Permanent Residence in Canada with Express Entry (outside of Quebec)

Receiving a valid job offer to benefit from an additional 50 to 200 points

You can increase your chances of being selected from the applicant pool by receiving a valid job offer. After registering on Express Entry, you can also register on Job Bank which is the government’s job search site. This enables you to share your profile and CV with Canadian employers. The aim of registering here is to eventually “match Express Entry candidates with employers in Canada”.

The Canadian government also encourages you to apply directly to Canadian employers who may be interested in your profile so that you don’t have to wait for the job offer of your dreams (which matches your criteria) to be published on Job Bank.

Employers are able to post their job advertisements on Job Bank but they must give priority consideration to Canadians and permanent residents of Canada. If an employer has still not found a suitable candidate after 30 days, they can extend their job advertisement. Express Entry candidates will then be notified of what’s available and the employer can view the profiles which match their ad. If the employer happens to find an ideal candidate, they can then apply for an LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) at no extra cost. Once the LMIA has been processed and approved, the candidate can then update their profile (to indicate that they have a valid job offer) and should have a better chance of receiving an invitation to apply since they have just earned an extra 50 to 200 points.

To encourage employers to use Job Bank and recruit permanent resident applicants through the Express Entry system, the Canadian government has introduced a fee waiver for LMIAs for these applications. When applying for a fee-exempt LMIA (which normally costs 1000 dollars), the employer must offer the applicant full-time permanent employment (at least 30 hours per week). In the Skilled Trades Program, it is possible to have one or two employers to reach at least the equivalent of full-time employment.

For candidates already in Canada on a temporary work permit (Young Professionals, WHV, internship, work permit with LMIA…)

If your employer had to obtain an LMIA (formerly LMO) before hiring you, then you can usually create your profile on Express Entry and indicate that you have a valid job offer.

If your employer did not require an LMIA before hiring you (because you are on a WHV, Young Professionals permit, internship, or the old French Significant Benefit Program, for example), then they must apply for an LMIA by posting their permanent job advertisement on Job Bank and two other job posting sites. If your employer has not found a profile that matches what they are looking for, they can apply for an LMIA for a permanent full-time job for you (at no extra cost). Once you have obtained this LMIA, you must create or update your profile on Express Entry by entering the information related to your job.

Please note! Employers no longer need to obtain an LMIA for temporary workers who have already been working for the employer for at least a year on an international mobility work permit (exempt from the LMIA) linked to a specific employer (WHVers are therefore not included in this). Find out more.

Again, you should normally be invited to submit your application relatively quickly.