Express Entry – Comprehensive CRS Points Breakdown

Understanding Your Express Entry CRS Score

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to assess and rank candidates in the Express Entry pool. Your CRS score is calculated based on factors such as age, education, language proficiency, work experience, and other additional criteria. The maximum CRS score is 1,200 points. Candidates with the highest scores are invited to apply for permanent residence through regular draws from the pool. Use the detailed breakdown below to understand how points are allocated across different categories and calculate your potential CRS score.

A. Core/human capital factors

You will earn points as if you don’t have a spouse or partner if:

  • they are not coming with you to Canada, or
  • they are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
Factors Points with a spouse or common-law partner Points without a spouse or common-law partner
Age 100 110
Level of education 140 150
Official languages proficiency 150 160
Canadian work experience 70 80
Point Breakdown of Core/human capital factors

  • With a spouse or common-law partner: Maximum 460 points total
  • Without a spouse or common-law partner: Maximum 500 points total

Age

Age With a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 100 points) Without a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 110 points)
17 years of age or less 0 0
18 years of age 90 99
19 years of age 95 105
20 to 29 years of age 100 110
30 years of age 95 105
31 years of age 90 99
32 years of age 85 94
33 years of age 80 88
34 years of age 75 83
35 years of age 70 77
36 years of age 65 72
37 years of age 60 66
38 years of age 55 61
39 years of age 50 55
40 years of age 45 50
41 years of age 35 39
42 years of age 25 28
43 years of age 15 17
44 years of age 5 6
45 years of age or more 0 0

Level of Education

Level of Education With a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 140 points) Without a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 150 points)
Less than secondary school (high school) 0 0
Secondary diploma (high school graduation) 28 30
One-year degree, diploma or certificate from a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute 84 90
Two-year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute 91 98
Bachelor’s degree OR a three or more year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute 112 120
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three or more years 119 128
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.) 126 135
Doctoral level university degree (Ph.D.) 140 150

Official languages proficiency – first official language

Maximum points for each ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening):

  • 32 with a spouse or common-law partner
  • 34 without a spouse or common-law partner
Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level per ability With a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 128 points) Without a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 136 points)
Less than CLB 4 0 0
CLB 4 or 5 6 6
CLB 6 8 9
CLB 7 16 17
CLB 8 22 23
CLB 9 29 31
CLB 10 or more 32 34

Official languages proficiency – second official language

Maximum points for each ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening):

  • 6 with a spouse or common-law partner (up to a combined maximum of 22 points)
  • 6 without a spouse or common-law partner (up to a combined maximum of 24 points)
Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level per ability With a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 22 points) Without a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 24 points)
CLB 4 or less 0 0
CLB 5 or 6 1 1
CLB 7 or 8 3 3
CLB 9 or more 6 6

Canadian work experience

Canadian work experience With a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 70 points) Without a spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 80 points)
None or less than a 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

B. Spouse or common-law partner factors (if applicable)

Factors Points (Maximum 40 points)
Level of education 10
Official language proficiency 20
Canadian work experience 10
Point Breakdown of Spouse or common-law partner factors (if applicable)

Spouse’s or common-law partner’s level of education

Spouse’s or common-law partner’s level of education With spouse or common-law partner (Maximum 10 points) Without spouse or common-law partner (Does not apply)
Less than secondary school (high school) 0 n/a
Secondary school (high school graduation) 2 n/a
One-year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute 6 n/a
Two-year program at a university, college, trade or technical in school, or other institute 7 n/a
Bachelor’s degree OR a three or more year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute 8 n/a
Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three or more years 9 n/a
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.) 10 n/a
Doctoral level university degree (PhD) 10 n/a

Note: (n/a) means that this factor does not apply in this case.

Spouse’s or common-law partner’s official languages proficiency – first official language

Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level per ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening) Maximum 20 points for section
Maximum 5 points per ability		 Without spouse or common-law partner (Does not apply)
CLB 4 or less 0 n/a
CLB 5 or 6 1 n/a
CLB 7 or 8 3 n/a
CLB 9 or more 5 n/a

Note: (n/a) means that this factor does not apply in this case.

Spouse’s Canadian work experience

Spouse’s Canadian work experience Maximum 10 points Without spouse or common-law partner (Does not apply)
None or less than a year 0 n/a
1 year 5 n/a
2 years 7 n/a
3 years 8 n/a
4 years 9 n/a
5 years or more 10 n/a

Note: (n/a) means that this factor does not apply in this case.

