Canada Express Entry from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Kenya: CRS, draws and proof of funds in 2026

Express Entry manages three programs ¹:

• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW): at least 1 year of continuous paid work, or 1,560 hours, in the last 10 years in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation; CLB 7 in all four language abilities; secondary education or higher with an educational credential assessment for foreign studies; and 67 points on the FSW selection grid ^{2 1}.
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST): 2 years of work in a skilled trade in the last 5 years, CLB 5 for speaking and listening and CLB 4 for reading and writing, plus a full-time job offer of at least 1 year or a Canadian certificate of qualification ¹.
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC): 1 year of work in Canada in the last 3 years ¹.

If you live in Lagos, Accra, Douala or Nairobi and have never worked in Canada, the FSW is usually your program. A job offer is optional for the FSW ¹.

The FSW grid score of 67 is an eligibility check. Your rank in the pool comes from a separate score, the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) ².

IRCC changed how points are awarded for Canadian work experience and job offers as of 3 November 2026 ³. The main blocks are now ³:

Block	Without a partner	With a partner
Core and human capital, including labour market integration	Up to 570	Up to 530
Partner factors	None	Up to 40
Skill transferability	Up to 100	Up to 100
Additional points	Up to 600	Up to 600

Labour market integration is a new factor worth up to 150 points without a partner and 140 with one. It rewards Canadian work experience or a high-wage job offer, and you get points for one of them only ³. Canadian work experience gives up to 80 points without a partner and 70 with one; a job offer in a high-wage occupation gives 100 points at twice the median wage, 70 points at 1.5 times and 50 points at 1.3 times, with or without a partner ³. A job offer no longer needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment, and having one gives no extra points ^{3 2}. The system was recalculating existing profiles for up to 2 weeks, with invitation rounds paused meanwhile ³.

Age and language weigh the most for applicants abroad. A single applicant aged 20 to 29 gets 110 points for age, 105 at 30 and 50 at 40 ³. Each of the four language abilities gives 17 points at CLB 7, 23 at CLB 8, 31 at CLB 9 and 34 at CLB 10 or above ³.

Additional points: 600 for a provincial or territorial nomination, 25 or 50 for French, 15 or 30 for post-secondary study in Canada and 15 for a brother or sister in Canada ³.

From January to 28 October 2026, every Express Entry round targeted one program or one category; none was open to all programs ⁴. No round has been held since 28 October, while profiles are recalculated under the new rules ^{4 3}. The latest rounds ⁴:

Date	Round	Invitations	Lowest CRS invited
28 October 2026	Transport occupations	150	477
27 October 2026	French-language proficiency	5,000	407
26 October 2026	Provincial Nominee Program	792	761
16 October 2026	French-language proficiency	5,000	435
15 October 2026	Canadian Experience Class	2,500	519
13 October 2026	Provincial Nominee Program	752	772
1 October 2026	Trades occupations	3,500	476
4 September 2026	Healthcare and social services occupations	3,500	475

What this means for you:

• Cameroon and other French speakers: French-language rounds invited candidates with scores from 382 to 435 between January and October 2026 ⁴. Take TEF Canada or TCF Canada as well as an English test ⁶.
• Nurses and other health workers from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya: healthcare and social services rounds invited at 467 to 475 in 2026 ⁴. Your occupation must match the category.
• Provincial nomination: a nomination adds 600 points, which is why those rounds show scores above 700 ^{3 4}.

FSW and FST candidates must prove settlement funds unless they are invited through the Canadian Experience Class, or they can already work legally in Canada and hold a valid job offer ⁵. The amount depends on family size, counting you, your spouse or partner and your dependent children, even if they do not move with you ⁵.

Family members	Funds required (Canadian dollars)
1	15,263
2	19,001
3	23,360
4	28,362
5	32,168
6	36,280
7	40,392
Each additional member	4,112

The table carries the date 7 July 2025 on the IRCC page ⁵. You prove the funds with official letters from your bank, on its letterhead, listing each account with its opening date, current balance and average balance over the last 6 months, plus any debts ⁵. The money must be available when you apply and when the visa is issued, it cannot be borrowed from another person, and you cannot count equity in property ⁵.

Language tests. IRCC accepts CELPIP-General, IELTS General Training and PTE Core for English, and TEF Canada and TCF Canada for French ⁶. Only the General Training version of IELTS counts, and the IELTS One Skill Retake is not accepted ⁶. Results must be less than 2 years old when you create your profile and when you submit your application ⁶.

Educational credential assessment. Use one of the designated organisations: World Education Services (WES), Comparative Education Service of the University of Toronto, International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, International Qualifications Assessment Service or the International Credential Evaluation Service ⁷. The ECA must be less than 5 years old when you create your profile and when you apply ⁷.

Police certificates. IRCC names the document and office for each country:

Country	Document	Issued by
Nigeria	Police Character Certificate	Nigeria Police Force, Central Criminal Registry, Force CID Annex, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos 9
Ghana	Police Clearance Certificate	Ghana Police, CID Headquarters, Accra 10
Cameroon	Police Clearance Certificate, after a Bulletin No. 3	Judicial Police (PJ Elig-Essono), Yaoundé 11
Kenya	Police Clearance Certificate	Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Nairobi 12

IRCC only accepts the Cameroon certificate issued by the Judicial Police in Yaoundé ¹¹. In Ghana, certificates are only available to people who lived there for 3 months or more ¹⁰.