How to Create an Online Express Entry Profile

Last Updated on June 30, 2021

Online Express Entry profiles enable the Canadian government to assess whether a skilled immigration applicant is eligible to immigrate to Canada. In order to create an Express Entry profile, applicants must follow a number of steps.

Step 1: Take a Language Test

All the skilled immigration programs that are part of the Express Entry system require applicants to prove their knowledge in at least one of Canada’s two official languages, English or French. Skilled immigration applicants must thus complete a government-approved language test and include the test results in their profile.

Step 2: Get Your Foreign Education Credentials Assessed (if necessary)

Applicants who were educated outside of Canada should have their diplomas assessed in order to ensure that their foreign education is equivalent to a similar Canadian education. Obtaining a credential assessment is mandatory for anyone who wants to immigrate to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. The assessment is NOT mandatory if the applicant is applying under the Federal Skilled Trade Program or the Canadian Experience Class.

While a credential assessment is not mandatory for all Express Entry programs, a successful assessment can greatly increase an applicant’s chances of success regardless of the Express Entry program under which he or she applies. It is thus recommended that all applicants under all Express Entry programs obtain a credential assessment.

Step 3: Determine Your National Occupation Classification (NOC)

In order to successfully immigrate to Canada using the Express Entry system, all applicants must be able to show that their work experience meets the definition of an occupation that is included in Canada’s National Occupation Classification database.

Note: Only applicants with the following types of work experience may apply for immigration under the Express Entry System.

• Skill Type 0 (Management Jobs)
• Skill Level A (Professional Jobs)
• Skill Level B (Technical Jobs and Skilled Trades)

Step 4: Determine Your Eligibility for Express Entry Immigration

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website contains an online tool that can help applicants determine whether or not they are eligible to use the Express Entry system. This tool must be used before an Express Entry profile can be created.

Note: In order to use the tool, applicants must:

• Already have taken a language test
• Identify the National Occupation Classification (NOC) skill type or level under which they will be applying.

Step 5: Build your Express Entry profile

If the online tool determines that you are eligible to apply for Express Entry immigration, you will be able to begin building your Express Entry profile.

Applicants must provide the following information in their Express Entry profiles

• Identity and age
• Contact Information
• A detailed account of their educational history
• A detailed account of their work experience
• Language proficiency
• Factors that facilitate their adaptability to life in Canada
• Family composition
• Information on their spouse or common-law partner, if applicable

In order to successfully complete a profile, applicants must also have in hand:

• Their passport or travel document
• The title and code of the occupation that best describes their work experience as stated in the National Occupation Classification Database.
• Language test results.
• Foreign Educational Credential assessment result, if necessary.
• A copy of a written job offer from a Canadian employer (if the applicant has been offered a job).
• Proof of provincial nomination for permanent residence (if the candidate has received a provincial nomination).
• Personal reference code from IRCC’s online eligibility verification tool (see step 4 above). All applicants will receive a reference code upon the successful use of the online tool.

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Step 6: Submit Your Profile

Once your profile has been completed and all necessary information has been provided, the profile should be submitted. Once the profile is submitted, you will receive:

• An Express Entry profile number, and
• A job seeker validation code

Applicants will need these numbers if:

• They will be registering for the Job Bank (see below)
• They have received nominations for permanent residence from a provincial or territorial government.

If your profile fulfills the Express Entry requirements as well as the criteria for one of the three Express Entry Immigration programs (Skilled Worker, Skilled Trade or Canada Experience Class), you will be placed into the Express Entry candidate pool.

Important Note: Successful entry into the pool DOES NOT mean that you will automatically be invited to apply for permanent residence. Once applicants enter the pool, they will be assessed a score using the Comprehensive Ranking System. Only if the score meets the lowest score that is set by the Immigration Minister during a periodic draw, will an applicant be invited to apply for permanent residence.

Step 7: Register with Job Bank, if necessary

Job Bank registration is no longer mandatory for Express Entry candidates.

Candidates who require job search assistance are strongly encouraged to visit skilledworker.com, Immigration.ca’s in-house recruitment agency.

Step 8: Update Your Information, if necessary

All candidates must update their Express Entry profile if:

• The nature of their work experience changes
• They receive new language test results
• They obtain a new educational diploma.
• There is a change in their family composition, such as: birth, beath, marriage, divorce, a child in the family is no longer a dependant

An Express Entry profile remains valid for one year. However, an Express Entry profile could become invalid before one year passes if.

• The applicant no longer meets relevant Express Entry or skilled immigration program criteria.
• The applicant has received an invitation to apply for permanent residence. 

Note. Applicants who decline an invitation to apply for permanent residence will see their profiles become valid again

An Express Entry profile remains valid even if a candidate updates the information on the profile.

If one year passes without a candidate receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residence, his or her profile will be deleted from the pool.