The Canadian Government’s electronic system created for the selection of skilled workers for immigration to Canada is known as Express Entry.

An individual qualified for one of Canada’s Immigration programs is eligible to submit his/her profile in the express entry pool. The candidate is then ranked for immigration to Canada according to the Comprehensive Ranking System known as CRS.

Under the CRS, a total of 1200 points are available. The way to score these points is as follows:

• If a candidate has a provincial nomination, he can get 600 points
• Of the remaining 600 points, 500 points are available for human capital factors
• 100 points for skills transferability combinations of human capital factors

The Canadian Government issues Invitations to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residency to the top-ranked candidates. It is therefore in the best interest of an individual applying, to strive towards scoring more points as that is the key to achieve an ITA.

Here are a few points to take care of, if you need to improve your chances and score for Canada Express Entry profile.

Core Human Capital Factors

1. Age of the candidate – The best time to apply for immigration to Canada is when you are aged between 20 and 40.
2. Education – If you have studied outside Canada, you must have your educational credentials assessed. An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) is used to check if your international degree or certificate is valid and equivalent to that of a Canadian degree/ diploma. This is important in case you want to be considered under the Federal Skilled Worker Program and want to receive more points under the CRS
3. Language Skills – A candidate should be fluent in either English or French language. He/ she needs to take the approved language tests recognized by the Government of Canada.
4. Spouse or Common-Law partner factors – Candidate with a spouse has chances of a better CRS score than a single candidate, as the education, work experience and language ability of the spouse may be rewarded. The candidate can also fetch more points if he/she has a sibling residing in Canada who is a permanent resident/ citizen of Canada

Provincial Nominee Programs

• Getting a nomination certificate from a Canadian province/ territory is one of the most important and beneficial factors under the CRS. A candidate can straightaway score 600 points if he/ she applies to the PNP categories aligned with express entry and increases his/ her chances for getting an ITA at a subsequent draw and a direct pathway to permanent residence.

Work Experience

• An individual with Canadian work-experience holds more value than one with non-Canadian experience.

Job Offer

• A candidate with a job offer from a Canadian employer is eligible to get more points under the CRS. A job offer falling under Canada’s occupation in demand list fetches 200 points and the one outside the list fetches the candidate 50 points.

A candidate should explore all his options and give everything he/ she has got.