Express Entry

Who can apply

Immigration programs

The Canadian Experience Class is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience and want to become permanent residents.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is for skilled workers who have foreign work experience and want to become permanent residents.

The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for skilled workers who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade.

Key differences in eligibility criteria

Before you compare programs, here are 3 terms you should know:

Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB): The CLB is the Canadian standard used to measure English language ability of immigrants.
National Occupation Classification (NOC): The NOC is a list of all the occupations in the Canadian labour market.
Training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER): The NOC has 6 TEER categories. A TEER category is based on the education and training needed for an occupation.

Language skills

Canadian Experience Class

CLB 7 for TEER 0 or TEER 1 occupations
CLB 5 for TEER 2 or TEER 3 occupations
Federal Skilled Worker Program
CLB 7
Federal Skilled Trades Program
CLB 5 for speaking and listening
CLB 4 for reading and writing

Type of work experience

Canadian Experience Class

-Canadian work experience in an occupation listed in 1 or more of these NOC TEER Categories:

TEER 0
TEER 1
TEER 2
TEER 3
Federal Skilled Worker Program
-Work experience in an occupation listed in 1 of these NOC TEER Categories:
TEER 0
TEER 1
TEER 2
TEER 3
Federal Skilled Trades Program
-Work experience in a skilled trade under key groups of TEER 2 or TEER 3:
Major Group 72, technical trades and transportation officers and controllers-excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers
Major Group 73, general trades
Major Group 82, supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production
Major Group 83, natural resources and related production
Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers
Major Group 93, central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors-excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors
Minor Group 6320, cooks, butchers and bakers
Unit Group 62200, chefs

Amount of work experience

Canadian Experience Class

1 year in Canada in the last 3 years (either combination of full-time or part-time work)
Federal Skilled Worker Program
1 year continuous within the last 10 years (combination of part-time, full-time or more than 1 job in your primary occupation)
Federal Skilled Trades Program
2 years within the last 5 years (either combination of full-time or part-time work)

Job offer

Canadian Experience Class

Not required.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Not required, but you can get selection criteria points for having a valid job offer.
Federal Skilled Trades Program
-Required:
a valid job offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least 1 year, or
a certificate of qualification in the above skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority

Education

Canadian Experience Class

Not required.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Secondary education required. You can get more selection criteria points for your post-secondary education.
Federal Skilled Trades Program
Not required

Check if you're eligible

Answer a questionnaire to check if you’re eligible for the minimum requirements of Express Entry. To answer the questionnaire, you have 2 options:

Option 1: Come to Canada tool

Answer a few questions using the Come to Canada tool to assess your eligibility.

The tool gives you a number at the end (a personal reference code). You will use this number to move your information from the tool to your Express Entry profile.

Option 2: IRCC secure account

Fill out the questionnaire in your IRCC secure account.

Sign in to your account and choose Apply to come to Canada under Start an application.
Choose “Express Entry” under I do not have a Personal Reference Code.
Answer the questions.