Express Entry Consultant: Send Your Profile for a Free CRS Review
An Express Entry consultant earns their fee at one point in particular: when your score sits close to the range being invited and a few points decide the year. We build the profile, keep it accurate, and file the application inside the deadline the invitation sets.
Send us your age, education, work history and language results in a short form. We review it at no charge and come back with the score you would realistically hold, which programmes you qualify for, and what would raise it.
Is an Express Entry consultant right for you?
This service is for someone seeking permanent residence through Express Entry or a provincial nominee stream, who wants a licensed consultant to hold the file from profile to landing.
- You have skilled work experience, a completed education and language test results, or you are about to sit the test and want to know what score you need.
- You want to know your real Comprehensive Ranking System score before you spend money on anything else.
- Your score is close to the range being invited, and the difference between an invitation and another year of waiting is a few points you may be able to find.
- You would rather one licensed consultant carried the profile, the 60-day invitation deadline and the full application than assemble it across several tools.
If that is not you: if you are being sponsored by a spouse or partner, family sponsorship is a different route with no points and no income test. If you are a graduate on a post-graduation work permit, get the permit right first. The PGWP guide covers it, and you can come back once you have Canadian experience.
How Express Entry works, in one pass
Express Entry is not a programme. It is the online system IRCC uses to manage applications to three federal programmes: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. It also handles the portion of provincial nominee programmes that runs through it.
- You create a profile. It declares your age, education, language results, work history and family situation. You have 60 days to complete and submit it once you begin, and every claim in it has to be provable later.
- The profile is scored and pooled. The Comprehensive Ranking System turns those declarations into points, and the profile sits in the pool for up to 12 months. If no invitation arrives in those 12 months it expires and you start a new one.
- IRCC issues invitations in rounds. There are three kinds. General rounds invite the top-ranking candidates eligible for any of the three programmes. Program-specific rounds invite candidates eligible for one programme, such as the Provincial Nominee Program. Category-based rounds invite the top-ranking candidates in a category the Minister has established to meet a specific economic goal.
- An invitation starts a 60-day clock. An invitation to apply is valid for 60 days only. Inside that window the complete permanent residence application, with every supporting document, has to be submitted. Missing it means the invitation is gone and the profile has to go back into the pool.
- The application is assessed. Police certificates, medical examinations and proof of funds are checked against what the profile claimed. A gap between the two is where an otherwise strong file is refused.
The score that gets invited moves from round to round, and a cut-off published last month is not a promise about next month. We work from the rounds IRCC has actually published and tell you what your score means against them at the time we speak. See IRCC on rounds of invitations.
How the Comprehensive Ranking System actually scores you
The CRS is out of 1,200 and is built from four blocks. Knowing which block your points are missing from is the difference between a useful plan and a year of guessing.
| Block | Maximum points | What it rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Core / human capital | 500 without an accompanying spouse or partner; 460 with one | Age, level of education, official language ability, and Canadian work experience. |
| Spouse or common-law partner factors | 40 | Your accompanying partner’s education, language ability and Canadian work experience. This is why the core maximum drops from 500 to 460. The 40 points move across; they are not added on top. |
| Skill transferability | 100 | Combinations that are worth more held together than separately: education with strong language results, or foreign work experience with Canadian work experience. |
| Additional points | 600 | A provincial or territorial nomination is worth the full 600. French language ability is worth 25 points at NCLC 7 or higher with English at CLB 4 or lower, or 50 points at NCLC 7 or higher in French with CLB 5 or higher in English. A brother or sister in Canada who is a citizen or permanent resident is worth 15. Canadian post-secondary study is worth 15 for a one- or two-year credential and 30 for a credential of three years or more. |
A job offer no longer adds CRS points. IRCC removed job offer points from the Comprehensive Ranking System on 25 March 2025, and that remains the position. A job still matters, because it produces the Canadian experience the programmes are built on, but it no longer scores. Any calculator or adviser still adding 50 or 200 points for arranged employment is working from a table that was withdrawn. Verify the current grid at IRCC’s published CRS criteria.
