For many people from China, the move to Canada starts with study. In its 2025 Annual Report to Parliament, IRCC, Canada's immigration department, lists China among the leading countries of citizenship for study permits, and for economic permanent residence and family reunification, where a relative in Canada sponsors you. The study route has three stages: a study permit, then a post-graduation work permit for graduates of eligible programmes, then permanent residence once you have enough skilled work in Canada, for example through the Canadian Experience Class, the programme for skilled workers with Canadian work experience. That class sits inside Express Entry, the online system where skilled workers build a profile and IRCC invites those with the most points to apply.

Start with your degree, because its records reach the assessor from a national office rather than from you. Express Entry gives points for a degree earned abroad only with an educational credential assessment, a report on what it equals in Canada, from an organisation IRCC designates. One of them, WES, takes your transcript and a verification report of your degree, each with an English translation, directly from CSSD, the qualification verification centre of China's Ministry of Education (formerly CHESICC), once you open an account on its CHSI website. Book an approved language test meanwhile, since every Express Entry profile needs a result. The police certificate is due with the permanent residence application; for a Chinese citizen, IRCC asks that the Certificate of No Criminal Record cover the period from birth to the current date, with a certified or notarized translation.

The mistake to avoid is verifying only a top-up bachelor's degree (专升本), the kind completed after an earlier college diploma (专科). WES notes that IRCC wants only your highest completed credential assessed, which makes it tempting to send nothing else, but it also states that it cannot complete the evaluation of a top-up degree without verified documents for the earlier diploma. Ask CSSD to verify both qualifications together, so the assessment is not held up.