Getting an ITA through Express Entry over age 40 without a provincial nomination

By Caroline Minks, CIC News

In this article, we will provide you with a few fictional profiles of candidates aged 40 or older who would have been selected in previous CEC and category-based draws, as well as tips and tricks for increasing your CRS score. (Pexels Photo)

Even without a provincial nomination, it’s possible for foreign nationals aged 40 and older to get permanent residence through the Express Entry system.

If you’re a foreign national aged 40+ and not a good PNP candidate, you can still get PR through a Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draw or category-based draw, provided that you have a high enough Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.

In this article, we will provide you with a few fictional profiles of candidates aged 40 or older who would have been selected in previous CEC and category-based draws, as well as tips and tricks for increasing your CRS score.

How CRS cut-off scores are determined

IRCC conducts periodic draws where they issue Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to Express Entry candidates with competitive CRS scores.

To be selected in a draw, your CRS score must meet or exceed the cut-off score for that round of invitations.

A draw’s cut-off score is determined by the Express Entry pool’s composition, the type of draw being held, and the number of candidates invited.

For example, if IRCC decides to issue 1,000 invitations in a healthcare and social services draw, the CRS score of the 1,000th highest scoring profile eligible for that category becomes the cut-off score for that round.

If more than one profile has a CRS equal to the cut-off score, IRCC uses a tie-breaking rule based on the date of submission of the Express Entry profile.

Range of CRS cut-off scores in earlier draws in 2025

The table below shows the CRS cut-off score ranges for recent CEC and category-based draws.

In 2025 thus far, IRCC has focused on three categories: healthcare and social services, French-language proficiency, and education.

Example profiles

In this section, we will look at some fictional profiles that would have qualified to receive an ITA in recent CEC and category-based draws.

Canadian Experience Class

Example 1 – CEC or CBS

Lizan is a single 44-year-old from the Philippines who has completed a two-year master’s degree program at a Canadian university.

After graduating, he applied for and received a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) and worked in Canada as a data analyst for three years.

Prior to coming to Canada to study, he worked as an economic consultant in a bank for 15 years.

Lizan has advanced English and French language skills in all four language abilities.

Core human capital (sole applicant with no spouse): 365/500

Skill transferability: 100/100

Additional factors: 65/100

Based on this profile, Lizan has 530 points.

If Lizan had had an eligible and complete Express Entry profile in the pool in 2025, his CRS score would have qualified him to receive an ITA in five of the eight CEC draws that took place throughout the year, as well as any of the four French-language proficiency draws.

Example 2 – CEC

Tunde is 43 years old and from Nigeria, where he has been a restaurant manager for the past 10 years.

He wants to immigrate to Canada through the CEC pathway but has no Canadian work experience—his 40-year-old wife Abisola, however, recently returned from working in Canada as a librarian for four years.

Tunde’s highest education is a two-year college certificate, while Abisola has a PhD in English literature gained in Nigeria.

They collectively decide that Abisola should be the primary candidate based on her qualifications, and Tunde will be listed as the accompanying spouse.

Both Abisola and Tunde have exceptional English language skills, and Abisola’s sister, living in New Brunswick as a permanent resident, has been teaching her French for three years.

Abisola has 10 years’ work experience in Nigeria.

Core human capital for a primary applicant with a spouse: 415/460

Skill transferability: 100/100

Additional factors: 15/600

Based on this profile, Abisola has 530 points.

If Abisola had an eligible profile in the Express Entry pool in 2025, she would have qualified to receive an ITA in five of the eight CEC draws that took place this year.

Category-based selection

To date in 2025, there have been seven category-based draws—one education, four healthcare, and four French-language proficiency.

Example 1 – Healthcare and social services

Krishiv is a 50-year-old man from India who has been working in Alberta, Canada on an employer-specific work permit as a medical radiation technologist for five years.

Krishiv completed a PhD in Public Health in Canada after obtaining a study permit. Prior to coming to Canada, he worked as a medical radiation technologist in India for eight years.

He excels at both English communication and his French language skills are adequate.

His 2025 goal is to qualify for a healthcare and social services draw and settle in Ontario.

Core human capital for a primary applicant with no spouse: 354/500

Skill transferability: 100/100

Additional factors: 30/600

Krishiv has a CRS score of 484.

The last healthcare and social services draw took place on 19 August and had a cut-off score of 475. If Krishiv had had an active Express Entry profile at that time, he would likely have received an ITA.

Example 2 – French-language proficiency

Adele is a 60-year-old human resources coordinator living in Belgium, where she has been working at the same company for over 20 years.

While living in Belgium, she completed a one-year college certificate and later a four-year Bachelor’s degree, both in Human Resource Management.

She is a native French speaker, with fairly strong English language skills.

Adele has no Canadian work experience.

Core human capital for a primary applicant with no spouse: 276/500

Skill transferability: 100/100

Additional factors: 50/600

Based on her skills and qualifications, Adele has a CRS score of 426.

