Haitians at risk of US deportations have an opportunity in Canada’s merit-based immigration system

Over 350,000 Haitian nationals residing legally in the US may be facing deportation come February 2026.

Immigrating to Canada through the points-based Express Entry system may be a viable option for many US Haitian residents who possess skilled work experience.

With the Canadian government prioritizing Francophone immigration, French-speaking Haitians have an added advantage under Express Entry—wherein those with the highest number of points are given precedence.

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Why Haitians may be good candidates for Canadian economic immigration streams

As per Canada’s latest Immigration Levels Plan, the country aims to reach a French-speaking permanent resident (PR) admission target of 10.5% by 2028 (outside Quebec).

Canada assesses how competitive a candidate is through the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which scores Express Entry candidate profiles, taking into account age, education, language, and (Canadian and foreign) work experience.

Haitian nationals who are proficient in both English and French have an advantage under Express Entry, as they can gain up to 210 points for just their language abilities under the Core Human Capital and Additional factors section of the CRS.

Further, a candidate can gain up to 100 additional points for their language proficiency, depending on their level of education or how many years of foreign work experience they have, through the Skills Transferability section of the CRS.

The Canadian government regularly holds Express Entry draws, in which they invite high-scoring candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

But even lower-scoring candidates have a chance of being invited through category-based selection draws, which typically see lower CRS cut-off scores than other draw types.

One of these categories is “French-language proficiency,” which requires candidates to meet a Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level 7 across all four language abilities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).

This year, CRS cut-off scores for French draws have ranged from 379–481—the lowest of all the category-based selection draws.

Of the 94,476 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) issued this year through Express Entry, 42,000 have been through French draws.

To compare, here are the CRS cut-off scores for other draw types, as well as the number of ITAs issued through each:

Draw type	Number of draws	CRS cut-off scores	ITA issuances
French-language proficiency	8	379–481	42,000
Canadian Experience Class	13	518–547	24,850
Provincial Nominee Program	22	699–855	9,376
Healthcare and social services	6	462–510	13,500
Education	2	462–479	3,500
Trades	1	505	1,250

Fictional examples

Below we present two fictional examples of Haitian nationals that would qualify to immigrate through Express Entry.

Example 1

Edmund is a single 28-year-old Haitian male who has been living and working in the US as a restaurant manager for three years.

Prior to working in the US, he completed a bachelor’s degree in business management in Costa Rica.

Edmund is proficient in both French and English, having grown speaking French and then teaching himself English in his early 20s.

His goal is to qualify for a French-language proficiency draw and settle in Alberta.

Factors determining CRS score	Qualifications	Points awarded
Age	28	110
Education	Bachelor's degree	120
Language proficiency: First and second official language	NCLC/CLB 9 on all first and second language abilities	148
Canadian work experience	0	0
Skill transferability: Education (language + post-secondary degree)	NCLC 9 + Bachelor’s degree	25
Skill transferability: Foreign work experience (language + foreign work experience)	NCLC 9 + 3 years working in the US	50
Additional factors: French proficiency	NCLC 9 + CLB 9	50

Core human capital for a primary applicant with no spouse: 378/500

Skill transferability: 75/100

Additional factors: 50/600

Based on his qualifications, Edmund has a CRS score of 503.

With this score, Edmund would have qualified for any of the eight French-language proficiency draws that took place over the course of 2025. If Edmund were to have had an active Express Entry profile at the time of any of these draws, he would have likely received an ITA.

Example 2

Delia is a 31-year-old Haitian woman who has lived in the US for the last two years, working as a web developer.

She has two educational credentials, including a one-year certificate and a bachelor's degree (three-year program) in web design and development.

While Delia speaks both English and French, she only excels in the former.

Delia’s goal is to settle in Manitoba and live with her sister, who has already Canadian PR.

She recently received a provincial nomination from Manitoba—which gave her 600 points toward her CRS score—after applying to Manitoba’s Skilled Worker Overseas stream using her sister as a Manitoba supporter.

Factors determining CRS score	Qualifications	Points awarded
Age	31	105
Education	2 foreign credentials	128
Language proficiency: First and second official language	CLB 10 + NCLC 5	140
Canadian work experience	0	0
Skill transferability: Education (language + post-secondary degree)	CLB 10 + 2 foreign credentials	50
Skill transferability: Foreign work experience (language + foreign work experience)	CLB 9 + 2 years working in the US	25
Additional factors: Provincial or territorial nomination	Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program – Skilled Worker Overseas	600

Core human capital for a primary applicant with no spouse: 373/500

Skill transferability: 75/100

Additional factors: 600/600

Based on her qualifications, Delia has a CRS score of 1,048.

With this score, Delia would have qualified for any of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) over the course of 2025. With a provincial nomination now added to her Express Entry profile, Delia is all but guaranteed an invitation in an upcoming PNP draw.

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