Canadian Experience Class

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is an immigration category through which Canada’s foreign workers, who so wish, can become permanent residents there. Because these people have already shown that they have the proper work skills required for Canadian economy, and have settled into Canadian society, establishing themselves in their community – they are the ideal candidates to have permanent residence in the country.

The applications for Canadian Experience Class further pass through the Express Entry system for immigration to Canada.

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Eligibility

These are the factors that would have an effect on your eligibility to apply through the Canadian Experience Class program to live and work in Canada:

Work Experience

The candidate must have at least one year of full-time or an equivalent in part-time skilled work experience in Canada within the last three years. The gained Canadian work experience must have been while on a valid work permit and needs to be in an occupation classified as skill type 0, A or B under the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Work Experience criteria for Permanent Residence under the Canadian Experience Class

12 months of full-time work:

  • 30 hours/week for 12 months = 1-year full time (1,560 hours), OR

equal amount in part-time hours, such as:

  • 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1-year full time (1,560 hours)
  • 30 hours/week for 12 months at more than 1 job = 1-year full time (1,560 hours)

Satisfy Job Requirements

If you are an immigration applicant, you would have to meet every requirement as per one of the employment opportunities, so described by the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC). You will find a list of different jobs, and amongst them, you should have either the required certification or get the proper training for the job you choose. You must be able to show that you performed all the duties that were set out in the occupational description in the NOC, including all the main duties as well. If you fail to do so, you will not get to be eligible to work in Canada through Canadian Experience Class Program.

These are the factors that would have an effect on your eligibility to apply through the Canadian Experience Class program to live and work in Canada:

Type of Jobs NOC Skill Level
Managerial jobs 0
Professional jobs A
Technical jobs and skilled trades B

Language Proficiency

You have to be able to show at least an intermediate grasp of either English or French to be able to work and live in Canada. To test your English, you will sit for either International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP). If French is your language of choice, the Test d’Evaluation de Francais (TEF) is what will let you prove your grasp on the language. The 4 categories you’ll be tested in, will be – listening, speaking, writing, and reading. Your score in these test or tests (if you opt for both English and French) would have to be above the set benchmark, called Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) points; otherwise, you won’t be eligible.

NOC Skill Level Minimum level for all four language abilities
NOC 0 or A CLB 7
NOC B CLB 5

Principal Applicant

If you have a common law partner, that is you’ve been in at least a year long conjugal relationship with a person, either of the same or the opposite sex, either one or both of you could become primary applicants. That means, whoever amongst the two of you, or in case it’s the both of you, does meet every above listed requirement for Canadian Experience Class, could fill out an Express Entry profile.

Education

There is no such thing as a specific educational requirement for Canadian Experience Class.that said, there are certain additional points that you could earn for your education under the Express Entry program, under the following circumstances:

  • If you went to school in Canada, and you have a certificate, diploma, or a degree from either a Canadian secondary (high school) or a post-secondary school in Canada.
  • If you have a foreign education, and you have an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report from an approved agency to show that your foreign education is equal to a completed certificate, diploma, or degree from a Canadian secondary (high school) or a post-secondary school in Canada.

Your ECA will only benefit you if your foreign education is equal to a completed Canadian high school diploma or greater.

Other Requirements

  • You must be admissible to Canada
  • You must plan to live outside the province of Quebec
Visa Class

Canadian Express Entry program is a system to manage various immigration applications, that was initiated in the year 2015. There are three categories of immigration programs, varying on the country's economic basis, through which any person intending to live while working a full-time job in Canada, can seek immigration through.

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