Skilled Immigrants (Express Entry)

Skilled immigrants are chosen as permanent residents based on their ability to settle in Canada and take part in our economy. We assess them on their:

• English and/or French language skills,
• education,
• work experience, and
• other factors that have been shown to help newcomers prosper in Canada.

As of January 2015, there is a new system to manage how people with skilled work experience apply to immigrate to Canada. It is called Express Entry.

Under Express Entry, people will first fill out an online profile that includes their language test scores, their Educational Credential Assessment (if they need one) and outlines their work experience. There is no cost to complete and submit an Express Entry profile.

Based on their profiles, candidates will be ranked against others in a pool. On a regular basis, CIC will issue invite top candidates from the pool to apply for permanent residence. Only those who get an Invitation to Apply from CIC will be able to apply.

Under this new system, most complete applications will be processed in six months or less.

Eligibility

Skilled immigrants are chosen as permanent residents based on their ability to prosper in Canada.

As of January 2015, we have a new system to manage how people with skilled work experience apply to immigrate to Canada. It is called Express Entry.

Program eligibility

Express Entry covers three of our key economic immigration programs:

• the Federal Skilled Worker Program,
• the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and
• the Canadian Experience Class.

If you are eligible to immigrate under one of the above federal immigration programs:

1. you will be placed in a pool with others who are also eligible,
2. you will then be ranked and the others using several factors,
3. if you are one of the top candidates, you will get an Invitation to Apply
4. if you are invited to apply, you can apply online for permanent residence.

Through Express Entry, provinces and territories will also be able to nominate candidates in the Express Entry pool under their Provincial Nominee Program where applicable.

To be eligible for Express Entry, you must:

• meet the requirements of one of the above programs, and
• register with Job Bank, a database that can help match you with employers looking for workers with your skills. ?Note that any job offer from an employer in Canada must be supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). An employer must go through this process to ensure there is a genuine labour market need before they can hire foreign workers. If you are a candidate who has a job offer supported by an LMIA or a provincial nomination, then you do not need to register with Job Bank.

Language

You must show that you meet the minimum language requirements for the category you are eligible under and provide your language test results from an agency designated by CIC in your Express Entry profile.

Your language test results must be less than two years old on the day we get your complete application for permanent residence.

Skilled work experience

According to the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC), skilled work experience means:

• managerial jobs (NOC skill level 0)
• professional jobs (NOC skill type A)
• technical jobs and skilled trades (NOC skill type B)

You must have at least 12 months of full-time, or an equal amount in part-time, skilled work experience. Full-time work means at least 30 hours of paid work per week.