Points-based immigration system favours single PR applicants over married couples, experts say

Canada’s points-based immigration system can give a little extra points to single applicants. To get the extra points, some married permanent residents declare that their spouse will not be accompanying them, earning a total of up to 40 extra points out of a possible 600 points.

Immigration lawyer Matthew Jeffrey says the system will only benefit married applicants if their spouse is highly educated, fluent in English or French and has relevant work experience.

“But if the spouse does not meet these requirements, the main applicant’s overall score may be reduced. To avoid having points reduced because of a spouse with poor qualifications, the applicant can declare their spouse as ‘unaccompanied.’ This means that the spouse will not be accompanying the main applicant when they immigrate to Canada and will remain in their country of origin,” he adds.

Mandeep Leader, an immigration consultant in Calgary, describes the practice as “relatively common,” and says married applicants face “a structural weakness” in the current skilled worker immigration system.

“This structural imbalance encourages the legal use of the ‘unaccompanied spouse’ option,” he says. “It’s a legal, system-approved route for applicants who may be at a disadvantage because of their spouse’s language scores, education, or lack of Canadian work experience.”

For this reason, instead of both people applying for permanent residence at the same time, it may be better for one person to apply first and then bring their spouse to Canada through the family reunification pathways,” Leader explains.

“No, it’s not fraud. It’s a violation when someone conceals their marital status or lies about their spouse being unaccompanied, even though they’re planning to immigrate together.”

Abuse of the system

The Canadian government is aware of this practice and has warned some applicants about misrepresenting their status.

The Leader provided a copy of a Procedural Fairness Letter from April 2025 in which a Canadian permanent resident officer expressed serious concerns about a married applicant who declared his spouse unaccompanied when they were both living in Canada.

The officer wrote in the letter:

"It appears that you declared your spouse 'unaccompanied' in order to meet the minimum points requirement, as you would receive fewer points if you had a spouse or common-law partner with you or declared them with you. It also appears that you would not have received the required points if your spouse had been with you."

At the same time, competition in Canada’s immigration system has increased, especially since the government announced in October that it would reduce its permanent residence admission targets by at least 20 per cent — from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.

The minimum points required to receive an invitation to permanent residence have also increased. Although this number varies, as of June 12, 2025, the lowest score for an invitee in the Canadian Experience Stream was 529 points — up from 368 points on June 10, 2021.

In the online Express Entry system for skilled workers, profiles are scored based on a “Comprehensive Ranking System” (CRS), which takes into account factors such as age, education, work experience and language skills.

Kabir Kamal, an immigration consultant in Toronto, told CTVNews.ca:
“Canada’s Express Entry system is designed to select skilled immigrants who will succeed in the country — but honesty is key. Declaring a spouse as unaccompanied when that is the case is perfectly legal; however, concealing your marital status or lying about your spouse’s presence to gain more points can have serious consequences, including denial of your application and even a ban.”

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said:
“We are committed to combating fraud and misrepresentation. Misrepresentation includes providing false information or withholding information. If an applicant declares that their spouse is not accompanying them when they intend to come together, an officer may determine that the applicant has made a false statement and misrepresentation in order to gain more points.”

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