A top Canadian immigration consultant’s advice: in Express Entry, it’s better to be in the pool than to wait. There’s only one situation where deferring truly makes sense, one where it might be justified, and many mistaken reasons why people stay out of the pool, wasting time.

One solid reason to defer: incomplete work experience

If you’re applying to Express Entry based on the minimum required experience, make sure you’ve actually completed it before submitting your profile. This is critical for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), which requires at least 1 year of qualified experience.

Express Entry has a feature: experience is entered in months and years, not exact dates. Because of this, the system may recognize you as having a year of experience before you’ve actually accumulated it. For example, if you started work on October 20, 2025, and it’s now late September 2026, you have roughly 11 months. If you submit your profile now, the system might make an error and recognize you as having a full year, and you’d get an Invitation to Apply (ITA) before you’ve actually met the requirement.

Getting an ITA doesn’t mean you were eligible for it. If you accept it and don’t meet CEC’s minimum requirements at the time of receiving it, rejection is inevitable. Continuing to work for “a few more weeks” and submitting an application won’t fix this problem. If you’re a few weeks away from completing your experience, wait: a few weeks out of the pool is better than an ITA you can’t safely use.

Possible reason for deferral: upcoming changes in circumstances

If something significant is about to happen in the coming days or weeks that will change your situation, it makes sense to wait. For example, an upcoming marriage or common-law partnership registration can significantly affect your CRS score or the information in your profile.

However, don’t rely too heavily on this logic. You can create and submit your profile now, then update it when your situation changes. The key point: updating your profile doesn’t change the original submission date and time. This matters—your updated profile will retain your position in the queue.

Mistaken reasons for staying out of the pool

People often defer submission for reasons that shouldn’t actually stop them.

Waiting for better language test results. If your current results already make you eligible to submit a profile, there’s no need to wait for new scores. Submit your profile now, and when your new results come in, update it. CRS will recalculate automatically.

Fear of not getting documents in time. Many worry that if they get an ITA, they won’t be able to gather all documents within the given deadline. But remember: you’re not obligated to accept an ITA. If you receive one but still can’t compile the application, you can decline the invitation. Declining an ITA isn’t ideal, but staying out of the pool hoping to avoid a hypothetical future problem means missing an invitation you could have used.

Belief that your CRS isn’t competitive enough. If you have 505 points and you’re applying for CEC, and recent draws required higher scores, the temptation to wait is understandable, but it’s a mistake. CRS thresholds in Express Entry are unpredictable and often change depending on draw size and priorities. One thing is certain: out of the pool, you’ll never be invited.

Why being in the pool earlier is critical: the tiebreaker rule

When candidates have the same CRS score and that score is the minimum in a draw, IRCC uses the submission date and time of the profile to determine who receives the remaining invitations. Profiles submitted earlier always have priority.

This is especially important in CEC draws. Imagine: a draw has a cutoff of 515 points, and you have 515, just like hundreds or thousands of others. IRCC may use up all invitations by going through only some of the candidates with 515 points. At this stage, your score is no longer sufficient. The tiebreaker is applied: whoever submitted earlier gets the ITA. A candidate who submitted their profile months before you will receive an invitation instead of you, even though your scores are the same.

Updating your profile doesn’t change the original submission date. If you’re eligible now with 505 points and want to retake a language test to boost to 515: submit your profile today, update it when you get your new results—and keep today’s date. If you wait for results, your submission date will be a month later. In the competitive environment of CEC draws, this can make a difference.

Conclusion: enter the pool if you’re eligible

An attempt to find three solid reasons to stay out of Express Entry led to the opposite conclusion. Situations where deferring makes sense are rare. There are far more reasons why you shouldn’t wait. If you meet the requirements to enter the pool, entering it as soon as possible is the right decision.