How to improve your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Score
Perfect your Profile
Providing accurate and valid credentials and documents is very important for good ranking and a seamless process of immigration to Canada. Your documentation should be legally valid, as in case any of your information provided to government authorities is wrong or invalid, it can cause you some serious difficulties and penalties.
Keep in mind that providing wrong and more score-gaining information in your Express Entry profile will not ensure your selection to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canada permanent residency.
Language
Impact of language on CRS score
Your proficiency in all four language skills is a very important factor that affects your CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score along with other factors. Your language proficiency can give you up to 310 score in combination with other skills. If a candidate is applying with a spouse or common-law partner, their language proficiency can add 320 points to their CRS points.
Improve language proficiency
Language is a factor that can easily be improved and gain more points. Candidates can easily retake their language tests again and again to get more score in language tests. i.e., generally in the Express Entry system, a minimum of CLB (Canadian Language Benchmark) 7 is required for qualification, but higher CLB scores up to 10 can be obtained for getting more points in CRS.
Importance of Language Proficiency
Language is very important in CRS as it is part of many factors that affect Comprehensive Ranking System score:
- In Core Human Capital Factor
- In Common law factor
- In Skill transferability
- In Additional factor
Following is detailed point breakdown of how candidate’s language skills in education and other factors and can add 50 up to points.
| Level of Eduaction | Points |
|---|---|
|
Secondary school degree |
0 |
|
One or more year post secondary education degree + CLB 7 or high in all four first official language abilities |
13 |
|
One or more year post secondary education degree + CLB 9 or high in all four first official language abilities |
25 |
|
Two or more post secondary degrees or certificates (at least one of more than 3 years) + CLB 7 or high in all four official language abilities |
25 |
|
Two or more post secondary degrees or certificates (at least one of more than 3 years) + CLB 9 or high in all four official language abilities |
50 |
A candidate should at least get CLB 9 in all four language skills such as Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking to get all 50 points of language proficiency.
Candidates would not get the whole 50 points if they don’t get CLB 9 in any one language skill. An applicant can possibly get CLB 10 in all four language skills and prioritize themselves in the Express Entry pool.
Luke is 29, has a professional degree, four years of Canadian Job experience, and a CELPIP-G score of 8 in all four language skills.
With all these credentials, Luke got a 459 CRS score.
After applying, Luke improved his language test score by retaking his CELPIP-G test and got 9 in all four language skills. By improving only one point in each language ability, his score jumped to 491.
By improving each of his language skills, he got an increase of 32 points in Core Human Capital language score and got a maximum of 50 points in skills transferability factor.
Education
Impact of Education points on CRS score
You can improve your education as education can add up to 200 points in your Express Entry score if you have studied outside Canada. You will get 250 points in your CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score if you have a Canadian post-secondary degree. You can improve your Education for more Express Entry score either by gaining further education or by gaining additional Educational Credential Assessments (ECAs) for your current degree or certificate.
What you need to know
Foreign education credentials need an ECA for their validation in the Express Entry process.
An ECA is required for your foreign education credentials to enter Express Entry pool if you are applying in the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
No ECA is required for your foreign education if you are applying through the Federal Skilled Trades program or Canada Experience Class to enter the Express Entry pool.
Sometimes a candidate’s spouse’s Express Entry score may be more than their own score. In this situation, a candidate is advised to let his spouse be the primary applicant for immigration to Canada. Barron is 31, married, has two foreign bachelor’s degrees, high language proficiency, 4 years of foreign Job experience, and his spouse has one foreign master’s degree and high language proficiency.
One of Barron’s degrees has ECA and his spouse’s degree does not have ECA. His one assessed degree is eligible and sufficient for entry into Canada’s immigration pool.
Barron got a 411 score.
Barron will get 421 if he gets an ECA for his spouse’s master’s degree. He can get a score of 440 if he gets an ECA for his other bachelor’s degree.
Spouse or Common-law Partner Might be a Better Principal Applicant
Sometimes a candidate’s spouse’s Express Entry score may be more than their own score. In this situation, a candidate is advised to let his spouse be the primary applicant for immigration to Canada.
Luke is 29, has a professional degree, four years of Canadian Job experience, and a CELPIP-G score of 8 in all four language skills.
With all these credentials, Luke got a 459 score.
After applying, Luke improved his language test score by retaking his CELPIP-G test and got 9 in all four language skills. By improving only one point in each language ability, his score jumped to 491.
By improving each of his language skills, he got an increase of 32 points in Core Human Capital language score and got a maximum of 50 points in skills transferability factor.
Work Experience
Your work experience can effectively increase your CRS score. Some of the job titles seem low tier jobs, but in fact, the tasks or duties that are performed under these job titles may be considered skilled tasks in Canada’s National Occupation Classification (NOC).
You can check whether your duties or tasks are skilled or not and eligible for Express Entry. This takes you beyond job title and truly shows your value in the Express Entry system. There is a list of jobs and their job tier on the official site to check your rank.
You need to check your job’s eligibility in NOC to know whether your experience qualifies for the Federal Skilled Worker Program or if it impacts your CRS points. For example, a minimum of one year of full-time job experience is needed for eligibility in the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Part time job or non continuous work experience is also awarded with points.
Jean is 32 years old, has high English language proficiency, has a Master’s degree, and has one year full time job experience as an software engineer. She doesn’t have any Canadian education and work experience. She also worked part time as a sales person of Softwares for four years before completing her degree.