C. Skill Transferability factors

Education Points (Maximum 50 points)
With good/strong official languages proficiency and a post-secondary degree 50
With Canadian work experience and a post-secondary degree 50
Foreign work experience Points (Maximum 50 points)
With good/strong official languages proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark [CLB] level 7 or higher) and foreign work experience 50
With Canadian work experience and foreign work experience 50
Certificate of qualification (for people in trade occupations) Points (Maximum 50 points)
With good/strong official languages proficiency and a certificate of qualification 50
Point Breakdown of Skill transferability factors

  • For skill transferability factors: Maximum of 100 points

Education

With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 7 or higher) and a post-secondary degree

Education level 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

Education level 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)

Years 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 (trade occupations) – With good official language proficiency (Canadian Language Benchmark Level [CLB] 5 or higher)

Qualification 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

D. Additional points

Factor Maximum points per factor
Brother or sister living in Canada (18 years or older, citizen or permanent resident) 15
French language skills 50
Post-secondary education in Canada 30
Provincial or territorial nomination 600
Breakdown of additional points
Additional points Maximum 600 points
Brother or sister living in Canada who is a citizen or permanent resident of Canada 15
Scored NCLC 7 or higher on all four French language skills and scored CLB 4 or lower in English (or didn’t take an English test) 25
Scored NCLC 7 or higher on all four French language skills and scored CLB 5 or higher on all four English skills 50
Post-secondary education in Canada – credential of one or two years 15
Post-secondary education in Canada – credential three years or longer 30
Provincial or territorial nomination 600

—————————————————-

One of our licensed immigration consultants can speak with you in person, online or on the phone about your unique immigration situation and give you a breakdown of your options.
bookappointment

862 thoughts on “Express Entry – Comprehensive CRS Points Breakdown”

  2. hi Team,
    i have been contacted by nova scotia province oct 2016 and they were in process to assess my application but they say my ielts is going to be expired in less than a month and requested me to enroll in the soonest test available and send us a proof of registration to the test or else they are going to refuse my application. i did and registered for the soonest test available on 19th Nov 2016 and sent them the proof and all were fine.
    after 2 weeks the same agent sent us email saying your application is refused because the Ilets is expired.

    note: my new score in ilets is 7.5 and iam accepted in the express entry.

    can we do an appeal based on what happened and ilets is now valid? or any other way available?

    i really appreciate your input

    regards,
    Esraa Mustafa

    Reply ↓

    • Yes. You should contact them with an explanation letter and proof of what they told you and request to re-instate your application.

      Reply ↓

  3. Hi,

    I am an Indian, with bacholers in commerce and a certificate and masters degree in interior design with 6 years experience in Interior design. I along with my husband would like to apply for migration. My husband is an engineer with MBA degree but work experience is as Sales engineer, which is why I have decided to become the principle applicant. I would like to know if our application looks viable/has a good chance of getting accepted.

    Also would my spouse education certificate need to have ECA as well to claim points under Federal Skilled Worker Program.

    Thank you

    Reply ↓

  4. Hello CIC immigration team,

    Could you please let me know if i can apply for express entry with given below bands.

    L -7
    R- 6
    s – 6.5
    w- 5.5
    overall 6.5

    Please reply as soon as possibe, i really need to know.
    Thankyou in advance.

    Reply ↓

  5. Dearest CIC Immigration Team,

    I´m trying to figure out at which point I can start working during my Express Entry application? Do I have to wait for the Permanent residency decision or can I start working earlier in the process. I´m currently in the application pool, with the total score of 445.

    Best regards, Saara

    Reply ↓

  6. Dear CICS Immigration Team,

    I recently cleared my IELTS exams with R:5, L:6, S:7 & W:7. Overall 6.5.

    With this do I qualify for the ‘Express Entry’?

    My profession is under NOC 4112 with experience more than 3 years and I am single as well. Could you kindly recommend for which province should I try for and under which Immigration Process?

    Also if CICS assist individuals like me than where can I reach you ?

    Looking forward to your prompt response.

    Thank you.
    Riz

    Reply ↓

    • No. Because you need a minimum of 6.0 to qualify for federal skilled worker, which is the first step to get into express entry.

      Reply ↓

  7. Hi I am 36 years of age and scored L-7 R-7.5 W-6.5 S-7, and have more than 4 years of experience in IT department at A Class bank in Nepal. According to ECA they have awarded my degree as more than 3 years bachelor. my wife has secure L-7 R-6 W-6 S-6 and se has not done her academic credentials.what are my chances for Canadian PR.

    Reply ↓

  9. Need Help!!!!

    My IELTS is scheduled to expire on 20th Feb 2017 which would result into deactivating Express Entry profile for the third time in the past two years.

    Does IELTS expiring means one’s English Ability (Speaking/Listening/Reading/Writing/ expire too??

    I’m 37 years old with 15 years experience but I guess CIC/Canada is looking for young candidates.

    Please guide me on what should I do further?

    Regards
    Hiten

    Reply ↓

  10. hello sir
    how many minimum band i need to migrate to canada through fedral skilled worker programme ?
    waiting for reply
    thanks
    ashish bhanwala

    Reply ↓

  11. Me and my spouse are in Canada. I am on a dependent open work permit and have secured a job in Canada.
    Can I be the primary applicant while applying for PR instead of my spouse.

