Through Express Entry, you could immigrate to Canada as a French-speaking skilled worker and play an important part in Canada’s economy. When you make Canada your new home, you and your family will have access to services for newcomers, offered in French and English and one of the highest-quality education systems in the world, with job opportunities across the country.

Express Entry is an online application system that lets IRCC create a pool of candidates who may be eligible to immigrate to Canada permanently.

You must be eligible for one of the immigration programs in Express Entry to get into the pool and earn points based on the information in your profile, including your skills and experience. You need to have one of the highest-ranking scores to get an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

When you create a profile, you need to prove your knowledge of one of Canada’s two official languages: French or English. Choose your strongest language as your first official language so you can increase your chances of earning more points.

You can earn up to 50 additional points for strong French language skills (even if French is your second language).

If you score a niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level 7 or higher on all four French language skills, you can get 25 additional points if you scored a Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) level 4 or lower in English or if you didn’t take an English test. There are 50 additional points if you scored CLB 5 or higher on all four English skills.

IRCC’s Comprehensive Ranking System tool can tell you what your score might be if you create a profile. This includes how many points you’d get for your language skills.

Category-Based Rounds

Each year, IRCC invites candidates in the Express Entry pool who are eligible for a specific category to help meet an identified economic goal. These category-based rounds add to general and program-specific rounds by inviting top-ranking candidates who can help us meet these specific goals. French language proficiency is one of the chosen categories for 2025.

To be eligible, you must be a skilled worker who is eligible for one of these three programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program or Federal Skilled Trades Program or Canadian Experience Class.

If you’re eligible for one of the programs above, a province or territory may also be able to nominate you for permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program. As a nominee, you get additional points if you’re invited to apply.

You only need to upload documents if you’re invited to apply for permanent residence, but you may need information from other documents for your profile.

Get additional points for your second language skills. If you speak English and French, you can provide approved language test results for both languages.

If you’re eligible, you can create your Express Entry profile. You need to follow the instructions to create an account or sign in by entering your personal reference code when it prompts you and enter your personal details.

While you’re in the pool, you can check the rounds of invitations to see how likely you are to get an invitation. If you’re invited to apply, you have 60 days to submit your application.

If you’re not invited to apply or if your points are too low, one way you can boost your score is by getting Canadian work experience. The Francophone Mobility work permit makes it easier for Canadian employers to hire you.