Create your profile and enter the pool

On this page

• How the pools work
• Create your profile
• How we rank your profile
• Keep your profile up-to-date
• What to do while you're in the pool
• If your work permit expires

How the pools work

If you want to come to Canada as a skilled immigrant, your first step is to create your profile and submit it to the Express Entry pool.

If you’re eligible, we’ll:

• place you in a pool with others who are also eligible
• give you a score and rank you using several factors
• invite you to apply to be a permanent resident of Canada (if you’re one of the top candidates)

Completing an online Express Entry profile or entering the pool doesn’t guarantee that we’ll invite you to apply for permanent residence. You can only apply if we send you an invitation.

Create your profile

1. Prepare your documents.
2. Sign in to your IRCC secure account.
3. Enter your personal reference code when it prompts you (if you used the Come to Canada tool).
4. Enter your personal details to create a profile.
   • You may exit the profile at any time. Your information will be saved in your account.
   • You won’t be asked to enter information about your dependent children. We’ll only ask you for this information if you’re invited to apply.
5. Submit your profile.
   • You have 60 days to complete and submit your Express Entry profile. Otherwise, you’ll have to start again.
6. Based on the information you enter, we’ll figure out which program(s) you’re eligible for and may be invited to apply to.

If you’re eligible for more than one program

If you're eligible for more than one program through Express Entry, you'll be invited to apply for the first program you meet in this order:

• Canadian Experience Class (CEC),
• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), then
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

You can’t choose which program you are invited to apply for. The system will sort profiles based on the information you enter.

If you decline the invitation, the system will not re-invite you under the next program. You will go back in the pool, and if we invite you again, the same order will apply.

Sign in to your IRCC secure account

How we rank your profile

You get points based on the information in your profile, including your skills and experience.

To be chosen from the pool and invited to apply, you need to have one of the highest-ranking scores when we send out invitations. If you are invited, you can apply for permanent residence.

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) is the points-based system we use to assess and score your profile and rank you in the Express Entry pool.

View the full CRS criteria and how points are calculated

Keep your profile up-to-date

You must update your profile if your situation changes, for example, if you:

• start a new career
• gain or lose a job offer
• get a new language test
• get married or divorced
• have or adopt a new child

If we find that you gave us false information or left out important details, we can:

• refuse your application
• find you inadmissible
• bar you for 5 years from applying to come to Canada

Common reasons why your profile may become ineligible

• Your work experience no longer meets the program requirements.
  • For example, it needs to be in the 3 years before you apply, and it no longer is due to your time in the pool.
• Your language test results expired.
• Your educational credential assessment (ECA) results expired.
• You no longer have enough funds.
• You changed your primary occupation.

What to do while you're in the pool

Improve your score

Try to improve your score by:

• getting a valid job offer
• contacting provinces and territories and asking them to consider you for a Provincial Nominee Program
• improving your language score
• improving your education
• gaining more skilled work experience

Find a job with Job Match

You can start your job search by creating a Job Match account with Job Bank. You'll need the Job Seeker validation code to create a Job Match account.

Sign up with Job Bank

Get updates about Express Entry

• Subscribe to email updates for the latest news about Express Entry.
• Like or follow us on our official social media channels.

If your work permit expires while you're in the pool

If your work permit expires soon, extend your work permit.

If your work permit has already expired:

• Restore your work permit.
  • You can leave Canada and still be in the pool.
• If you don’t apply to restore your work permit, you must leave Canada right away when it expires.

Don’t work in Canada without status. It can make you ineligible for Express Entry.