If Adele were to have been in the Express Entry pool earlier this year, she would have been eligible to be drawn in two of the four French-language proficiency draws that took place in 2025— 21 March (379) and 6 March (410).

Immigrating with a spouse

There are some important things to consider if you are planning to immigrate to Canada through the Express Entry system with your spouse or common-law partner.

Before creating an Express Entry profile, calculate the CRS score for each spouse as a primary applicant.

For example, the younger spouse will be awarded more points for their age than the older spouse.

To increase your chances of getting an ITA, evaluate whether either of you qualifies for category-based selection, or if your best chance is through CEC.

You may also want to consider creating separate Express Entry profiles—with one of you as the primary applicant on one, and the other spouse as the primary applicant on the other.

You’d typically only want to do this if the primary applicant of the lower-scoring profile qualifies for a draw type (e.g., category-based selection or CEC) for which the higher-scoring spouse doesn’t qualify.

If you create two profiles and both are invited you can move forward with only one application, but you’ll both be granted permanent residency upon sucess.

Keep in mind that even if your spouse is not accompanying you to Canada, they must be included in your Canadian immigration application.

If you would like a comprehensive breakdown of how your spouse can impact your CRS score, you can view our article detailing just that.

How to increase your CRS score

There are several ways you can increase your CRS score to make up for the points you lose due to age.

Educational credentials

Education can contribute toward up to 230 CRS points.

Consider Reginald, who has a CRS score of 496, which is not enough to qualify for any of the three most recent CEC draws, which had cut-off scores of 534, 518, and 521.

Reginald is 42 years of age, has a one-year diploma from his home country (Singapore), four years of foreign work experience, and five years of Canadian work experience.

He has an English proficiency of CLB 10 across all abilities, and a French language proficiency of NCLC 7 across all abilities.

Reginald completes a three-year bachelor’s degree in Canada which boosts his score to 536, high enough to qualify for all three of the most recent CEC draws.

Here is the breakdown of Reginald’s score with a one-year diploma versus after obtaining a three-year bachelor’s degree, with the differences bolded.

Language proficiency

Language proficiency can contribute toward up to 310 CRS points.

Working to improve your language skills in English or French (or both) while waiting to receive an ITA can significantly increase your chances of getting drawn.

Let’s take Amelia (age 44), who has a bachelor’s degree from a Canadian university and 13 years of work experience—three years Canadian and 10 years foreign.

She has a CLB 10 (English) and NCLC 6 (French) across all language abilities and wants to boost her CRS score through by improving her French.

Amelia studies every day for six months, retakes her French language test, and scores NCLC 7 across all abilities.

Her CRS score increases from 460 to 518, which is enough to qualify her for three out of four of this year’s French-language proficiency draws and even a July 8 CEC draw.

Enhancing your language proficiency by a single CLB or NCLC level across all abilities can be a game changer when it comes to receiving an ITA.

Below is the breakdown of Amelia’s score, with the differences between a CLB 10 + NCLC 6 and a CLB 10 + NCLC 7 bolded:

Work experience

Work experience factors into up to 180 CRS points.

Gaining additional work experience can put you over the threshold to receive an ITA.

Take the following example: Diego is 41 years old and wants to qualify for a healthcare and social services draw, but his CRS score of 452 is not high enough.

He has both a pharmacy technician diploma and a Bachelor of Health Science (the latter obtained in Canada), and over 15 years of foreign work experience but no Canadian work experience.

His English-language proficiency equates to a CLB 12 across all abilities, and he meets a NCLC 5 for his French-language skills. He also has one sister who is a Canadian citizen living in Nova Scotia.

Diego gets a work permit and obtains one year of Canadian work experience and his score increases from 452 to 481, which is enough to qualify for the two out of four of this year’s healthcare and social services draws (which had CRS cut-off scores of 470 and 475).

With one year of Canadian work experience under his belt, Diego could have expected to receive an ITA for PR through Express Entry if he had a valid profile at the time of these draws.

The breakdown of Diego’s score with zero years of Canadian experience versus one can be seen below, with the differences bolded:

How to qualify for category-based selection

Qualifying for category-based selection under Express Entry can make you a more competitive candidate and increase your chances of getting an ITA.

Category-based draws typically have lower cutoff scores than CEC draws, and you can receive an ITA through a category-based draw even if you do not qualify for CEC.

For a French-language category-based draw, you need a French proficiency score of NCLC 7 in all four language abilities.

For an occupation category-based draw, you need six months of continuous, full-time work experience (or part-time equivalent) in a single qualifying occupation within the past three years.

Examples of easier occupations to break into to qualify for category-based selection include cook, pharmacy assistant, and secondary school teacher.

This work experience must be in a single National Occupational Classification (NOC).

The federal government has issued 28, 600 ITAs through category-based selection this year.