It’s very important to be able to communicate in 1 or both of Canada’s official languages. Knowing English, French or both helps you in the Canadian job market.
You can get up to 28 points for your language skills in English and French. We’ll give you points based on your ability to:
You must take an approved language test to prove your language levels.
To measure your English or French levels, we use:
You must get a minimum level of CLB 7 or NCLC 7 for 1 official language in all 4 language areas. To get points for the second official language, you must meet the minimum level of CLB 5 or NCLC 5 in all 4 language areas.
Once you take the language test, you can use it to see exactly how many points we’ll give you for the language selection factor.
Find out more about language testing and how to get tested.
Check the table below and add the points that match your skill level:
First official language | Speaking | Listening | Reading | Writing |
---|---|---|---|---|
CLB level 9 or higher | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
CLB level 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
CLB level 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Below CLB level 7 | Not eligible to apply | Not eligible to apply | Not eligible to apply | Not eligible to apply |
You can get 4 points only if you have a score of at least CLB 5 in each of the 4 language abilities.
Second official language | Points |
---|---|
At least CLB 5 in all of the 4 abilities | 4 |
CLB 4 or less in any of the 4 abilities | 0 |
If you went to school in Canada, you must have a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:
If you have foreign education, you must have:
You must include your Canadian credential or your foreign credential and Educational Credential Assessment report when you apply.
You can get points for the number of years you’ve spent doing full-time paid work (at least 30 hours per week, or an equal amount of part-time [15 hours per week for 24 months]) at skill type 0, or skill levels A or B of the 2016 National Occupational Classification.
To get selection factor points, your work experience will count if it was:
The NOC is a list of all the occupations in the Canadian labour market and is used to classify jobs in the Canadian economy. It describes duties, skills, talents and work settings for different jobs.
You will need to identify the “NOC code” for each job that you want to include in your Express Entry profile. Find your NOC to find the information that best matches each of your past jobs.
You’ll need this information again, so make sure to save it.
If the description and list of main duties match what you did at your job(s), you can count this experience for points.
Use this chart to find the number of points based on your number of years of experience.
Experience | Maximum 15 points |
---|---|
1 year | 9 |
2-3 years | 11 |
4-5 years | 13 |
6 or more years | 15 |
You’ll get points based on your age on the day we get your application.
Age | Points |
---|---|
Under 18 | 0 |
18-35 | 12 |
36 | 11 |
37 | 10 |
38 | 9 |
39 | 8 |
40 | 7 |
41 | 6 |
42 | 5 |
43 | 4 |
44 | 3 |
45 | 2 |
46 | 1 |
47 and older | 0 |
You can get points if you have a job offer of at least 1 year from a Canadian employer. You must get the job offer before you apply to come to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker.
A valid job offer has to be:
We must be convinced that:
To get 10 points for a valid job offer, 1 of these situations must also apply.
You currently work in Canada on a work permit and you meet all of the following conditions:
You currently work in Canada in a job that is exempt from the LMIA requirement because of 1 of the following:
You must also meet all of the following conditions:
You must meet all of the following conditions:
You must meet all of the following conditions:
You and your spouse or common-law partner who will immigrate with you to Canada can earn points for adaptability.
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