Canadian Experience Class is an immigration pathway to Canada for skilled workers from all over the world with Canadian work experience. The overseas skilled worker and students with Canadian experience get considered an eligible candidate for the Canadian Experience Class- the fastest track to achieve a permanent residence visa.
Canadian Experience Class is one of the immigration programs managed by Express Entry, the fastest and the most renowned immigration pathway to Canada. Starting in 2008, the Canadian Experience Class has given a great opportunity to international skilled workers, and foreign students, who graduated from Canadian institutions to become permanent residents of Canada and eventually Canadian citizens later.
Who are the eligible candidates for the CEC?
To be considered as an eligible candidate for the Canadian Work Experience, the applicant must meet the eligibility criteria in the three categories:
- The candidate must meet the language proficiency level for each language ability- reading, writing, listening and speaking. The language test result gets considered valid for two years of the timeline. The test result must be valid from the date of taking the test for the CEC applications to the day of application submission.
- The candidate must have a minimum of one year of Canadian work experience, the work experience should be obtained in the last three years before applying for CEC. The candidate can fulfill the requirement: by a full-time job: thirty hours/week for twelve months (1,560 working hours), or an equivalent quantity of time in a part-time job (one can do multiple part-time jobs to fulfill this criterion. They can also do more than one full-time job (thirty hours a week at more than one job equals to 1,560 work hours in total).
- The candidate should have earned Canadian work experience while being with a temporary resident status and the approval to work.
- The candidate needs a certain classification under the NOC (National Occupation Category) to be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class. The NOC is a system where the government classifies the job based on job roles, and the work an individual does. The candidate must hold a job under NOC 0, A, or B to be qualified for the CEC.
- Foreign students who graduated from the Designated Learning Institution (DLI) of Canada can apply after one year of work approved under the PGWP (Post- Graduation Work Permit). In this way, they can also boost their rank in the Express Entry Pool.
- Overseas students may also complete their ECA (Educational Credential Assessment), for immigration purposes from an approved institution to verify that their education, degree, certificate, or diploma has an equal standard as a Canadian secondary or post-secondary institution.
Who is not eligible for the CEC?
Volunteers, unpaid interns, and self-employed people do not get considered eligible candidates for the Canadian Experience Class. The candidate who obtains the work hours while being a student also does not get considered as eligible.
In addition, the work experience should be accumulated for over 52 weeks, as work hours do not get counted above 30 a week.
Further, the candidate should not plan to live in the province of Quebec. Quebec has its own immigration systems and chooses skilled candidates for programs such as the QSWP (Quebec Skilled Worker Program) and the PEQ (Quebec Experience Program).
Lastly, the candidate should clear the medical and police clearances to prove that they are acceptable to Canada. Candidates with a past criminal history might not be permitted to immigrate to Canada, but there are opportunities to overcome criminal inadmissibility.
What are the next steps to apply?
After checking the eligibility for the CEC, the candidate requires the following:
- Prepare all the documents beforehand for the profile.
It includes:
- Passport/ travel document
- Language test results
- Proof of Canadian Education/ Educational Credential Assessment Report
- Provincial Nomination (if eligible)
- Written job offer (if obtained)/ proof of work experience/ certificate of qualification in a trade occupation by a Canadian provincial territory (if obtained).
- Proof of Funds.
- The candidate requires to respond in order to apply for permanent residence if they have achieved an ITA (invitation to apply).
The CEC (Canadian Experience Class) offers the fastest track to achieving permanent residence for candidates with Canadian work experience; it is also one of the prominent ways for candidates to immigrate to Canada.