immigration

How does the CRS transferability bonus work?

Updated: 2026-04-04

What are transferability points?

Transferability is a fifth CRS category that rewards the combination of strong language skills with other factors. You earn these points on top of your core language, education, age, and experience points. The maximum is 100 transferability points.

Education + language combination

Post-secondary credential (1+ year) + CLB 7โ€“8 = +25 pts. Master's/PhD + CLB 7โ€“8 = +25 pts. Any post-secondary + CLB 9+ = +25 pts (capped). Master's/PhD + CLB 9+ = +50 pts. The threshold is CLB 9 - reaching it doubles the language ร— education bonus.

Foreign experience + language combination

1โ€“2 yrs foreign exp + CLB 7โ€“8 = +13 pts; + CLB 9+ = +25 pts. 3+ yrs foreign exp + CLB 7โ€“8 = +25 pts; + CLB 9+ = +50 pts. Again, CLB 9 doubles the bonus. For candidates with international experience, reaching CLB 9 on all four CELPIP skills can shift this from +25 to +50.

How to read the transferability cap

The 100-point cap applies across all transferability subcategories combined. A candidate with a Master's degree + CLB 9+ + 3 years of foreign exp would theoretically earn 50 (edu) + 50 (exp) = 100 pts - which exactly hits the cap. In practice, most candidates earn 25โ€“75 transferability points.

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