To get Canadian Permanent Residence, you need to apply through the Express Entry program run by the federal government agency – IRCC (Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada). Under this program, every applicant gets a score, known as CRS score, based on factors such as age, education or language skills. IRCC conducts Express Entry draws regularly and the applicants with higher scores get selected under this program and they can get permanent residence eventually.
It may get a little overwhelming to understand it in the beginning, so sit tight, get rid of any distractions and read on.
The Basics
First, let’s understand the background. Why does a scoring system like that even exist?
Canada needs new immigrants to support an ageing population. People are living longer than before and putting more financial stress on the taxpayers (because the government pays pensions when you retire and the healthcare is free and that money eventually comes from the taxpayers). Through this scoring system, the government gives a higher preference to the applicants who are younger, more educated and with more professional work experience, so that these new immigrants can settle easily, earn good salaries and pay good amounts of taxes and for a longer duration.
Scoring system
There is a range of points that you can get for each criteria and these points help you build your CRS score. There are 4 major scoring categories here – Human capital factors, Spouse factors, Skill transferability, and Additional points. The maximum possible number of points you can get is 1200.
A. Human capital factors
For single individuals – Maximum 500 points
For married individuals – Maximum 460 points
B. Spouse factors (for married individuals) – Maximum 40 points
C. Skill transferability – Maximum 100 points
D. Additional points – Maximum 600 points
Total points – Maximum 1200 points
If you are a couple, one of you will be the primary applicant and the spouse will be the dependent. Either one of you can be the primary applicant.
Let’s explore these categories in further detail.
Category A: Human Capital Factors
1. Age
Maximum points for single applicants – 110
Maximum points for married applicants – 100
If you are single, you can get up to 110 points for age if you are under 30 while you will get 100 points if you are married or have a common-law partner. Once you reach 30, you will start losing points for every year above 30. At the age of 45, you will lose all the points for age.
| Age | Points for a single applicant | Points for a married applicant |
|---|---|---|
| 17 years or less | 0 | 0 |
| 18 years | 99 | 90 |
| 19 years | 105 | 95 |
| 20 to 29 years | 110 | 100 |
| 30 years | 105 | 95 |
| 31 years | 99 | 90 |
| 32 years | 94 | 85 |
| 33 years | 88 | 80 |
| 34 years | 83 | 75 |
| 35 years | 77 | 70 |
| 36 years | 72 | 65 |
| 37 years | 66 | 60 |
| 38 years | 61 | 55 |
| 39 years | 55 | 50 |
| 40 years | 50 | 45 |
| 41 years | 39 | 35 |
| 42 years | 28 | 25 |
| 43 years | 17 | 15 |
| 44 years | 6 | 5 |
| 45 years or more | 0 | 0 |
2. Education
Maximum points for single applicants – 150
Maximum points for married applicants – 140
The points for education keep going up with your degree with the highest possible score at a Doctorate level.
| Level of education | Points for a single applicant | Points for a married applicant |
|---|---|---|
| Less than secondary school | 0 | 0 |
| Secondary school (high school) | 30 | 28 |
| One year degree/diploma | 90 | 84 |
| Two years degree/diploma | 98 | 91 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 120 | 112 |
| Bachelor’s degree and a 1-2 year diploma | 128 | 119 |
| Master’s degree | 135 | 126 |
| Ph.D. | 150 | 140 |
3. Language skills for Official languages (English and/or French)
Points for first official language
Maximum points for single applicants – 34
Maximum points for married applicants – 32
As a single applicant, you can get up to 34 points on your first official language (for example, English) skills alone, which combined with other skills can give you even more points (up to 136 points) under Skill transferability. We will talk more about that later. Married applicants too get similar number of points.
| CLB level | Points for a single applicant | Points for a married applicant |
|---|---|---|
| CLB 3 or below | 0 | 0 |
| CLB 4 or 5 | 6 | 6 |
| CLB 6 | 9 | 8 |
| CLB 7 | 17 | 16 |
| CLB 8 | 23 | 22 |
| CLB 9 | 31 | 29 |
| CLB 10 or more | 34 | 32 |
Read more about CLB here.
Points for second official language
Maximum points for single applicants – 24
Maximum points for married applicants – 22
You can get even more points if you also have a good knowledge of the second official language (for example, French). Each of the 4 language abilities (reading, writing, listening, speaking) can give you up to 6 points. If you are single, you can get up to 24 points in total for all language abilities combined, while a married applicant can get up to 22 points. Just to clarify, it is NOT mandatory to know both official languages.
| CLB level | Points per ability for single and married applicants |
|---|---|
| CLB 4 or less | 0 |
| CLB 5 or 6 | 1 |
| CLB 7 or 8 | 3 |
| CLB 9 or more | 6 |
If you are a Francophone, you can have French as your first official language and English as your second official language.
4. Canadian work experience
Maximum points for single applicants – 80
Maximum points for married applicants – 70
Having Canadian work experience can give you a lot of points to quickly build your score. These points max out at 5 years of Canadian work experience.
| Canadian work experience | Points for a single applicant | Points for a married applicant |
|---|---|---|
| Less than a year | 0 | 0 |
| 1 year | 40 | 35 |
| 2 years | 53 | 46 |
| 3 years | 64 | 56 |
| 4 years | 72 | 63 |
| 5 years or more | 80 | 70 |
You may be wondering why married applicants get fewer points for the same skills compared to single applicants. Are single applicants preferred over married? No, not at all. Both type of applicants get the same points for Human Capital factors (500 points). The only difference is that the points for married applicants get split between the primary applicant (460 points) and spouse (40 points). We’ll cover these 40 points for spouse in the next section.