If your score is not high enough
A score below the range being invited is a starting position, not a verdict. There are four honest options, and the free assessment is where we work out which applies to you.
- Raise the score you have. A language retake is the most common source of points, because language feeds both the core block and the skill transferability block, so the same retake can move you twice. An educational credential assessment you have not yet done is the second.
- A provincial nomination, which adds 600 points. In practice this decides most borderline files, and it is why our full-service fee has a version that includes the nomination application.
- A category-based round, if your occupation, education or French ability places you in a category the Minister has established for that year.
- A different route. A work permit first, Canadian experience second, permanent residence third. Slower on paper, often faster in practice, because Canadian work experience scores in both the core block and the transferability block.
Two things reduce a score without you doing anything: age points fall on a birthday, and language test results expire. Both are silent, and both are visible in advance if anyone is watching the profile.
Government fees before an Express Entry consultant charges anything
These are IRCC’s own fees for a permanent residence application through Express Entry. They are separate from our professional fee below, and from the cost of language tests, credential assessments, medicals and police certificates.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Permanent residence application, principal applicant: processing fee and right of permanent residence fee together | CAD 1,590 |
| Spouse or common-law partner included in the application | CAD 1,590 |
| Each dependent child included in the application | CAD 270 |
| Biometrics, one person | CAD 85 |
| Biometrics, family of two or more applying together | CAD 170 maximum |
| Language test, educational credential assessment, medical examination, police certificates | Charged by the test centre, assessment body, panel physician or police authority, not by IRCC |
| Proof of settlement funds | Not a fee. It is money you must show you hold, unless you are exempt because you are already working in Canada with valid authorisation or you are applying under the Canadian Experience Class. |
The right of permanent residence fee is CAD 600 and is included in the CAD 1,590 figure above; it can also be paid separately later. Taken from the IRCC fee list on 5 September 2026. Confirm the current amounts there before you pay.
What an Express Entry consultant costs
These are our professional fees, on top of the government fees above. Most firms will not publish theirs; we do, so you can compare before you send anything. The assessment itself is free.
| Service | What it covers | Professional fee |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment of your case | You send the form, we score your situation and reply with the programmes you qualify for and what would raise your score. | Free |
| Express Entry to permanent residence | Profile creation and monitoring, document plan, the full application inside the 60-day invitation window, and follow-up to the decision. | CAD 4,500 |
| Express Entry with provincial nomination | As above, plus the provincial nominee application that adds the 600 nomination points. | CAD 6,300 |
| Application review | You prepare it; a senior RCIC reviews the profile and documents before you submit. | from CAD 275 |
| Paid consultation | 20, 40 or 60 minutes with a senior RCIC, for cases that need advice before a decision. Credited against full representation if you retain us within 7 days. | from CAD 120 |
Fees are professional fees only. They do not include IRCC or ESDC government fees, biometrics, medical examinations, translations, or applicable taxes.
Your journey with Canada Shaws
The same seven steps apply to every matter we take, whichever programme it is. The first two cost nothing, and the third is optional.
- Free preliminary assessment. You complete our client intake form with your background, your goals and your current circumstances. An RCIC reviews what you have provided and carries out a preliminary assessment to identify the immigration programmes or pathways that may be relevant to your situation on the information available at this stage.
- Assessment follow-up and information review. Our client representative contacts you to introduce the pathways the RCIC identified, explain our service process and professional fees, and understand your circumstances better. They may also review what you submitted, clarify anything incomplete or unclear, and confirm whether more information is needed. You can ask questions and see the available next steps.
- Optional paid RCIC consultation. After the assessment and follow-up, you decide whether you want to speak directly with an RCIC before proceeding. If your questions are complex, or you want a detailed professional discussion of the options identified, you may book a paid consultation. It is optional. You can also proceed straight to signing up if you are ready.
