Express Entry and your CRS score: why French is the biggest lever you pull yourself
Canada ranks you on points and invites the top. Two things many sites still have wrong: the points for a job offer were abolished in March 2025, and French yields up to 50 extra points — with French-language draws of their own that usually close far lower than the ordinary ones.
5 min read
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With Express Entry you do not submit an application and then wait. You enter a pool, a queue of candidates, and are ranked on your CRS score: Canada's points system, with a maximum of 1,200 points. Every few weeks Canada invites the top of that list. That makes Canada work differently from almost every other emigration country.
Two things many sites still get wrong:
- The points for a job offer were abolished on 25 March 2025.
- French earns up to 50 extra points, plus draws of its own for anyone reaching NCLC 7 (NCLC is the Canadian scale for French).
Which three programmes fall under Express Entry?
Express Entry is the umbrella over three programmes. For Dutch people who have never worked in Canada, only one is relevant in practice: the Federal Skilled Worker Program. For that you need:
- at least one year of continuous work experience in the last ten years, in a skilled occupation;
- a secondary school diploma;
- English or French at CLB 7 or better, measured on the Canadian language scale (CLB).
Besides that there is the Canadian Experience Class (at least one year of Canadian work experience in the last three years). And there is the Federal Skilled Trades Program for trades. That one does require a job offer of at least a year or a Canadian certificate of qualification.
Mind a confusion that trips many people: for the Federal Skilled Worker Program there is a separate test of 67 points on six factors: language (28), education (25), work experience (15), age (12), a job offer (10) and adaptability (10). That is the entry test: if you don't pass it, you don't enter the pool. The CRS score by which you are then ranked is an entirely different number.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Entry test Federal Skilled Worker | 67 out of 100 points |
| CRS: core factors (age, education, language, Canadian experience) | up to 500 alone, 460 with a partner |
| CRS: partner factors | up to 40 |
| CRS: skill transferability | up to 100 |
| CRS: provincial nomination | 600 |
| CRS: French at NCLC 7, with English at CLB 5 | 50 (25 without that English) |
| Profile in the pool | 12 months |
| Applying after an invitation | within 60 days |
| Validity of language test / credential assessment | 2 years / 5 years |
| Permanent residence fees (incl. right of permanent residence fee) | CAD 1,590 per applicant, plus CAD 85 biometrics |
How is your CRS score built up?
The maximum score is 1,200 points, built from four blocks:
- Your human capital (what you bring yourself): age, education, language ability and Canadian work experience. Together up to 500 points if you apply alone, or 460 if you bring a partner.
- Your partner, who then contributes up to 40 points themselves.
- Up to 100 points for the combination of education, foreign experience and language.
- Up to 600 points in bonuses.
The largest part comes from your human capital.
In that last block sits the heaviest lever of all: a provincial nomination earns 600 points. Whoever gets one is effectively at the top of the list. That is why the Provincial Nominee Program (through which a province nominates candidates itself) is the realistic route for many candidates with a middling score. It is, however, a separate process per province with its own requirements.
What has changed about job offers and French?
The points for a job offer have gone. Since 25 March 2025 a valid job offer no longer counts in your CRS score. It used to be worth 50 or even 200 points. If you come across a guide that advises you to find a Canadian employer first "for the points", you are reading something outdated.
A job offer remains useful:
- it is still an entry requirement for the trades programme;
- it counts in the 67-point test;
- many provincial streams ask for one.
And French has become worth far more. Anyone who scores French at NCLC 7 in all four abilities (reading, writing, listening and speaking) gets 25 extra points. With English at CLB 5 on top, that becomes 50 points, and that English is no problem at all for most Dutch people. But the real gain is not in those points.
Those extra points are under discussion, though. In April 2026 Canada asked for comments on plans for a new Express Entry. One of those plans: removing or changing the points for French, because the French-language draws work better. Nothing has been decided yet, and there is no date. The consultation does not cover the French-language draws themselves.
Why are the French-language draws a back door?
Canada does not only invite on score, but also per category: healthcare, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), trades, education, transport, and French-language proficiency. For that last one the only requirement is NCLC 7 in all four abilities.
In 2026 the minister announced that invitations would focus on candidates with Canadian work experience and on three economic priorities, including Francophone immigration outside Quebec.
After each round Canada publishes the lowest score invited per category. Compare that table yourself, because the French-language rounds usually close much lower than the general ones.
For a Dutch person with school French that is a concrete offer: a year of serious French study up to NCLC 7 can yield more than years of extra work experience. It is the only lever in this whole journey that you control entirely yourself, and the cheapest.
How much time do you have after an invitation?
Your profile stays in the pool for twelve months. If you receive an invitation, you have sixty days to submit your complete application with all documents. That is exactly why your credential assessment (the official evaluation of your Dutch diploma) and language test must be ready before you enter the pool.
Both have their own validity, both at your profile and at your application:
- language test results must be less than two years old;
- a credential assessment must be less than five years old.
If one expires along the way, your application is not complete.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Canada or go straight to step 1.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- IRCC — immigrating through Express Entry — canada.ca
- IRCC — the CRS criteria and the points table — canada.ca
- IRCC — who can apply (the three programmes) — canada.ca
- IRCC — category-based selection — canada.ca
- IRCC — rounds and cut-off scores — canada.ca
- IRCC — the six selection factors and the 67 points of the Federal Skilled Worker Program — canada.ca
- IRCC — applying after your invitation: 60 days — canada.ca
- IRCC — language test: less than 2 years old — canada.ca
- IRCC — educational credential assessment (ECA): less than 5 years old — canada.ca
- IRCC — the fee list (CAD 1,590 permanent residence, CAD 85 biometrics) — ircc.canada.ca
- IRCC — consultation on reforming Express Entry and the CRS (2026) — canada.ca
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