If you are looking at Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry, one number will follow you through the entire journey: your Comprehensive Ranking System score. The CRS is the points-based tool that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses to rank every candidate in the Express Entry pool and decide who receives an invitation to apply.

How points are awarded

The CRS is split into four sections, and each one contributes to your total out of a maximum of 1,200 points (IRCC: check your score). The full points table is IRCC's CRS criteria page.

• Section A: Core human capital. Age, level of education, official language ability in English or French, and Canadian work experience. This is the largest single slice of the score for most candidates.
• Section B: Spouse or common-law partner factors. If you are applying with an accompanying spouse or partner, their education, language ability, and Canadian work experience can add points. Single candidates skip this section and gain points in Section A instead.
• Section C: Skill transferability. Combinations of education with language ability, education with Canadian work experience, foreign work experience with language ability, and a trades certification with language ability.
• Section D: Additional points. Awarded for specific situations: a provincial nomination (worth 600 points), strong French-language proficiency, a sibling who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and Canadian post-secondary study. A job offer is not on that list. IRCC removed arranged-employment points from the CRS on 25 March 2025, so a job offer supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment now adds nothing to your score, in this section or any other (IRCC: CRS criteria).

Your final CRS score is simply the sum across these four sections.

How invitation rounds work

IRCC holds Express Entry draws on a regular cadence. Each draw invites the highest-ranked candidates eligible for that draw, up to the number of invitations IRCC set for it, and the lowest score invited becomes that draw's cutoff. Where several candidates share that lowest score, IRCC decides who is invited by the date and time each one submitted their Express Entry profile, so reaching the cutoff score does not by itself mean an invitation. Some draws are general and invite across all programs, while others are category-based and focus on specific occupations, French-speaking candidates, or a particular program such as the Canadian Experience Class. IRCC lists every draw, with its date, type, cutoff score and number of invitations, on its rounds of invitations page, and our guide to category-based draws explains how the categories work. Our page on Canadian Experience Class rounds charts how that program's cutoffs have moved.

What scores are considered competitive

Exact cutoffs move from draw to draw and depend heavily on the program or category being targeted, so chasing a single magic number is not useful. Rather than quoting a figure that will be out of date by the next round, look at the record itself: IRCC's rounds of invitations page lists every draw with its cutoff score and the number of invitations, and category-based and program-specific draws regularly cut off well below general draws. The free CRS calculator shows the most recent draws beside your own estimate. If your score sits below them, our guide to the routes that do not use your score is the next read.

What this means for your report

Your CRS score is a ranking number rather than a requirement you pass or fail, and the report treats it that way. It runs the same calculator as the free CRS calculator on this site, from the same code, so the two cannot hand you different totals for the same answers. The score is built from things you have already told the questionnaire: your date of birth, your education history and where each qualification was earned, which language test you sat and your four ability scores, your work history, and whether a partner is coming with you. Wherever Express Entry is part of your assessment, the report shows your total out of 1,200 with the four section subtotals, then lists the most recent draws with your own score set beside each cutoff.

The questionnaire does not ask whether you already hold a provincial nomination, so the report scores you without those 600 points and hands you "Obtain a provincial nomination" as a checklist step on the routes that run through one, alongside "Create an Express Entry profile". What it does not do: it does not create your profile or place you in the pool, it cannot predict the cutoff of a draw that has not happened yet, and a score above a past cutoff is a comparison with the past, never a promise of an invitation.

Estimate your score

If you want to see where you stand today, try the free CRS calculator. It walks you through every section, shows the subtotals, and gives you a realistic view of how close you are to the most recent cutoffs. Then read how to raise your CRS score for what actually adds points.

When you would rather have every Canadian route checked against one set of answers than read programme pages one at a time, answer the free questionnaire. The questions are free, the eligibility summary at the end is free, and payment unlocks the full report with the checklist behind each route.