Canada · Work authorisation

Federal Skilled Worker Program, through Express Entry

Issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It is scored rather than checked against a list, which is why this page explains the factors and links the official calculator instead of producing a number.

Basis
Points
Steps
7
Possible outcomes
4
Last checked
2026-09-01

Conditions

What this permit
asks of you.

Which desk decides

The authority, exactly

One federal department decides the whole route, but two separate scores run inside it and they are constantly confused. The 100-point selection factors, with a 67-point pass mark, decide whether you may enter the pool at all. The Comprehensive Ranking System then ranks everyone already in the pool against each other, and only the top-ranked are invited. Clearing 67 gets you into the queue; it says nothing about reaching the front of it.

Qualification

What it wants from your degree

At least one year of continuous full-time skilled work experience (or 1,560 hours part-time) within the last 10 years, in a single occupation in TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3; secondary education; and, for education obtained abroad, an educational credential assessment.

Not a licence

Academic comparability

Educational credential assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes, issued by An organisation or professional body designated by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

This compares your degree to a local one. It is an academic statement and it does not authorise you to practise any profession.

Assessment fee: Set by each designated organisation, not by IRCC — IRCC states only that costs "may vary by organization or professional body". Varies by organisation; no federal figure is published

We do not score you

This one is scored

Federal Skilled Worker Program, through Express Entry awards points rather than checking a list. The steps below set out the factors the authority scores, and the sources at the bottom are the official pages they come from, including its own calculator where one is published. This page never produces a number: a score computed here would read as a prediction of a decision we have no authority to predict.

The procedure

7 steps,
in the order they happen.

Prepare your documents

  1. Find the National Occupational Classification code for your job and confirm it sits in TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3. Your experience must match the lead statement and most of the main duties of that code, and it must be paid — unpaid internships and volunteering do not count.The code you name as your primary occupation is not necessarily your most recent job. IRCC asks for the one that most closely aligns with your experience.
  2. Take an approved English or French language test and reach at least Canadian Language Benchmark 7 in all four abilities. Below CLB 7 in any single ability, this program is closed regardless of every other factor.

Get your qualification assessed

  1. If you studied outside Canada, obtain an educational credential assessment before you create your profile. It is required to be eligible as the principal applicant, and it is what turns foreign study into points.

Close any gaps

  1. Score yourself against the 100-point selection factors — language, education, experience, age, arranged employment and adaptability. Below 67 points you do not qualify and cannot enter the pool.
  2. Submit your profile and wait to be ranked. IRCC scores the pool with the Comprehensive Ranking System and invites the highest-ranked candidates in each round. We do not calculate or estimate that score here: use IRCC's own calculator, and read the published cut-off of recent rounds to see where the bar has been sitting.As of 25 March 2025 a job offer no longer earns Comprehensive Ranking System points, for candidates already in the pool as well as new ones. It can still matter for eligibility on other routes, so it stays worth declaring — but anyone counting on the old 50 or 200 points is working from a superseded page.
  3. Some rounds invite only candidates who fall inside a category the Minister has established. Each category is defined by a closed list of occupations, or by French-language ability, and the lists are revised — being broadly in a sector named by a category is not the same as appearing on its list. Check whether your own occupation is on it rather than inferring from the category's name.

Register and start working

  1. If you are invited, you have 60 days to submit the application with documentary evidence for every claim in your profile. Show proof of funds unless you are already authorised to work in Canada and hold a valid job offer.You must also plan to live outside Quebec, which selects its own skilled workers. Experience gained while living in Quebec still counts, but IRCC states that officers will check evidence that you do not intend to settle there.

Cost and time

What it costs,
and how long the authority says it takes.

Fees

Application, including the right of permanent residence fee
CAD1,590.00
Application, without the right of permanent residence fee
CAD990.00
Include your spouse or partner, including the right of permanent residence fee
CAD1,590.00
Include a dependent child
CAD270.00 per child
Biometrics
CAD85.00 per person, CAD170.00 maximum per family applying together

Timeframes

Processing time
Not published as a single figure — IRCC publishes a processing-time tool per application type instead
Deadline to apply after an invitation
60 days
Validity of a permanent resident visa outcome
Permanent

Published processing times, not a prediction about your case.

Both halves together

Guides that use this permit.

Each one takes a profession into Canada and runs the recognition branch and the authorisation branch side by side, including what your country of qualification adds.

Evidence

Every claim on this page, and where it came from.

9 official pages, each with the jurisdiction it speaks for and the date a human last opened it. The oldest is 2026-09-01, and that is the date this page is only as fresh as.

Is this the right permit for you?

That depends on where you qualified.

The planner compares every route Canada opens to your country of qualification, and adds the recognition branch when your profession has one.

Check my path →All Canada permits