    Reply ↓

  12. Hi,

    I am a B.tech graduate with in EEE but have 9 years of experience in US Recruitment working from India. My age is 33 years. I got band of 7 in IELTS R-6.5, W-6.5, L-6.5, S-7.5. I’m planning to do 1 year MBA course to get more points in CRS. I have seen that last draw saw around 450 CRS score get ITA. My wife is 12th pass. Also planning to get 1 years Bachelors correspondence course to get more points with her
    What are the chances I can get an ITA with these criteria?
    Your suggestion would be valuable for me to decide whether to apply or not

    Reply ↓

  13. sir,
    my IELTS report is
    Listening – 6
    Speaking – 6
    Reading – 7
    Writing – 6
    I have 10 years experience in teaching mathematics.
    I took the IELTS test for Academic Module. But some people are saying to take General Module .
    Please suggest me which one i have to take to get a job and PR in express entry .
    Waiting for your reply
    Thanking you sir

    Reply ↓

  14. Hello CICS team,

    Am a B.E holder.was working with a consultancy 3 years back n have 1.5 years experience.

    My ielts score

    R 7
    L 6
    W 7
    S 6.5
    Overall 6.5

    Do I stand any chance to immigrate?
    Kindly reply.thanks in advance.

    Reply ↓

  15. Respected please tell me that can m eligible for fswp. Currently m employed in nationalized Indian bank from past three years and my ielts score is istening:7,reading:7.5,speaking:6.5, writing:7bands.Please clearify me that whether m eligible for above said or not.

    Reply ↓

    • No. It’s about meeting the minimum requirement of Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades or Canadian Experience.

      Reply ↓

  17. Is there any news for implementing of new rules on getting citizenship ( returning stay in Canada from 4 years to 3 years,

    Regards
    Mohsen Foroughi

    Reply ↓

  19. Dear CICS Immigration Team,

    I would like to know if it is possible to apply for express entry using TEFAQ?

    Note that I planned to immigrate to Quebec via QSW, and this is why I did the tefaq test.

    Now I want to move in Ontario via express entry and I want to know if this is feasible?

    Thanks,

    Reply ↓

  20. Respected CICS Team,

    I want to know can I apply for Quebec Skilled worker Visa with overall IELTS GT band score =6.0, L=6.0, R=5.0, W=5.5, S=6.5.
    Another thing, Is PNP/State Nomination required each module 6.0 band or my above given score can be valid for some states under PNP?
    Can I change my application for federal express entry if i will get each module 6.0 band score later after applying for PNP or Quebec Skilled worker visa?
    Your assistance is duly appreciated. Please reply

    Reply ↓

  22. Hello Sir,

    I have 10 years of experience as a software engineer, i have got following IETS score:
    R- 6
    L -5.5
    W- 6
    S- 7
    Can I apply for Canadian PR?
    Thanks!
    S P Singh

    Reply ↓

  24. I have very good IELTS score but one Bachelors degree. I also have Certifications such as Oracle Certified Database Administrator from Oracle University. (3 Months Program). Does it qualify as a Second degree/Certificate. WES refused to assess it that it is a trade certificate.

    Reply ↓

  25. Hi
    Following are my scores and i have close to 11 years of experience.Do i stand a chance in the Express entry pool and have an opportunity to seek the PR Visa and eligible for getting a job as well. Kindly help me.

    Listening: 7.5
    Reading: 7.5
    Writing: 6.0
    Speaking: 7.0
    Overall: 7.0

    Regards

    Reply ↓

  26. Hi there,
    I have a query. I am an Australian Permanent Resident. Want to move to Canada for good. Got 6 Bands each in Ielts and 2 n half years of experience as a Restaurant Manager. Having Post Graduate degree from India. Am i eligibile for Express Entry program with this experience ? Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

    Reply ↓

  27. Hello there,
    I would like to know if I can submit my profile for EE with my current CELPIP test results now, and then have my results reevaluated, and once received, I could update the score in my EE profile? Or do I have to wait for the reevaluation results to submit the profile to the pool?

    Thanks!

    Reply ↓

  28. Hi, I completed my french exam: TEFAQ. Can i use the result as my primary language to apply for Canada Express Entry – All provinces and states?

    Reply ↓

  29. Dear CICS Team,

    I would like to immigrate to Canada via Express Entry. I am a dentist here in the Philippines for 15 years. I satisfactorily meet all of the requirements except for the proof of work experience because I have failed to pay any SSS contribution. I would like to know if there is an alternative way to prove my educational background/work experience?

    Thanks,
    Isabella

    Reply ↓

  30. I have completed my PhD in India. i want to increase more points for Express entry. If I take online course ? Shall it be include as Canadian education. Will I get points for this in express entry.

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *