Improving Your CRS Score

When Canadian immigration authorities implemented the Express Entry system, they made sure that it was a system of merit and achievement. Under Express Entry, your application is sorted and ranked in the applicant pool using the points assigned by the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) created by IRCC. The factors used by this algorithm are based on an applicant’s education, skills, and work experience. These factors are considered best suited to support economic success for an applicant in Canada.

The CRS system is designed to be highly competitive and dynamic so that Canada can choose the fittest of candidates for immigration. What this means is that once you have submitted your online profile for Express Entry and gotten a CRS score, that is not the end! The CRS score is not “locked in” once you submit your application. The initial CRS score that you have been given can be improved and you should work very hard to do so because you can bet that all of your competition is certainly doing so! Some improvements are small and may only increase your CRS score by some points but, hey, every point counts. On the other hands, some improvements are huge and may bring you a guaranteed PR invitation.

Sometimes, it is possible that you may not have claimed all the CRS points that you can get. Either you are not aware of how you can get the points or you missed it due to some reason. What we have done is prepare a checklist for you to make sure that you claim all points that are applicable to your situation. Let’s take a look now.

Language Proficiency

Now, it’s a given that you will have proved your proficiency in one language when you submitted your online profile. But, if you know both English and French, you can take approved tests for both languages so as to claim as many points as possible. A CLB level 7 score in French and a CLB level 7 score in English proves to be a double whammy that can give you an extra 50 points for your application.

Proficiency in French language has become so much more important after category-based draws were introduced under Express Entry. One of the category deemed of importance by the Canadian immigration authorities is the French proficient population. In fact, the CRS cutoff score for these draws are much lower than the general or program-specific draws. If you still don’t agree, let me tell you that there are some Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs) that are open to only French speakers.

Sibling in Canada

Do you or your spouse/common-law partner have a brother or sister living in Canada as a citizen or permanent resident? This relationship can be through blood, adoption, marriage or common-law partnership. If yes, just submit the required documentation and that’s an extra 15 points for your application. Easy peasy!

Education Level

Have a diploma or a degree that you did ages ago but have not claimed it because it doesn’t tie to your work experience right now? Usually, lots of people applying to Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades programs do this and leave points on the table, unclaimed. This is because, unlike the Federal Skilled Workers program, these programs do not ask for an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to be eligible. So, people think that their degrees and diplomas are less valuable than their work experience and do not claim them.

You should put all your eligible education on your application and get an ECA for it. Canadian immigration authorities value your education, Canadian and foreign, and will add up to 150 points for it to your CRS score. If your degree is combined with the right kind of work experience and/or language ability, that increases by another 50 points for a grand total of up to 200 points. Isn’t that a huge deal?

If you have claimed all these points but still require a little nudge that will take you over, look to retake your language test. If you put in the needed time and effort, this can prove to be a shortcut to improving your CRS score in a couple of weeks. Language proficiency usually gives you up to 260 points for a single candidate and around 270 points for a couple. So, let’s say you have a score of CLB level 7 right now and you feel that it’s enough. How wrong would you be? If you can get to the magical score of CLB 9 in each ability, that will give you additional points for improvement in scores but that’s not all. You will get extra points from the skill transferability factors also that an result in a maximum of 100 points. So, one stone, two birds, eh?

If you have more time on your hands and can afford to work a few months or even an year on improving your CRS score, you can also look at learning the second language. Canadian immigration authorities are quite fond of people who can show that they know how to read, write, speak, and understand both English and French. Learning the second language will also give you a leg up when you are looking for jobs, both in Canadian and international markets.

Another thing that you can do to improve your CRS score in the long run is to get more work experience. As you gain more years of work experience, your CRS score will update automatically in the pool. Getting a Canadian job offer also can help you get an extra 50 points. If you are already working in Canada on a work permit right now, that’s very good because more points are given for Canadian work experience. Just make sure that you have a legal work status all the time of your employment. If you are working outside Canada but have less than three years of work-experience, keep grinding. Even if this doesn’t give points under the core/human capital factors, you will get points in skill transferability factors.

More education is also never a bad thing! Not only can it help you in increasing your CRS score over time, it can also make you more eligible for lucrative jobs in Canada and internationally. Let’s say you have a three year bachelor’s degree and you are debating whether doing another one year diploma will be worth it. We say go for it! You can get a maximum of 100 points from the skill transferability factors for this.

Now, we have saved the best for the last! the biggest jump of all! 600 points in one go! Guaranteed PR invitation! How? By getting selected for a Provincial Nomination Program or PNP. Due to this factor alone, PNPs are becoming increasingly popular with the applicant pool. But what advantage do the provinces get? The provinces get to choose the best suitable candidates for their economic growth and cultural integration. That’s the reason IRCC is increasing PNP nomination quotas in each Express Entry draw and the provinces are also coming out with innovative economic immigration streams to get candidates to apply.

So, what do you think? What are you going to do?

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Disclaimer:

The content available on this page is for informational purpose only. For professional advice, please book an appointment with our licensed immigration consultants through our website.

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