Express Entry: the Canadian Experience Class

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is for skilled workers with Canadian work experience who want to become permanent residents.

Main requirements

• At least 1 year (1,560 hours) of skilled Canadian work experience (TEER 0–3) in the 3 years before applying.
• An approved language test with minimum scores in all 4 abilities:

• No education requirement; Canadian credentials or foreign ones with an ECA earn points.
• Admissibility (no security, criminal or medical issues).
• Plan to live outside Quebec.

The process

• Create an Express Entry profile, ranked by CRS score.
• IRCC holds rounds: general, program-specific (such as CEC only) or category-based (French, occupations).
• With an invitation (ITA), you have 60 days to submit a complete permanent residence application.

2026 CEC round scores

According to IRCC's published data, from January to mid-October 2026 there were 18 CEC rounds with 57,750 invitations in total and minimum CRS scores from 507 to 523. Most recently, the October 15, 2026 round invited 2,500 candidates with a minimum of 519.

Raising your score

• Improve your language scores (language makes up a large share of CRS points).
• Add French: NCLC 7 in all 4 abilities earns 25 to 50 extra points and access to French-language rounds.
• A provincial nomination: 600 points.

Note Minimum scores change every round. These are past figures, not a forecast.