through the Ministerial Instructions respecting the Express Entry system (the current version is dated October 15, 2026, with changes in force since November 3, 2026). The rules for each program are in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. The 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan targets 109,000 permanent residents under these federal high skilled programs in 2026 and 111,000 in 2027.

You submit a profile (formally an expression of interest). If you are eligible for at least one program, it enters the pool with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. In rounds of invitations, IRCC sends an Invitation to Apply (ITA) to the highest-ranked candidates who fit the round.

What most people get wrong: being eligible is not the same as being selected. IRCC decides which group each round targets. Its last general round, open to all three programs, was on April 23, 2024, and its last round for the Federal Skilled Worker Program alone was on February 2, 2023. In 2025 and 2026, every round targeted the Canadian Experience Class, provincial nominees or a category such as French-language proficiency. For most candidates, the real question is which of the groups IRCC is inviting you can join.

Express Entry is likely a good fit if:

• You want permanent residence and plan to live outside Quebec.
• You have at least 1 year of skilled work experience in an occupation in training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER) category 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC), in Canada or abroad depending on the program.
• You can reach your program's language level on an approved test taken in the last 2 years.
• You belong to a group IRCC is actively inviting, such as people with Canadian work experience, strong French or experience in a listed occupation, or you have a realistic route to a provincial nomination.
• You have Canadian work experience or a job offer in a high-wage occupation, which now earns extra CRS points.

Look at other options if:

• You plan to settle in Quebec. Quebec selects its own skilled workers.
• Your work experience is below the program minimums or is only in TEER 4 or 5 occupations.
• You fit no current category and have no Canadian work experience, no French and no nomination route. You can be eligible and still wait 12 months without an invitation.
• You need to come to Canada quickly. Express Entry leads to permanent residence. A work or study permit is a separate application.

To enter the pool you must qualify for at least one of the three federal programs. Category-based selection and provincial nomination are not separate programs. They are ways IRCC and the provinces choose people who are already in the pool.

If you qualify for more than one federal program, you do not choose. IRCC invites you under the first program you are eligible for, in this order: Canadian Experience Class, then Federal Skilled Worker Program, then Federal Skilled Trades Program. If you decline an invitation, you go back to the pool and any new invitation follows the same order. The order does not apply in a round held for only one program.

Read next: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Trades Program and Category-based selection pages explain each route in detail. The Provincial Nominee Program page explains nominations.

There is no separate Express Entry test. You can enter the pool if your profile shows that you meet the requirements of at least one federal program. The system decides only on the information in your profile, so every answer must be accurate and you must update it when your situation changes.

In every program the work must be paid (wages or commission). Volunteer work and unpaid internships do not count, and hours above 30 a week are not counted. Your duties must match the lead statement and most of the main duties in the NOC description for your occupation. You must also be admissible to Canada on security, criminal and medical grounds.

Language test results must be less than 2 years old and an ECA less than 5 years old, both when you submit your profile and when you apply. If your language results, or an ECA your program requires, expire while you are in the pool, the system treats you as no longer eligible.

IRCC ranks every profile in the pool with the CRS. Since November 3, 2026, the maximum score is 1,270 points, in four parts: core human capital factors, spouse or common-law partner factors, skill transferability factors and additional points. If your spouse or partner is not coming with you, or is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you are scored as a single applicant.

The Labour Market Integration factor replaces the old core points for Canadian work experience. IRCC calculates two options and gives you whichever is higher. You cannot add them together.

A high-wage occupation is a NOC code whose median wage across Canada is at least 1.3 times the average median wage of the Canadian workforce. It depends on the occupation, not on your own salary. IRCC publishes the list, based on Job Bank, Labour Force Survey and Census data from the last 3 years. If the list changes after you are invited, IRCC keeps the level that applied on the day of your invitation. High-wage experience can be non-continuous, part-time or spread over more than one job.

A qualifying job offer is for full-time work (30 hours a week or more) lasting at least 1 year after you become a permanent resident, from one employer in a TEER 0 to 3 occupation or up to two employers in a skilled trade. An officer must be satisfied it is genuine: the employer is active, needs the position, can meet the terms and follows employment laws, and you are qualified and likely to take the job.

