How To Get Job Offer from Canada for Express Entry (Hints)

Express Entry is a comprehensive system that allows skilled workers to quickly get a residence permit (not necessarily permanent residence) and gain access to Canadian soil. This system allows you to get a valid job offer from a Canadian employer and maximize your ‘existing offer’ points in the CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System), and speed up your application for a visa. 

However, the story is not as simple as it may sound. A valid job offer can mean many things, but some jobs are excluded. To protect its work market and to secure express entry without compromising the labour market and its stability, only a foreign worker whose skills are sought after in the Canadian labour market will be granted entry. Luckily, there are ways to find a job in Canada even if you are not on the soil: Job Bank, Monster, Workpolis, and Indeed are just some of the online solutions that can get you more CRS points and speed up your Express Entry. 

Does Canada Express Entry Require a Job Offer?

A part of the Express Entry profile-making process is looking for a job with Canadian employers. Although this is not obligatory, it is still recommended, as it can speed up the process of accepting foreign workers into Canada and help you score more CRS points. If you have a job offer, you can expect to receive between 50-200 CRS points. 

You should understand that not all job offers will bring you these points: as some jobs are simply not sought after, it is useful to know that these jobs may not bring about any advantage during the Express Entry application. Furthermore, only high-paying managerial positions will bring you 200 points, while other skilled labour positions will bring less. 

We’ve said already that a job offer is not required to apply for the Express Entry program. However, this is only true if you have enough funds to support your family while in Canada. In some cases, even passive income may be considered for as long as it is enough to support dignified living conditions per family member. If you do not have such funds, you must provide a job offer by a Canadian employer to be considered for the program. 

What Are Job Offers Considered For An Express Entry? 

Many jobs can be considered for an Express Entry profile submission. However, this does not mean that all foreign workers will be considered for a Canadian job and access to the program, as not all job offers fit what Canadian immigration would consider useful or necessary for the labour market at that moment. Provincial governments may have different prerequisites, but they have their own Provincial Nominee programs separate from the Express Entry. 

To present an offer for a job in Canada (for Express Entry), you will need a VALID job offer. This means four things: 

• That the job is listed in the TEER (Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities) categories 0-3. Categories 4 and 5 are usually not accepted, although you may add the offer to the Express Entry application – it may be deemed favourable but bring no CRS points, 
• The job offer has to be supported by a positive LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) – explained further on, 
• The job has to be a full-time, year-round job (it has to be a non-seasonal job, so many agricultural jobs are left out) and 
• The contract in the job offer has to be valid for at least a year. 

How Do I Get Express Entry Points with a Canadian Job Offer?

Having a job offer does not immediately grant points on your Express Entry application. You will need to provide: 

• A copy of the job offer, including:
  • Your position, 
  • Duties, 
  • Conditions of employment, 
  • The length of the contract (how long the position will be needed for), 
  • Your salary, and
• Your LMIA or LMIA exemption. 

Only by having all of the above will you be granted points on your Express Entry application. 

Do You Need A Labour Market Impact Assessment? 

When applying for Express Entry with a job offer, the LMIA assessment is necessary to obtain the CRS points your ob could bring in. With this assessment (the Labour Market Impact Assessment), you will be quoted higher than other candidates who may not have one. Additionally, if you are seeking a job in Canada that is managerial and requires a University education, you may even get 200 CRS points to present with your application. 

This system was designed to help support the Canadian economy in the long run. With a Canadian job offer, your Canadian employer (NOT you) will have to make an application to the ESDC (Employment and Social Development Canada). They will have to prove: 

• The position they want to fill by having you do the job
• The details about employment length/contract length
• Proof that they tried to find a corresponding Canadian citizen
• Proof that they tried to find a corresponding Canadian permanent resident for the job

After this, the ESDC will review their application. If the position and you working in it is deemed good for the Canadian economy, they (the employer) will get a positive assessment (aka positive LMIA assessment). If the job is deemed as negative to the Canadian economy, it will receive a negative assessment. This is a crucial step to get your CRS score towards your Express Entry application. 

There are some ways to go around the LMIA assessment process – getting an LMIA-exempt job. However, this option is only available to a set number of applicants and only if the Canadian job offer is offered through: 

• NAFTA – an international trade agreement (North American Free Trade Agreement) enacted in 1994. The agreement was made between Mexico, Canada, and the United States and is one of the most important documents in the trilateral relationships between the states. 
• Through unilateral or intrastate agreements between Canada and its provinces and 
• Through Canadian interests – this part of the program allows Canadian employers working in multiple countries to issue a job offer or a transfer offer to their international or foreign employers. A written job offer is usually enough to get a Canadian job. Many employers use this chance to support their companies by moving qualified workers from other countries to Canadian soil. 

