Understanding the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and how it works is an important step in navigating the Express Entry immigration system. The first step is determining your eligibility, we wrote a complete guide to Canada’s express entry system which covers this topic. Once you have determined the program you are eligible for, you will want to know how well you rank. This can be difficult to determine and it is best to speak with your consultant to find out how to maximize your profile. In this blog, we will break down how the CRS is calculated and how candidates’ scores are determined for the Express Entry.
What is the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)?
The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is a point-based system that the Canadian government uses to rank candidates in the Express Entry system pool. Each candidate is assigned a CRS score based on factors, including age, language proficiency, education, work experience, and other factors. The Canadian government uses these factors in assessing the candidate’s potential to help contribute to the Canadian economy and integrate into Canadian society.
The CRS score is out of a maximum of 1,200 points. Each candidate should aim to get the highest score possible, as the better the score, the better chance a candidate has to be drawn and receive an invitation to apply for permanent residency. The Canadian government draws from the pool of candidates on a regular basis. Each draw the Canadian government sets a minimum CRS score requirement for each draw, and only candidates who meet or exceed that requirement are considered for an invitation.
Comprehensive Ranking System Point Breakdown
Human Capital Factors reflect an individual’s potential ability to integrate into the Canadian society and contribute to the Canadian economy. The Human Capital Factors that are considered in CRS include Age, Education, Language Skills, and Canadian Work experience.
Here is a chart with the breakdown of how many points a candidate receives for each factor.
Age
Age | Maximum Points (Without Spouse) | Maximum Points (With Spouse) |
Under 18 | 0 | 0 |
18-19 | 90 | 90 |
20-29 | 110 | 100 |
30-33 | 95 | 90 |
34 | 85 | 80 |
35 | 75 | 70 |
36 | 65 | 60 |
37 | 55 | 50 |
38 | 45 | 40 |
39 | 35 | 30 |
40 | 25 | 20 |
41 | 15 | 10 |
42 | 5 | 0 |
43+ | 0 | 0 |
Level of Education
Education | Maximum Points (Without Spouse) | Maximum Points (With Spouse) |
Less than secondary school (high school) | 0 | 0 |
Secondary diploma (high school graduation) | 28 | 28 |
One-year degree, diploma or certificate from a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute | 84 | 84 |
Two-year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute | 91 | 91 |
Bachelor’s degree OR a three or more year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute | 112 | 112 |
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three or more years | 119 | 119 |
Master’s degree, OR professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession (For “professional degree,” the degree program must have been in: medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, law, chiropractic medicine, or pharmacy.) | 126 | 126 |
Doctoral level university degree (Ph.D.) | 150 | 150 |
Official Language Proficiency
CLB Level | Reading | Writing | Listening | Speaking | Maximum Points (Without Spouse) | Maximum Points (With Spouse) |
Less than CLB 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CLB 4 or 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
CLB 6 | 8 | 6 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 16 | 14 |
CLB 7 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 23 | 22 |
CLB 8 | 22 | 18 | 22 | 22 | 31 | 29 |
CLB 9 | 29 | 25 | 29 | 29 | 34 | 32 |
CLB 10 or more | 32 | 27 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 32 |
Second Language Ability
CLB Level | Reading | Writing | Listening | Speaking | Maximum Points without spouse | Maximum Points with spouse |
CLB 4 or less | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CLB 5 or 6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 |
CLB 7 or 8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3 | 3 |
CLB 9 or more | 3.5 or more | 3.5 or more | 3.5 or more | 3.5 or more | 5 | 5 |
Canadian Work Experience
Years of Experience | Maximum Points (Without Spouse) | Maximum Points (With Spouse) |
None | 0 | 0 |
Less than 1 year | 0 | 0 |
1 year | 35 | 40 |
2 years | 46 | 53 |
3 years | 56 | 64 |
4 years | 63 | 72 |
5 years or more | 70 | 80 |
Skill Transferability Factors
Skill transferability factors are another set of criteria that can be used to evaluate an Express Entry candidate’s ability to integrate into the Canadian workforce. These factors consider a candidate’s combination of education, work experience, and language ability, and assess whether these skills can be applied in a way that would make the candidate more competitive in the Canadian labour market.
There are five skill transferability factors that can contribute up to 100 additional points to a candidate’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score:
- Education – This factor looks at whether a candidate’s foreign education credential is equivalent to a completed Canadian credential. If so, the candidate can receive up to 50 points.
- Canadian work experience and foreign work experience – Candidates who have at least one year of skilled work experience in Canada and at least one year of skilled work experience outside Canada can receive up to 50 points.
- Language proficiency – Candidates who achieve a CLB level of 7 or higher in all four language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) in either English or French, and who have a second language proficiency of CLB 5 or higher in all four skills, can receive up to 50 points.
- Education and language proficiency – Candidates who have a Canadian post-secondary degree or diploma and achieve a CLB level of 7 or higher in all four language skills can receive up to 50 points.
- Foreign work experience and language proficiency – Candidates who have at least two years of skilled work experience outside Canada and achieve a CLB level of 7 or higher in all four language skills can receive up to 50 points.
