Work Requirement Eased for Canadian Experience Class

Work Requirement Eased for Canadian Experience Class

The work experience required to apply to the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) has been eased for those applying as workers or students. Both streams now require 12 months within 36 months of full-time equivalent skilled work experience to apply to the CEC. Previously, worker applicants needed 24 months out of 36, and students needed 12 months out of 24. This new requirements makes both streams uniform in this respect and more lenient for applicants.

The 12-month skilled work requirement is based on full-time (or part-time equivalent) work experience in a National Occupation Classification skill type O, A, or B; managerial occupations, professional occupations, or technical occupations and skilled trades respectively.

Applicants to the CEC must also reside outside Quebec, meet language requirements for English or French (Canadian Language Benchmark of 7 for NOC O or A occupations, and of 5 for NOC B occupations), and have been working or studying with the proper authorization while in Canada. If applying from outside Canada, applicants must do so within one year of meeting the work requirement.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada intends to accept as many as 10,000 permanent residents through the CEC in 2013, whereas this number was only 2545 in 2009.

– Written by Richard McKergow, a Paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada and guest author on this site.