The Comprehensive Ranking System Breakdown
The CRS scoring system categorizes your grade into four sections: Core human capital, spouse or common-law partner, skills transferability, and additional points.
Core Human Capital
The core human capital section awards you points based on your age, education level, official language proficiency in French or English, and Canadian work experience. On individual assessment, you can attain a maximum score of 500 points. If you are assessed with a spouse, your score is limited to 460 points, with an additional 40 points based on your spouse’s human capital factors.
Spouse or Common Law Partner
During an assessment with your spouse, you are potentially awarded 40 points based on your spouse’s skills and qualifications. The additional points are influenced by your spouse’s educational qualifications, Canadian work experience, and language proficiency. The combined score for the core human capital and the common law partner sections adds up to 500 points, whether you are assessed with or without your partner.
Skills Transferability
For the skills transferability section, you are awarded points based on how your qualifications and skills relate to and support each other. Each of the following combinations can give you up to 50 points:
- Foreign work experience + Canadian work experience
- Foreign work experience + strong language proficiency
- Post-secondary education + strong language proficiency
- Post-secondary education + Canadian work experience
Candidates can attain a maximum score of 100 points for skills transferability.
Additional Points
You can be awarded additional points based on other factors not linked to your knowledge or skills. These include:
- Having a sibling in Canada, who is a permanent resident or citizen.
- French language skills; The Government intends to increase new French-speaking populations outside Quebec.
- Canadian post-secondary education: If you completed your studies within Canada, you can earn an extra point.
- Arranged employment, where points attainable vary depending on your job classification by the National Occupation Classification.
- Provincial nominations: This can add 600 points to your total score, potentially guaranteeing an invitation to apply during upcoming draws.
The sum of all your points based on additional factors adds to a maximum of 600 points.
What is the Needed CRS Target?
The IRCC began holding category-based selection draws in 2023 to address labor shortages in specific industries. The CSR cutoff scores for these categories are generally lower. For example, in the agri-food and agriculture occupations, the lowest cutoff score was 354. The lowest score for a draw for the French language proficiency category was 338. The official website of the Government of Canada outlines points based on your skills and qualifications that can help calculate your CRS score.
