Six selection factors – Federal skilled workers (Express Entry)

On this page

• Language skills
• Education
• Experience
• Age
• Arranged employment in Canada
• Adaptability

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• The Federal Skilled Worker program is one of three federal programs managed through Express Entry.
• You have to be eligible for one of these programs to enter the Express Entry pool.
• If we invite you to apply, it will be under the program you seem to qualify for based on your profile.

Express Entry candidates are scored using the Comprehensive Ranking System. If your skills and experience qualify you as a federal skilled worker, we will also assess you on six selection factors.
If you score 67 points or higher (out of 100), you may qualify to immigrate to Canada as a federal skilled worker.
If you score lower than the pass mark of 67 points, you won’t qualify to immigrate to Canada as a federal skilled worker.
Point grids for each factor:

Language skills

(Maximum 28 points)

Being able to communicate and work in one or both of Canada’s official languages is very important. Knowing English, French or both helps you in the Canadian job market. You can get up to 28 points for your skills in English and French. We’ll give you points based on your ability to:

• write
• read
• listen
• speak

Language testing

You must take an approved language test to prove your language levels. To measure your English or French levels, we use:

• Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English
• Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) for French

You must get a minimum level of CLB 7 or NCLC 7 for your first official language in all four language areas. To get points for your second official language, you must meet the minimum level of CLB 5 or NCLC 5 in all four language areas.
You won’t get accepted into the Express Entry pool or be eligible to apply if you don’t include test results for either English or French. Your results must also show you meet the required level.
If you want to get points for your skills in both English and French, you must provide your language test results for each language in your Express Entry profile.
Once you take the test, you can use it to see exactly how many points we’ll give you for the language selection factor.
Find out more about language testing and how to get it.

Calculate your language points

First official language (Maximum 24 points)

Check the table below and add the points that matches your skill level:

First Official Language	Points
	Speaking	Listening	Reading	Writing
CLB level 9 or higher	6	6	6	6
CLB level 8	5	5	5	5
CLB level 7	4	4	4	4
Below CLB level 7	Not eligible to apply

Second official language (Maximum 4 points)

You can get four points only if you have a score of at least CLB 5 in each of the four language abilities.

Second Official Language	Points
At least CLB5 in all of the four abilities	4
CLB 4 or less in any of the four abilities	0

Education

(Maximum 25 points)

To get points for your education:
If you went to school in Canada, you must have a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:

• secondary (high school) or
• post-secondary school

If you have foreign education, you must have:

• an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report from an approved agency showing that your foreign education is equal to a completed certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:
  • secondary (high school) or
  • post-secondary school

You must include your Canadian credential or your foreign credential and Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report when you apply.

Education	Maximum 25 points
University degree at the Doctoral (PhD) level or equal	25 points
University degree at the Master’s level or equal OR University level entry-to-practice professional degree (or equal). Occupation related to the degree must be: NOC 2016 Skill Level A, and licensed by a provincial regulatory body Note: Degree program must be in one of these fields of study: Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry, Podiatry, Optometry, Law, Chiropractic Medicine, or Pharmacy.	23 points
Two or more Canadian post-secondary degrees or diplomas or equal (at least one must be for a program of at least three years)	22 points
Canadian post-secondary degree or diploma for a program of three years or longer, or equal	21 points
Canadian post-secondary degree or diploma for a two-year program, or equal	19 points
Canadian post-secondary degree or diploma for a one-year program, or equal	15 points
Canadian high school diploma, or equal	5 points

Experience

(Maximum 15 points)

You can get points for the number of years you’ve spent in full-time paid work (at least 30 hours per week, or an equal amount of part-time).

National Occupational Classification (NOC)

The NOC is a system used to classify jobs in the Canadian economy. It describes duties, skills, talents and work settings for different jobs. We use the 2016 edition of the NOC to assess skilled worker applications.

Finding your NOC category

This job code is referred to as a “NOC code” in your Express Entry profile. Find your NOC to find the information that best matches each of your past jobs.
You’ll need this information again, so make sure to save it with the other papers you need, such as your passport.
If the description and list of main duties match what you did at your last job(s), you can count this experience for points.
Use this chart to find the number of points based on your number of years of experience.