She didn’t know that her part time Job experience is also considered skilled in Canada’s NOC and she could get points for part time work equivalent to full time work experience. Her one year Job experience was sufficient for eligibility, but she didn’t add her part time work experience in her profile.
As a result she got a 437 score.
If she had added her 4 years of part time Job experience, she would have gotten 25 more points, bringing her total CRS score to 462.
Job offers
Impact on CRS score
A valid job offer is also a very important factor that affects your CRS score effectively and can be used to maximize your CRS score for getting an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canada residency. Applying with a valid job offer can give you additional 50 or 200 points.
Candidates can get additional 50 points in their CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score for having a valid job offer of NOC level 0,A or B. Candidate can also get 200 additional points in CRS score if they have job offer of occupation of Group 00 Senior Management Occupation Classification
Candidates with a valid job offer may obtain either 50 or 200 additional points towards their CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score depending on the position.
There are some requirements by IRCC that the job offer should be in written form and must contain details about the job including pay, duties, rank, and condition of employment.
Work Experience and Provincial Nominee Programs
One important note is that the documentation of your work experience is very important for selection in Provincial nomination. It is also known as PNP. Selection by PNP is golden luck for you as it plays a significant role in CRS because you can get up to 600 points for your selection in PNP which will promise your selection for Canada Express Entry.
You have to monitor Provincial nomination programs regularly as sometimes provinces look for applicants with Job experience of some specific field which you may in fact have.
Samreen is 33 year old, has high English language proficiency, bachelor’s degree and worked as an it manager for 3 years in Canada.
She got a score of 455 based on these credentials.
She already got a good CRS score even though she didn’t add her 3 years of work experience as an programmer and validate reference from an old employer. Her work as a programmer is considered for the points in the Comprehensive Ranking System.
If she would have added her three years of work Experience as an programmer this could add a significant amount of points in his CRS score and She would easily be selected for Express Entry demand stream of province Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia considers the profession as an opportunity occupation and she would get a chance to occupy this job.
As a result of this she could get 600 points for provincial nomination and promise her selection for receiving an ITA for Canada immigration by gaining a maximum of 1055 score.
Proactively Prepare for an ITA or Provincial Nomination
Every candidate who applies for any PNP and Canada’s primary immigration program should keep their document ready, even if their CRS score is less ten than the eligibility because, if by any chance they get selected by PNP, their CRS score will increase by 600 points and they will guaranteedly be selected in the next Round of invitation for Express Entry or PNP.
If a Candidate gets an invitation letter, they have only 60 days for submitting the necessary details and documents, or sometimes less time is given to selected applicants. Therefore, you should be prepared for this in advance so you don’t miss this chance.
Express Entry Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs)
There are several different provincial nomination programs which do not use CRS score for their candidate selection and also don’t need any relatives in Canada. These types of PNPs are very popular among candidates who know more about Canada immigration.
Some of these provincial nomination programs work on First-come first-served principle and these types of PNPs reach their targets immediately after opening. They are the main hope for some candidates and only those candidates succeed to avail these, are those who stay prepared for them.
Nova Scotia Express Entry is one of these first-come first-served streams
| Express Entry Nova Scotia’s Demand stream | |
|---|---|
|
Does CRS score matters? |
No |
|
Is it targeted to specific occupations? |
Yes |
|
How selection system working? |
Its own, unique eligibility and ranking-system |
|
Does Nova Scotia provide notice of when the next time the program opens up in advance and you can submit your application?
|
1 Day |
|
How long does it take to reach its target applicant? |
Less than a day |
The stream does not consider a candidate’s CRS score and has a unique points-system and a list of eligible occupations.
Nova Scotia stream of Express Entry opens for a very short period of time as the required number target reaches just in hours after their opening. So, Active Candidates always remain prepared for them.
With many benefits there lies some disadvantages with advance preparation. One big disadvantage is that the requirements and criteria for eligibility of these streams change without any notice.
Even if this kind of situation occurs, some documents which are required for PNP are also necessary for Express Entry ITA.
Ontario Human Capital Priorities Stream
There is another PNP option for prepared candidates which is the Ontario Express Entry program linked with the Core Human Capital Priorities stream and is very popular.
The process of selection of this stream is such that it allows the use of the Express Entry pool to search for candidates with CRS scores more than 400 and some specific skills which are needed by the labor market of that province. But the Ontario province has set this required CRS score for IT professionals.
The time given by the Ontario’s Core Human Capital steam system to submit all required documents and credentials is less than the other. This program gives only 45 days to candidates who receive an ITA and it is a very short time to collect all the required documents.
Express Entry candidates who are interested in Human Core Capital Priorities are advised by Ontario to create a separate profile with details about Core Human Capital so that it will be easy for Ontario for searching and selecting candidates with specific needed skills.
Candidates should also keep an eye on the development streams and be proactive for any opportunities for immigration to Canada.
Other Express Entry-linked PNPs
Other Provinces, including Manitoba and Prince Edward Island, also have their streams which pick some eligible and proactive candidates from the Express Entry pool and put their profiles in their provincial pool and then rank them. Also New Brunswick has its own Express Entry labor market stream for IT professionals and others. This stream also opens for a limited period of time.
Out of all the PNPs one common factor is that they can be avail by proactive and informed candidates.
These PNPs of Canada play an important role in their economic growth and development. As Canada continues to develop financially its targets for immigration increase to gather all the beneficial people in their economy. So key an eye on these PNPs and be ready for receiving an ITA!
