Profile
In order to be considered under one of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (Immigration Canada) economic programs, a foreign national must create a profile online in order to express their interest in immigrating to Canada.
In order to complete an Express Entry profile online with Immigration Canada a foreign national will need to provide information regarding their:
- Age
- Education
- Language abilities in English and French
- Foreign work experience
- Canadian work experience
- Employment offer with a Canadian employer
- Provincial nomination
- The age, education, language abilities and work experience of their spouse or common-law partner
- Family members
In order to complete a profile, a foreign national (and their spouse or common-law partner) who holds a foreign education diploma, must have their education assessed by an approved agency, and must have received their Education Credential Assessment (ECA). Without an ECA, the foreign national’s (or their spouse or common-law partner’s) education will not be considered and will not be awarded points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Once issued, an ECA is valid for five years.
Similarly, a foreign national (and their spouse or common-law partner) who wishes for their English and/or French language abilities to be considered and to be awarded points under the CRS must complete a language proficiency test with one of the approved organizations. A language proficiency test is valid for two years.
Once a foreign national’s profile is complete, the Express Entry system will determine if they meet the minimum criteria of one of the three economic programs: the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. If the foreign national does meet the minimum criteria of one of the three programs, their Express Entry profile will be placed in the pool of applicants.
A foreign national’s Express Entry profile will remain in the pool for up to 12 months. However, one must be aware of the expiry dates of their ECA and their language proficiency test results. If the ECA or one of the language proficiency test results expire and are therefore no longer valid, a foreign national’s Express Entry profile could expire while in the pool of applicants.
Immigration Canada will select candidates with the highest point score from the Express Entry pool on a regular basis and invite them to submit an application for Canadian permanent residence. This invite, is called an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
If a foreign national is not issued an ITA within 12 months of being placed in the pool of applicants, or if the foreign national’s profile expires due to a change in circumstances, or an expired ECA or language proficiency test result, Immigration Canada will automatically remove their profile from the Express Entry pool. A new Express Entry profile will then need to be created.
Foreign nationals’ are responsible in ensuring that the information contained in their Express Entry profile is up to date and is accurate. Inaccurate information could cause a foreign national to be wrongly selected from the Express Entry pool of applicants, and subsequently having to refuse the ITA. If a foreign national submits an application for permanent residence based on inaccurate information, they could receive a refusal of their permanent residence application, or be excluded for misrepresentation.