Federal Express Entry System
Take advantage of the ability going to Canada as a Skilled Worker under the Express Entry (EE) system as either a Federal applicant or a Provincial Nominee.
On January 1st, 2015 Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced the Express Entry system to manage the immigration application process for individuals with skilled work experience that have:
- Good English and/or French ability
- A university, technical, or trades degree or certificate
- Preferably between 18 and 35 years of age
- Have at least one year of full-time, skilled work experience
The application process consist of two steps:
- Become a Candidate by first registering or completing your Express Entry profile. To do so your education and work experience must meet the guidelines of either the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, or the Canadian Experience Class. In addition you will need to have your educational credentials assessed and demonstrated your ability in English or/and French by meeting the minimum level of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in English or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 7 in French for your first official language in all four language abilities. If you meet all these requirements you will be given a score and your profile will be placed in a pool with al the other eligible applicants.
- If you are selected from the pool, CIC will issue you an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian Permanent Residence (PR) by submitting online a complete PR application package.
Provincial Express Entry Programs
So far the province of Nova Scotia and the province of British Columbia have announced their own Express Entry streams or programs that will work in conjunction with the Federal Express Entry system to nominate and select individuals that meet the current labour needs of the provinces. It is important to understand that the provincial EE programs are not a separate EE system; All candidates must apply to the province but all nominations will occur within the federal Express Entry System.
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry Stream
The Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry selects highly skilled individuals who wish to live in the Province of Nova Scotia permanently and either have a permanent full-time job offer from a Nova Scotia employer or have a reasonable ability to attach quickly to Nova Scotia’s labour market.
The Nova Scotia Office of Immigration reserves the right to consider only certain types of jobs and occupations for nomination, depending on the current economic situation of the Nova Scotia labour market needs. Provincial priorities may change as skill shortages are met by permanent residents or Canadian citizens.
Express Entry British Columbia
The new Express Entry British Columbia stream of the BC PNP will help B.C. meet the need for skilled workers in the province.
Applications eligible for one of the BC PNP’s Express Entry British Columbia categories will receive priority processing of both the BC PNP application, and if nominated, permanent residence application.
The BC PNP’s new Express Entry British Columbia stream will result in faster and more efficient processing for eligible skilled immigrants and significantly reduce their application processing time
Individuals who meet all of the following requirements will receive priority processing of both their BC PNP application, and if nominated, permanent residence application:
- Meet the criteria for at least one of the federal economic immigration programs subject to CIC’s Express Entry system,
- Obtain a CIC Express Entry Profile Number and Job Seeker Validation Code and indicate their interest in immigrating to B.C., and
- Meet the criteria under one of the BC PNP’s Express Entry British Columbia categories.
You can find more information on our Express Entry FAQ, or please Contact Us for more information on any of these Express Entry programs.