Minimum requirements

Skilled work experience

Your work experience must be:

• At least one year (1,560 hours total / 30 hours per week), continuous full-time or an equal amount in part-time,
• Paid work (volunteer work, unpaid internships do not count),
• In the same job,
• Within the last 10 years, and
• At skill type 0, or skill levels A or B of the 2011 National Occupational Classification (NOC).

​Full Time

• 30 hours/week for 12 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)

​Part time

• 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)

OR

• 30 hours/week for 12 months at more than one job = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)

You must show that you did the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC, including all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.

If you cannot show that your work experience meets the description in the NOC, you are not eligible under this program.

Find out the NOC code, title and skill type or level for your job.

Language ability

You must:

• Meet the minimum language level of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7, and take a language test approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) that shows you meet the level for speaking, listening, reading and writing.
• You must show that you meet the requirements in English or French by including the test results when you complete your Express Entry profile. Your test results must not be more than two years old on the day you apply for permanent residence.

Education

You must have:

• A Canadian secondary (high school) or post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree,

OR

• A completed foreign credential

AND

• An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report from an agency approved by CIC. [The report must show your foreign education is equal to a completed Canadian secondary (high school) or post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree.

​Six selection factors

• If you meet all the conditions set out in the minimum requirements, we will assess your application based on the selection factors in the federal skilled worker points grid.

The selection factors are:

• Your skills in English and/or French (Canada’s two official languages),
• Your education,
• Your work experience,
• Your age,
• Whether you have a valid job offer, and
• Your adaptability (how well you are likely to settle here).

If you have skilled work experience and want to live in Canada permanently, use our Come to Canada tool to see if you are eligible for the Express Entry pool.

​Proof of funds

• You must show that you have enough money to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada, unless you:
• Are currently able to legally work in Canada, and
• Have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada.

Principal applicant

If you are married or live with a common-law foreign national partner in Canada, and that person also meets the above conditions, you can decide which one of you will apply under Express Entry as a principal applicant.

​A common-law partner is a person who has lived with you in a conjugal relationship for at least one year. Common-law partner refers to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples.

Look at each selection factor and see which one of you is most likely to meet the eligibility requirements and earn the most points. That person should apply as the principal applicant.