Take A Look At Canada Bans Foreigners from Buying Residential Property:

How Many CRS Points To Get A Job Offer For Express Entry? 

Depending on the nature of your job and the position you will be employed at, you may get 200 or 50 CRS points when applying. This is only if the job offer contains all the necessary elements outlined above, especially the length of the contract, which should be at least one year long. With this kind of employment, you can submit the employment offer to the Express Entry system. 

In addition to this, it is useful to know that your job offer will bring you all 200 points only if this is a Canadian job offer for an upper management system. These jobs have a NOC code starting with 00 and require a university education. Still, a job offer like this will only be considered valid and will up your CRS score only if it has the elements outlined above – beware that any incomplete submission will NOT be considered and will be returned. 

On the other hand, there are jobs for positions that may not require a University degree but a lower one. Most employers hiring hire for these positions, so the number of CRS points is lower (50), while the criteria are the same. These jobs start with 0, 1, 2, and 3 on the NOC score list. Only the ESDC can provide you with the score for the Express Entry pool, but there are ways that both you and Canadian employers can estimate the number of CRS scores to be obtained through the application. 

Calculating CRS Points

Calculating your CRS points is not obligatory, but you may want to know how well you could quote. There are several categories that you will be ranked on. Following are the categories as well as an estimation of how many points each of these carries: 

Scenario 1: a 30-year-old holder of a Master’s degree, no work or education experience in Canada, fluent in English only, no French abilities, without a job offer by Canadian employers, but with ten years of foreign work experience. The person also does not have any relatives in Canada. The person also does not have any PNP status – Provincial Nominee Program. 

Scenario 2: a 25-year-old person with a Masters’s degree, two years of work experience in Canada (part-time, during studies), and four years abroad, fluent in English and advanced in French, looking to obtain a job through an existing job offer. They have relatives in Canada but no PNP status. The biggest difference in the total CRS points was brought about by the PNP status (almost 600). You can also calculate your results using the IRCC CRS Calculator. 

Category	Scenario 1	Scenario 2
Age	30	25
Education	Masters’ Degree	Masters’ Degree
Work Experience in Canada	No	Yes, two years
Work Experience in Home Country	Yes, 6 years or more	Yes, four years
English Abilities	Fluent	Fluent
French Abilities	None	Advanced
Relatives in Canada	No	Yes
Job Offer by Canadian Employers	No	Yes
PNP-Status	No	Yes
CRS Points	476	1152

How To Find Job Offers For Express Entry in Canada? 

Now that we know what rough calculations look like, we can see the importance of a job offer and a good PNP status. For this reason, it is best to apply for a job position along with your Express Entry application. Here, there are several platforms that you can use to get your application and make your Express Entry profile more likely to bring you even a temporary residence (this one can be used to apply for permanent residence later on). 

The first step is to make sure your job application contains a good, Canadian-style CV. This should mean that you get the right job offers. In Canada, they are sometimes called resumes, so make sure you know what one looks like before moving on with the job application process. While there, you should also write a good template cover letter that you can later adjust to each position you apply to. 

Always apply for the jobs you are comfortable at and within your TEER category. Use LinkedIn and other similar platforms to apply for a job and make sure the job is such that it would be considered valid by the LMIA and the Express Entry staff. Use the networks to network as well, and be prepared to apply to multiple jobs simultaneously. Once you have your Express Entry profile set, you will get your job seeker validation code enabling you to apply for jobs through the Canadian Job Bank. 

As always, some people may try to misuse your situation and a lack of knowledge of the Canadian job market to their advantage. For this reason, you should be super cautious about whom you do business with and beware of any ads about companies hiring your exact profile people. The biggest red flag is them asking you to pay for the hiring process and made-up fees, to pay for the Canadian immigration papers, or even to pay for a ‘government agency’ to do the business for you. 

The best way to stay safe and boost a chance to land a job is to gain experience in your own country. Fake employers are difficult to spot, and fake job offers (which, counterintuitively, you pay for) can harm your chances of getting the job and Canadian immigration status in the first place. Free job applications, transparency, and availability are sure signals that your Canadian immigration is going the right way and that the job offers you will receive are the real deal. 

FAQs

Final Thoughts

Canadian immigration, even temporarily, is a hot topic in many circles. And although the whole process is transparent (as this article outlines) and relatively easy, many people still fall prey to many conmen online. Follow our tips and only official links and websites to get to the ITA (Invitation to Apply), with as few steps as possible and as little of a headache as possible.