Can You Get CRS Express Entry Points With A Trade Certificate?

Author: Al Parsai LL.M., RCIC-IRB

Last Updated on: July 20, 2024

Fiona, 32-year-old Scotswoman, holds a work permit in Canada. She recently completed one year of work experience in Canada. Fiona wants to enter the Express Entry pool under the Canadian Experience Class. Furthermore, she has just received a trade certificate as a Construction Electrician from Prince Edward Island. Fiona is curious if this certificate could boost her CRS score. Therefore, she seeks guidance on how it might impact her application.

Understanding Skilled Trades and Licensing

Skilled trades encompass a variety of careers requiring specialized training and hands-on experience. These roles span industries such as construction, manufacturing, and automotive. Tradespeople, like electricians and plumbers, are essential for maintaining and developing infrastructure, offering job stability and competitive wages.

Licensing ensures that tradespeople meet regional safety and skill standards. In Canada, obtaining a licence mostly requires passing exams, taking the Red Seal exam, and completing apprenticeships. This certification is crucial for legal work in regulated trades, ensuring public safety and professional recognition.

Understanding Express Entry and CRS Score

Express Entry is an online system that manages applications for permanent residence from skilled workers. It includes three programs: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, and Canadian Experience Class. Consequently, candidates submit profiles, and the highest-ranked receive invitations to apply for permanent residence.

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score evaluates Express Entry candidates based on age, education, work experience, and language proficiency. Therefore, higher CRS scores increase the chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA). The main components of the CRS are:

1. Core Human Capital Factors: Age, education, official language proficiency, and Canadian work experience: Up to 500 points (without a spouse) or 460 points (with a spouse)
2. Spouse or Common-Law Partner Factors: Education, official language proficiency, and the spouse’s or common-law partner’s Canadian work experience: Up to 40 points
3. Skills Transferability Factors: Combination of education and language proficiency, combination of foreign work experience and language proficiency, and combination of a certificate of qualification in a trade and language proficiency: Up to 100 points
4. Additional Factors: Provincial nomination, valid job offer, Canadian education credentials, sibling in Canada, and French language proficiency: Up to 600 points

Trade certification is one of the Skills Transferability Factors. Therefore, let’s explore this component.

Skills Transferability Factors – Maximum 100 Points

Skills Transferability Factors are crucial in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) for Express Entry. These factors assess how well a candidate’s education, work experience, and language skills can transfer to the Canadian labour market. Here’s a detailed explanation, referencing specific sections of the Ministerial Instructions.

Education – Maximum 50 points

Combination of Education and Language Proficiency

Section 21 of the Ministerial Instructions covers points for the combination of education and language proficiency. Candidates can receive points based on their highest post-secondary education level and proficiency in their first official language.

• 0 points: If the candidate has only a secondary school credential.
• 13 points: If the candidate has a post-secondary credential and language proficiency at CLB 7 or higher in all areas, with some areas below CLB 9.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has a post-secondary credential and language proficiency at CLB 9 or higher in all areas.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has higher education (e.g., master’s degree) and language proficiency at CLB 7 or higher in all areas, with some areas below CLB 9.
• Fifty points: If the candidate has higher education (e.g., master’s degree) and language proficiency at CLB 9 or higher in all areas.

Combination of Education and Canadian Work Experience

Section 22 explains the points for combining education with Canadian work experience.

• 0 points: If the candidate has only a secondary school credential.
• Thirteen points: If the candidate has a post-secondary credential and one year of Canadian work experience.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has a post-secondary credential and two or more years of Canadian work experience.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has a higher education and one year of Canadian work experience.
• Fifty points: If the candidate has a higher education and two or more years of Canadian work experience.

Foreign work experience – Maximum 50 points

Combination of Foreign Work Experience and Language Proficiency

Section 23 details the points for combining foreign work experience with language proficiency.

• 0 points: If the candidate has no foreign work experience.
• Thirteen points: If the candidate has one or two years of foreign work experience and language proficiency at CLB 7 or higher in all areas, with some areas below CLB 9.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has one or two years of foreign work experience and language proficiency at CLB 9 or higher in all areas.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has three or more years of foreign work experience and language proficiency at CLB 7 or higher in all areas, with some areas below CLB 9.
• Fifty points: If the candidate has three or more years of foreign work experience and language proficiency at CLB 9 or higher in all areas.

Combination of Canadian and Foreign Work Experience

Section 24 outlines the points for combining Canadian work experience with foreign work experience.

• 0 points: If the candidate has no foreign work experience.
• Thirteen points: If the candidate has one or two years of foreign work experience and one year of Canadian work experience.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has one or two years of foreign work experience and two or more years of Canadian work experience.
• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has three or more years of foreign work experience and one year of Canadian work experience.
• Fifty points: If the candidate has three or more years of foreign work experience and two or more years of Canadian work experience.

Combination of Trade Certificate and Language Proficiency – Maximum 50 points

Section 26 specifies the points for combining a trade certificate and language proficiency.

• Twenty-five points: If the candidate has a trade certificate and language proficiency at CLB 5 or higher in all areas, with some areas below CLB 7.
• Fifty points: If the candidate has a trade certificate and language proficiency at CLB 7 or higher in all areas.

Calculating Skills Transferability Points

Section 27 explains how to calculate the total points for Skills Transferability factors.

• Sum the points from sections 21 and 22 up to 50 points.
• Sum the points from sections 23 and 24 up to 50 points.
• Add the points from section 26 up to 50 points.

Here’s a table summarizing the Skills Transferability Factors:

Note: The maximum total points for Skills Transferability Factors is 100.

The Skills Transferability Factors can significantly impact a candidate’s CRS score. However, they only affect your score if you have not accumulated 100 points from the Education and Foreign Work Experience factors.

Understanding CLB, NCLC, and Acceptable Exams

The previous section refers to CLB. Here is a brief definition of this concept. However, you may click the links for more information.

• CLB (Canadian Language Benchmarks): CLB is the national standard used in Canada to measure English language proficiency. It assesses listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills on a scale from 1 to 12.
• NCLC (Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens): NCLC is the French equivalent of CLB, assessing French language proficiency in the same four skill areas.
• Acceptable Exams: IELTS, CELPIP, and PTE are acceptable English exams. For French, the acceptable exams are TEF and TCF. Consequently, you may only take these exams for Express Entry.

Why Your Trade Certificate Doesn’t Change Your CRS Score

You received a trade certificate, but your CRS score didn’t change. This might be due to not meeting the required language proficiency level. For the trade certificate to impact your CRS score, you need a minimum CLB level of 5 in all language skills. Additionally, you need CLB level 7 for maximum points in all language skills.

Another reason could be that you have already received the maximum 100 points for Skills Transferability Factors. You cannot get extra points for the trade certificate if you already have 100 points from Education or Foreign Work Experience. The system caps Skills Transferability points at 100. Therefore, even with a trade certificate, your CRS score will not increase if you have reached the limit in other categories.

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Al ParsaiAl Parsai, LLM, MA, RCIC-IRB
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Adjunct Professor – Queen’s University – Faculty of Law
Ashton College Instructor – Immigration Consulting
Author – 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada

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