Skill transferability points did not change. They reward combinations of education, language, Canadian and foreign work experience, and a trade certificate of qualification, up to 100 points. Additional points include 600 for a provincial or territorial nomination, up to 50 for French at NCLC 7 or higher in all four abilities, up to 30 for a Canadian post-secondary credential and 15 for a brother or sister in Canada, aged 18 or older, who is a citizen or permanent resident.

IRCC holds general rounds, program-specific rounds (for example only Canadian Experience Class or provincial nominee candidates) and category-based rounds. For each round, it sets the number of invitations and invites the highest-ranked eligible candidates. If several candidates share the lowest score, the tie is broken by the date and time each profile was submitted. Updating your profile does not change that date.

Two lessons stand out. First, a provincial nomination adds 600 points, but 2026 provincial nominee rounds still cut off between 697 and 805, so a nomination is a large advantage and not a promise of an invitation. Second, a listed category is not always drawn: there were no rounds for the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), education or researcher categories in 2026. All of these cut-offs were set under the scoring rules in force before November 3, 2026, so future rounds may look different.

1. 1

   Take an approved language test

   English: CELPIP General, IELTS General Training or PTE Core. French: TEF Canada or TCF Canada. IELTS One Skill Retake is not accepted. Results must be less than 2 years old when you submit your profile and when you apply.

2. 2

   Get your education assessed if needed

   An ECA is required for foreign education under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. For the other programs it is optional, but it earns CRS points for foreign education. It must be less than 5 years old.

3. 3

   Create and submit your profile

   Use your IRCC secure account. You have 60 days to finish a profile once you start it. List every job and any job offer. Until IRCC updates its online system, its job offer page explains how to answer the LMIA questions for an offer that has no LMIA.

4. 4

   Stay current in the pool

   Your profile stays in the pool for up to 12 months. Report changes such as a new job, a new test result, a marriage or a child. If you are not invited within 12 months, the profile expires and you can submit a new one if you still qualify.

5. 5

   Respond to an invitation

   An Invitation to Apply is valid for 60 days. If you decline it, you go back to the pool. If you let it expire, your profile is removed and you must submit a new profile to be considered again.

6. 6

   Get your medical exam and police certificates

   Express Entry uses an upfront medical exam: you see a panel physician after you are invited and before you apply, then upload the confirmation document. Most applicants also need police certificates.

7. 7

   Submit the full application

   Upload the documents in your personalized checklist, with certified translations where needed, and pay at least the processing fees. Paying the right of permanent residence fee at the same time avoids delays.

8. 8

   Give your biometrics

   Applicants aged 14 to 79 give fingerprints and a photo for every permanent residence application. You have 30 days from the date on IRCC's letter.

9. 9

   Receive a decision

   IRCC checks eligibility and admissibility and contacts you through your account. If approved, you receive a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR).

IRCC says it updates the funds table every year, so check it before you apply. Family size includes your spouse or partner and dependent children even if they are not coming with you. Test, assessment, medical and police certificate providers charge their own fees.

Processing times change often. The figures shown below come live from IRCC's processing times tool.

There is no refusal at the profile stage: the system either finds you eligible or not. Problems appear after an invitation, when an officer checks your application against your profile.

• Work experience that does not match the NOC. A reference letter that gives a job title without duties matching the lead statement and main duties is a common problem.
• Expired documents. IRCC refuses applications that use expired language results, and an ECA must also still be valid.
• A score that fell after the invitation. If you lose a job offer, a nomination or language points and your score drops below the round's cut-off, IRCC advises you to decline. If you apply anyway, it may refuse the application and not refund the fee.
• A job offer that is not genuine or does not meet the rules. Without an LMIA, the officer's genuineness assessment is the main test.
• Settlement funds that are borrowed, held as home equity, or not shown in official bank letters with a 6-month average balance.
• An incomplete application. IRCC rejects it and refunds the processing fees, but you must submit a new profile and be invited again.
• Misrepresentation. False information or leaving out material facts, even indirectly, can lead to refusal and 5 years of inadmissibility under section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
• Inadmissibility on medical, criminal or security grounds.

If IRCC approves your application, it sends you a COPR and, if you need one, a permanent resident visa. Check that the details match your passport. The COPR cannot be extended, so you must travel to Canada, or confirm your status if you are already here, before it expires. If a province nominated you, you must settle in that province or territory.

If your work permit is about to expire while you wait for a decision, you may be eligible for a bridging open work permit. If IRCC refuses or rejects your application, you must submit a new profile and be accepted into the pool again to be considered.