B. Spouse factors
These points are awarded based on your spouse’s (or common-law partner’s) education, language skills and Canadian work experience. These points are similar to Human Capital factors except for age. The age of your spouse does not matter for calculation of these points. As mentioned earlier, this category is applicable only for couples.
1. Spouse’s education
Maximum points – 10
| Spouse’s level of education | Points |
|---|---|
| Less than secondary school | 0 |
| Secondary school (high school) | 2 |
| One year degree/diploma | 6 |
| Two years degree/diploma | 7 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 8 |
| Bachelor’s degree and a 1-2 year diploma | 9 |
| Master’s degree | 10 |
| Ph.D. | 10 |
2. Spouse’s language skills
Maximum points – 20
You can get up to 20 points for the language skills of your spouse or common-law partner. There are maximum points of 5 per ability (reading, writing, speaking and listening). If your spouse can score CLB 9 or more in each ability, you can add 20 points to your total.
| CLB level | Points per ability |
|---|---|
| CLB 4 or less | 0 |
| CLB 5 or 6 | 1 |
| CLB 7 or 8 | 3 |
| CLB 9 or more | 5 |
3. Spouse’s Canadian work experience
Maximum points – 10
| Spouse’s Canadian work experience | Points |
|---|---|
| Less than a year | 0 |
| 1 year | 5 |
| 2 years | 7 |
| 3 years | 8 |
| 4 years | 9 |
| 5 years | 10 |
C. Skill Transferability factors
Maximum points – 100
These points are awarded as a combo if you do well in two or more areas. They are added over and above the points that you score in the individual areas mentioned in categories A and B. For example, if you have good language skills and good education, you will not only get points for education and language but you will also get additional points for the combo. Let’s look at these combos one by one:
Combo 1 – Education + Language Skills
| Education level | Points for CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities | Points for CLB 9 or more on all first official language abilities |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary school (high school) or less | 0 | 0 |
| Post-secondary program one year or longer | 13 | 25 |
| Two or more post-secondary programs, one of which is at least 3 years long (for example, Bachelor’s + Diploma) | 25 | 50 |
| Master’s degree or entry-to-practice professional degree for an NOC Skill Level A occupation | 25 | 50 |
| Doctorate degree | 25 | 50 |
Read more: What is CLB and how is it different from IELTS
Combo 2 – Education + Canadian work experience
| Education level | 1 year of Canadian work experience | 2 or more years of Canadian work experience |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary school (high school) or less | 0 | 0 |
| Post-secondary program one year or longer | 13 | 25 |
| Two or more post-secondary programs, one of which is at least 3 years long (for example, Bachelor’s + Diploma) | 25 | 50 |
| Master’s degree or entry-to-practice professional degree for an NOC Skill Level A occupation | 25 | 50 |
| Doctorate degree | 25 | 50 |
Combo 3 – Foreign work experience + Language skills
| Years of experience | CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities | CLB 9 or more on all first official language abilities |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Note: Foreign work experience means a work experience in your home country or any foreign country other than Canada.
Combo 4 – Foreign work experience + Canadian work experience
| Years of foreign work experience | 1 year of Canadian work experience | 2 or more years of Canadian work experience |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Combo 5 – Certificate of qualification + Language skills
| Certificate of qualification* | CLB 5 or more on all first official language abilities | CLB 7 or more on all first official language abilities |
|---|---|---|
| If you have a Certificate of qualification | 25 | 50 |
*This is applicable only for Federal Skilled Trades stream.
Even if you meet all these conditions, the max you can get is 100 points out of Skill Transferability.
D. Additional points
Maximum points – 600
There are few other ways of scoring points that can help build up your CRS score, some of which may not be under your control. We are listing a few common ones here. The max you can get under this category is 600 points.
| Additional factors | Points |
|---|---|
| Brother or sister in Canada who is a PR or a citizen | 15 |
| Canadian diploma/degree (1 or 2 years long) | 15 |
| Canadian degree (3 years or longer) | 30 |
| Arranged employment – NOC 00 | 200 |
| Arranged employment – any other NOC 0, A or B | 50 |
| Provincial Nomination | 600 |
| CLB 7 in all 4 French abilities and CLB 5 in all 4 English abilities | 50 |
| CLB 7 in all 4 French abilities and CLB 4 or below in English abilities | 25 |
Calculating your CRS score
You may be wondering what your score is going to be and it can get quite complicated to calculate your net score. Although, it is important to know how scores are generated but you can calculate your total score the easy way too without adding all these points manually. Head over to the CRS Calculator page on IRCC’s website. Select appropriate answers to the questions and it will generate a score for you.
At this stage, you may not have had your degrees assessed or you may not have appeared for the language test yet. In that case, you can make a few assumptions and try calculating your score. Try changing the values and see what best you can get and also what’s the most likely score you will get.
Also check out the cut off scores from the recent Express Entry draws. That will give you an idea on how close (or far) you are to your Canadian dream!
In this article, we tried to simplify the points calculation but we will recommend that you should refer to IRCC’s website for more details.
Related Topics
CRS Calculator
Express Entry draws and cut off scores
How to improve your CRS score
Process of PR application