Skill Transferability Factors for Education
Skill Transferability Factors – Education and Canadian Work Experience
Education | Canadian Work Experience | Maximum Points |
Secondary school (high school) diploma or less | 3 years | 0 |
One-year diploma or certificate | 2 years | 0 |
Two-year diploma or certificate | 2 years | 0 |
Bachelor’s degree OR a three-year diploma, trade certificate or apprenticeship | 1 year | 0 |
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three years or longer | 1 year | 0 |
Secondary school (high school) diploma or less | 4 years or more | 13 |
One-year diploma or certificate | 3 years or more | 25 |
Two-year diploma or certificate | 3 years or more | 25 |
Bachelor’s degree OR a three-year diploma, trade certificate or apprenticeship | 2 years or more | 25 |
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three years or longer | 2 years or more | 25 |
Bachelor’s degree OR a three-year diploma, trade certificate or apprenticeship | 3 years or more | 50 |
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three years or longer | 3 years or more | 50 |
Skill Transferability Factors – Education and Language Ability
With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 7 or higher) and a post-secondary degree | Points for CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities, with one or more under CLB 9 (Maximum 25 points) | Points for CLB 9 or more on all four first official language abilities (Maximum 50 points) |
Secondary school (high school) credential or less | 0 | 0 |
Post-secondary program credential of one year or longer | 13 | 25 |
Two or more post-secondary program credentials AND at least one of these credentials was issued on completion of a post-secondary program of three years or longer | 25 | 50 |
A university-level credential at the master’s level or at the level of an entry-to-practice professional degree for an occupation listed in the National Occupational Classification matrix at Skill Level A for which licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required | 25 | 50 |
A university-level credential at the doctoral level | 25 | 50 |
With Canadian work experience and a post-secondary degree | Points for education + 1 year of Canadian work experience (Maximum 25 points) | Points for education + 2 years or more of Canadian work experience (Maximum 50 points) |
Secondary school (high school) credential or less | 0 | 0 |
Post-secondary program credential of one year or longer | 13 | 25 |
Two or more post-secondary program credentials AND at least one of these credentials was issued on completion of a post-secondary program of three years or longer | 25 | 50 |
A university-level credential at the master’s level or at the level of an entry-to-practice professional degree for an occupation listed in the National Occupational Classification matrix at Skill Level A for which licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required | 25 | 50 |
A university-level credential at the doctoral level | 25 | 50 |
Foreign work experience – With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 7 or higher)
ears of experience | Points for foreign work experience + CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities, one or more under 9 (Maximum 25 points) | Points for foreign work experience + CLB 9 or more on all four first official language abilities (Maximum 50 points) |
No foreign work experience | 0 | 0 |
1 or 2 years of foreign work experience | 13 | 25 |
3 years or more of foreign work experience | 25 | 50 |
Foreign work experience – With Canadian work experience
Years of experience | Points for foreign work experience + 1 year of Canadian work experience (Maximum 25 points) | Points for foreign work experience + 2 years or more of Canadian work experience (Maximum 50 points) |
No foreign work experience | 0 | 0 |
1 or 2 years of foreign work experience | 13 | 25 |
3 years or more of foreign work experience | 25 | 50 |
Certificate of Qualification in a Trade and Language Ability
Certificate of qualification (trade occupations) – With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 5 or higher) | Points for certificate of qualification + CLB 5 or more on all first official language abilities, one or more under 7 (Maximum 25 points) | Points for certificate of qualification + CLB 7 or more on all four first official language abilities (Maximum 50 points) |
With a certificate of qualification | 25 | 50 |
Additional Factors
The maximum available number of CRS points for these additional factors for any one candidate is 600 points.
Additional Factors | With spouse or common-law partner | Without spouse or common-law partner |
Provincial nomination | 600 | 600 |
Job offer (NOC 00) | 200 | 50 |
Job offer (other NOC) | 50 | 0 |
Canadian study experience | 30 | 15 |
Sibling in Canada (citizen or permanent resident) | 15 | 15 |
French language ability (CLB 7 or higher) | 30 | 0 |
How Can I Increase My CRS Score?
The Express Entry pool is an attractive path to immigrate to Canada and in recent years it has become competitive. Optimizing your profile is essential to achieve a high enough CRS score to make the cut-off for a draw. Here are tips to optimize your Express Entry profile.
- Improve Language Proficiency: Proficiency in English or French is one of the key factors in the CRS score. You can improve your language proficiency by taking extra language classes. Some standardized testing such as the CLEP even offers extra practice to ensure you score well on your standardized test.
- Gain Work Experience: You can improve your score by gaining more work experience in your NOC skill level.
- Improve Education: Completing additional education or completing a specialized certification will increase your overall CRS score.
- Receiving a Job Offer: Although not mandatory, receiving a job offer from a Canadian employer will increase your application’s CRS score.
- Provincial Nominee Programs: If nominated by a Province or Territory, you receive 600 points toward your CRS score.
How can a Provincial Nominee Program increase my CRS score?
Under the Express Entry system, candidates who have been nominated by a province or territory through a PNP program can receive additional points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. These additional points can significantly increase the chances of being invited to apply for permanent residency through Express Entry as you are allocated 600 points towards your score.
PNP programs have different eligibility requirements and selection criteria than the Express Entry system. Candidates must meet the eligibility requirements of the specific PNP program they are applying to, in addition to the eligibility requirements for the Express Entry system.
What is a Good CRS Score?
Candidates often wonder what is a good CRS Score and if they should try immigrating to Canada through the Express Entry system. This is however hard to answer as the express entry pool changes with each draw and it depends on the current pool of candidates. Historically a score of 450 or higher is considered good. It does however depend on the current pool and the quota set by the Canadian government, causing the CRS score to fluctuate each draw. It is best to discuss with a consultant your situation and what options are for you.
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