- Sign up with your RCIC. If you decide to proceed, you enter into a formal service agreement directly with the RCIC who will be professionally responsible for your matter. Once it is in place, the file moves into formal case preparation.
- Detailed information and document preparation. Our team collects and reviews the detailed information and supporting documents your matter requires, and guides you through preparing them.
- Application preparation and RCIC final review. The case team prepares your application package under the supervision of your RCIC: forms, supporting documents, submission letters and any other required materials. Your RCIC carries out the final professional review before submission.
- Submission, updates and next steps. After submission we keep you informed of material developments. If immigration authorities request further information or issue a decision, our team guides you through the response, the result, and what happens next.
Who will handle your file
Every file is prepared under a named licensed consultant, and you can verify either of us on the CICC public register before you pay anything.
Frederick Li
RCIC-IRB · Level 3 · College ID R506683
Authorised to represent clients before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Immigration Law Professor in the Immigration Law Program at Queen’s University (Faculty of Law) and instructor for CPD programs at Ashton College.
Jin (Cellia) Xiao
RCIC · Level 2 · College ID R512398
Founder and President of Canada Shaws since 2015, leading the team that prepares applications across the practice.
Both consultants are listed as Entitled to Practise on the CICC public register. Verify any Canadian immigration consultant at register.college-ic.ca.
Questions people ask before they apply
How is my CRS score calculated?
Four blocks: core human capital up to 500 points (460 if a spouse comes with you), spouse factors up to 40, skill transferability up to 100, and additional points up to 600. A provincial nomination is worth the full 600. A job offer is worth nothing since 25 March 2025. Our breakdown of CRS points walks through each block.
How long is my profile good for, and how long do I have after an invitation?
A profile stays in the pool for 12 months from submission and then expires if no invitation has been issued. An invitation to apply is valid for 60 days, and the complete application with all documents has to be submitted inside that window.
My score dropped without me changing anything. Why?
Age points fall on a birthday and language results expire, both of them silently. The removal of job offer points in March 2025 also lowered scores for candidates who had been claiming them. Why your Express Entry score dropped covers what can still be recovered.
How long does Express Entry take?
IRCC publishes a processing time for the application stage and updates it regularly, so the honest answer is the one published when you file. What nobody publishes is how long a profile waits in the pool for an invitation, which depends on your score against the rounds. Our guide to Express Entry processing times separates the two.
What is the difference between Express Entry and a PNP?
A provincial nominee programme is a province selecting you; Express Entry is the federal system that processes the residence application. A nomination through an aligned stream adds 600 CRS points. How Express Entry and PNP fit together compares the BC, Alberta and Ontario processes.
Can I create the profile myself and hire you later?
Yes, and some people should. What we would check first is whether the profile claims anything you cannot document. An inflated work history, or a job title that does not match the duties actually performed, is the most common reason a file that looked strong is refused after the invitation. Our guide to creating a profile sets out what each field is really asking.
When is an Express Entry consultant worth the fee?
When your score is near the invited range, when your work history is complicated to document, or when a provincial nomination is in play. An Express Entry consultant is worth least when your score is far above the cut-off and your documents are simple.
Talk to an Express Entry consultant
Send us your situation in a short form. There is no charge and no obligation: you will get back the score you would realistically hold, the programmes open to you, and what the work would cost. If your case needs advice before you decide anything, we will tell you that too.
Requirements described on this page are taken from the published criteria of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (and, where a page says so, Employment and Social Development Canada or the relevant province) and were checked on the date below. Immigration rules change, and the official criteria govern, so confirm the current requirement before you act on anything here.
No representative can guarantee an immigration outcome, and we do not promise one. What we commit to is a complete, correctly prepared application and a named licensed consultant responsible for it. Canada Shaws Consulting Inc. provides immigration consulting services as Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants; we are not a law firm and do not provide legal services.
Page last verified: 5 September 2026.