Experience	Maximum 15 points
1 year	9
2-3 years	11
4-5 years	13
6 or more years	15

Age

(Maximum 12 points)

You’ll get points based on your age on the day when we get your application.

Age	Points
Under 18	0
18-35	12
36	11
37	10
38	9
39	8
40	7
41	6
42	5
43	4
44	3
45	2
46	1
47 and older	0

Arranged employment in Canada

(Maximum 10 points)

You can get points if you have a, full-time job offer of at least one year from a Canadian employer. You must get the job offer before you apply to come to Canada as a federal skilled worker.
A valid job offer has to be:

• for continuous, paid, full-time work that is:
  • not seasonal
  • for at least one year
• in an occupation listed as Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the NOC.

You can get 10 points for a valid job offer. To be valid, one of these cases must apply:

1. You currently work in Canada on a temporary work permit and
   • your work permit is valid both when you apply and when the visa is issued (or you’re authorized to work in Canada without a work permit when your visa is issued)
   • we issued your work permit based on a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Your employer would’ve applied for the LMIA, which you then had to attach to your application to us
   • you’re working for an employer named on your work permit who has made a permanent job offer based on you being accepted as a skilled worker
2. You currently work in Canada in a job that is exempt from the LMIA requirement under:
   • an international agreement (such as, the North America Free Trade Agreement) or
   • a federal-provincial agreement and
     • your work permit is valid both when you apply and when the visa is issued (or you’re authorized to work in Canada without a permit when your visa is issued)
     • your current employer has made a permanent job offer based on you being accepted as a skilled worker
3. You currently don’t:
   • have a work permit, or
   • plan to work in Canada before you get a permanent resident visaOR
     you’re currently working in Canada and a different employer has offered to give you a permanent full-time job OR
     you’re currently working in Canada in a job that is exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment, but not under an international or federal-provincial agreement
     AND
     an employer has:
     
     • made you a permanent job offer based on you being accepted as a skilled worker and
     • a positive LMIA from ESDC

Note:

• You can’t get a LMIA from ESDC (your employer must do this for you)
• ESDC will only confirm permanent job offers for occupations listed in skill type O or skill level A or B of the NOC
• A IRCC officer must be convinced that you’re able to do the job offered to you
  • if the occupation is regulated in Canada, the officer must also be convinced that you’ll be able to become licensed or certified when in Canada

Adaptability

(Maximum 10 points)

If you have a spouse or common-law partner who will immigrate with you to Canada, they can earn points for adaptability too. You can only get points for each item once.
The maximum number of points in this section is 10.

Adaptability	Maximum 10 points
Your spouse or partner’s language level Your spouse or common-law partner has a language level in either English or French at CLB 4 level or higher in all four language abilities (speaking, listening, reading and writing). To get these points, you must submit test results from an approved agency when you apply. Results can’t be more than two years old on the day you apply.	5
Your past study in Canada You finished at least two academic years of full-time study (in a program at least two years long) at a secondary or post-secondary school in Canada. Full-time study means at least 15 hours of classes per week, and you must have stayed in good academic standing (as set out by the school) during that time.	5
Your spouse or partner’s past study in Canada Your spouse or common-law partner finished at least two academic years of full-time study (in a program at least two years long) at a secondary or post-secondary school in Canada. Full-time study means at least 15 hours of classes per week, and your spouse or partner must have stayed in good academic standing (as set out by the school) during that time.	5
Your past work in Canada You did at least one year of full-time work in Canada: in a job listed in Skill Type 0 or Skill Levels A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC), and with a valid work permit or while authorized to work in Canada	10
Your spouse or common-law partner’s past work in Canada Your spouse / partner did at least one year of full-time work in Canada on a valid work permit or while authorized to work in Canada.	5
Arranged Employment in Canada You earned points under Factor 5: Arranged Employment.	5
Relatives in Canada You, or if it applies, your spouse or common-law partner, have a relative: living in Canada 18 years or older and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident This relative must be a: parent grandparent child grandchild child of a parent (sibling) child of a grandparent (aunt or uncle) grandchild of a parent (niece or nephew)