If you already have Canadian work experience and are planning to apply for permanent residence (PR) through Express Entry, adding foreign work experience can give your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score a valuable boost — sometimes even more than working longer in Canada. In fact, in many scenarios, the points you gain for foreign work experience can be greater than what you’d earn by adding more years of Canadian experience alone. In this article, we’ll look at how foreign experience can boost your CRS score.
So, without further ado, let us begin!
How Foreign Work Experience Can Boost Your CRS Score?
Foreign work experience counts under the skill transferability factors of the CRS.
This section combines your education, work history (foreign and Canadian), and language scores to award extra points — up to 100 in total.
Here’s how the skill transferability points break down:
- Education combined with language/Canadian work experience: up to 50 points
- Foreign work experience combined with language/Canadian experience: up to 50 points
- Trade certificate: up to 50 points
Points For Foreign Work Experience
Here’s exactly how foreign work experience is scored in the CRS:
| Foreign Work Experience | + CLB 7 or more | + CLB 9 or more | + 1 year of Canadian work | + 2+ years of Canadian work |
| No foreign work experience | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 or 2 years | 13 | 25 | 13 | 25 |
| 3 years or more | 25 | 50 | 25 | 50 |
This means that if you combine foreign work with strong language scores (CLB 9 or above) and at least one year of Canadian work, you can earn up to 50 points under this factor alone.
How Canadian Work Experience Counts?
Canadian work experience is rewarded under the core human capital factors in the CRS. For candidates with no spouse or partner, up to 80 points are available here.
| Canadian Work Experience | Points (No Spouse) |
| None or less than a year | 0 |
| 1 year | 40 |
| 2 years | 53 |
| 3 years | 64 |
| 4 years | 72 |
| 5 years or more | 80 |
Points add up faster for the first year of Canadian experience:
- 1st Year: +40 points
- 2nd Year: +13 points
- 3rd Year: +11 points
- 4th Year: +8 points
- 5th Year: +8 points
It’s worth noting that Canadian experience also helps under skill transferability. However, this section maxes out once you have two years of Canadian work — so getting a third or fourth year won’t add anything extra to this factor.
Why Foreign Experience Matters Now?
There’s no doubt that foreign experience can boost your CRS score. So far in 2025, cut-off scores for Canadian Experience Class (CEC) draws have stayed relatively high — between 518 and 547.
In today’s competitive Express Entry pool, understanding how foreign work experience can work with your Canadian experience and language scores is crucial. Sometimes, leaving Canada temporarily to build your foreign work record can be the smartest strategy to push your CRS over the line.
Final Thoughts
Foreign work experience is one of the most overlooked ways to boost your CRS score. If you’re planning your path to permanent residence in Canada and want to maximize every point possible, carefully consider how your Canadian and foreign work experience can complement each other under the CRS.
With cut-off scores showing no signs of dropping dramatically, every extra point can make the difference between waiting another year — and getting that all-important Invitation to Apply.
MakeHomeCanada, a Canadian immigration leader, promises excellence and tailored pathways for your Canadian journey. Get in touch with us at [email protected].
