For skilled individuals wishing to migrate to Canada, the country offers the Express Entry system to apply for permanent residence. If you have the required points for eligibility which is 67 points at present, you can make your application through the Express Entry system.
The next step is to score the required points in the Comprehensive Ranking system to get an invitation to apply or ITA for Canada PR visa under the Express Entry immigration program. The CRS is a merit-based points system where points are given to candidates based on certain factors. Every applicant in the Express Entry system is assigned a CRS score out of 1200 points and if he scores highest points under the CRS, he will get an ITA for the PR visa. The CRS score keeps changing with every Express Entry draw which is held approximately every two weeks by the Canadian government.
Factors that determine the CRS core
When you apply under the Express Entry system, you would like to know about the factors that will determine your CRS score.
The CRS score has four important factors. Your profile will be given a score based on these factors.
The CRS score factors include:
- Human capital factors
- Spouse or common-law partner factors
- Skill transferability
- Additional points
Human capital and spouse common law partner factors: You can score a maximum of 500 points under both these factors. Your human capital score will be calculated based on the criteria mentioned above.
Regarding the points you can score under the spouse/common law partner factor, you can score a maximum of 500 points if your spouse/common-law partner is not coming with you to Canada. You can score a maximum of 460 points if your spouse is coming with you to Canada.
| Human capital factor | Accompanied by spouse/common law partner | Not accompanied by spouse/common law partner |
| Age | 100 | 110 |
| Educational Qualification | 140 | 150 |
| Language proficiency | 150 | 160 |
| Adaptability | 70 | 80 |
Skill Transferability: You can gain a maximum of 250 points under this category. The three important factors considered under Skill Transferability include:
Education: For your education degree, the highest you can be awarded is 150 points, which applies to a doctoral level university credential. The lesser the educational qualification, you will get lesser number of points.
Work Experience: For Canadian work experience, the maximum points you can be given are 70 (with a spouse/common-law partner) and 80 (without a spouse/common-law partner) for five years or more.
Canadian qualification: A certificate of qualification with a high level of language proficiency will give you 50 points.
| Skill transferability factors | Accompanied by spouse/common law partner | Not accompanied by spouse/common law partner |
| ? Combination of (i) Education and (ii) Language proficiency OR Canadian work experience | 50 | 50 |
| ? Combination of (i) Non-Canadian work experience and (ii) Language proficiency OR Canadian work experience | 50 | 50 |
| ? Combination of (i) a Certificate of qualification and (ii) Language proficiency | 50 | 50 |
| Total | 100 | 100 |
To calculate your exact CRS score, you will need to factor in the points from your language test results as well as those from your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) if your degree is not from a Canadian university.
CRS cut-off score
The CRS cut-off score will be higher if the average of the cut-off scores in the pool is higher. An applicant has to ensure that he gets the highest CRS score that is possible.
The CRS score determined for each draw is based on the number of applicants in the Express Entry pool and the immigration targets of Canada. Since the immigration target for 2021 is 401,000, the CRS score will depend on the number of applicants in the Express Entry pool before each draw.
Knowing the factors that determine your CRS score will help you find the way to score the optimum in your CRS so that you get the required number of points to get an invitation to apply for Canada PR.