Express EntryPermanent Residents

What is the right age to immigrate to Canada?

By September 13, 2020 July 2nd, 2024 No Comments

Canada is an alluring destination for immigrants since the country presents endless professional opportunities, which when coupled with the country’s liberal outlook towards immigrants and relatively easy citizenship procedure, make it a fantastic proposition for working professionals and students alike. It is important to know that even though technically immigrants of any age can apply for permanent residency in Canada, age can often play a decisive role in determining whether you get the permanent residency certificate or not.

Canada’s Express Entry, the country’s most popular immigration program, uses a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to sort out the most suitable applications. Generally, the ease of procuring an invitation letter from Canadian authorities via Express Entry , is inversely proportional to your age; that is, the older you are, the more difficult it is for you to get an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residency.

Canada immigration points explained

The Express Entry system allocates points to a candidate based on two broad categories of 600 points each; 600 core points (determined by work experience, educational qualifications, language proficiency, marital status) and 600 extra points (determined by provincial nomination, Canadian educational qualifications, Canadian work experience, job offer from a Canadian employer, French language proficiency and a sibling living in Canada with a Canadian citizenship or certificate of permanent residency).

The Express Entry system awards between 0-110 Canada immigration points to applicants based on their age, with applicants aged below 18 and above 45 getting 0 points. You can refer to the following table to calculate how many CRS points you will receive:

 

CRS Points Based on Age
Age Spouse Single
18 90 99
19 95 99
20-29 100 110
30 95 105
31 90 99
32 85 94
33 80 88
34 75 83
35 70 77
36 65 72
37 60 66
38 55 61
39 50 55
40 45 50
41 35 39
42 25 28
43 17 17
44 5 6
45 and above 0 0

 

Therefore, unmarried applicants belonging to the age group of 20-29 secure as high as 110 Canada immigration points, and from a technical standpoint, 20-29 is the ideal age to move to Canada.

What CRS should you aim for?

Generally, you should aim for a CRS score of 430-475 if you wish to arrive in Canada via the Express Entry system. However, apart from your age, there are other important Canada immigration requirements and criteria where you can secure points. For instance, a provincial nomination almost guarantees you an ITA (Invitation to Apply) letter from Canadian authorities as it is worth 600 Canada immigration points. Seeking guidance from the official Canadian immigration website or an experienced immigration attorney in Toronto can help you understand more about the CRS scores to aim for.

Several other factors such as work experience, siblings with Canadian permanent residency, French language proficiency can work in your favour. Furthermore, you can also move to Canada to pursue an educational degree and accumulate Canadian job experience to bolster your Express Entry application. The education route is a popular choice amongst younger immigrants who wish to pursue undergraduate or graduate level education in Canadian institutes which are reputed both domestically and internationally.

However, it is advisable to apply for the Express Entry Program when you feel ready to move to a different country and start a new life because age is important, but it’s not the only determining factor.