Canada Express Entry

How Express Entry works

Step 1: Find out if you’re eligible
There are two ways to find out if you’re eligible for a program that is part of Express Entry:

Read the detailed requirements for each program:

Eligibility for Express Entry programs
We choose skilled workers based on their skills and ability to contribute to Canada’s economy.

Express Entry manages applications for three economic immigration programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker Program
• Federal Skilled Trades Program
• Canadian Experience Class
• Provinces and territories can also recruit candidates from the Express Entry pool through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to meet local labour market needs.

Select a program to see detailed requirements:

• Federal Skilled Worker Program
• Federal Skilled Trades Program
• Canadian Experience Class
• Compare all programs

Step 2: Get your documents ready

Documents for your profile
You don’t need to upload documents to submit a profile, but you may need information from some or all of these documents:

a passport or travel document
Venezuelan passport holders: You may need to complete extra steps when you create a profile or fill out your application.
language test results
proof of Canadian education or an educational credential assessment report for immigration purposes if
you’re applying through the Federal Skilled Workers Program, or
you want to get points for the education you got outside Canada
provincial nomination (if you have one)
written job offer from an employer in Canada (if you have one), proof of work experience, certificate of qualification in a trade occupation issued by a Canadian province or territory (if you have one)
proof of funds

Documents for your application for permanent residence
If we invite you to apply, you’ll need to upload copies of the documents you used for your profile (see list above). Most applicants will also need to upload the following:

police certificates
medical exams
proof of funds
birth certificate
required if you’re declaring dependent children
use of a representative form (PDF, 137 KB)
required if you’ve hired a representative
common-law union form (PDF, 2.22 MB)
required if you’ve declared your marital status as “common-law”
marriage certificate
required if you’ve declared your marital status as “married”
divorce certificate and legal separation agreement
required if you’ve declared your marital status as “divorced”
death certificate
required if you’ve declared your marital status as “widowed”
adoption certificate
required when a dependent child is listed as “adopted”
Other documents

You only need to submit these if we included them in your personalized document checklist. Your application may not be refused or rejected if you don’t submit these documents. They’re only used to check if you meet the requirements of the program you’re applying for.

proof of relationship to a relative in Canada
digital photos to confirm your identity
other name to confirm aliases
authority to release personal information to a designated individual form (PDF, 1.74 MB)
any other documents that you feel are relevant to your application

Step 3: Submit your profile:
Your Express Entry profile is where you give us information about yourself.

If you’re eligible, we’ll accept you into our pool of candidates.

You’ll be ranked in the Express Entry pool using a points-based system. Your score is based on the information in your profile.

Step 4: Receive an invitation and apply for permanent residence
We send invitations to apply to the candidates with the highest scores in the pool. If we invite you to apply, you’ll have 60 days to submit your application for permanent residence.

We’ll process most complete applications that have all the supporting documents in 6 months or less.