Counting work experience under Canada Express Entry – What to know

Have you ever had the doubt about how your work experience gets counted for eligibility in the Express Entry system? Here we try to answer this query.

Here’s the basic fact. Express Entry counts your work experience only if it is classified as “skilled” by the Canadian system of classifying occupations. IRCC checks the level of education required to do your job in Canada and thus assesses your eligibility along with such skilled work experience. The more education and skill level you have, the higher your occupational skill level will be.

It’s the NOC that analyzes the skill level required in Canada by an immigration candidate entering through the Express Entry system. The NOC job description ascertains your skill level into 5 categories:

Skill Type 0: This includes jobs in management. E.g., managers in restaurants, mines, and shore captains.

Skill Level A: This includes professions that usually require a university degree university. E.g., architects, dentists, and doctors.

Skill Level B: This includes skilled technical jobs and trades that usually need an apprentice training or college diploma. E.g., electricians, plumbers, and chefs.

Skill Level C: This includes jobs of an intermediate nature that usually requires high school and/or job-specific training. E.g., food and beverage servers, long-haul truck drivers, and industrial butchers.

Skill Level D: This includes labor jobs that usually provide training on the job. E.g., oil field workers, cleaning staff, and fruit pickers.

If you want to immigrate via Express Entry, you must be having a job offer that falls under any of the above-said skill types.

Work duration

IRCC treats 30 hours per week as full-time work. When calculated yearly, it comes to 1,560 hours. So, an applicant via Express Entry can either qualify by working full-time and paid for a year or part-time till it adds up to 1,560 hours. Under part-time work, you are expected to work under 15 hours a week till it comes to 1,560 hours.

Note: IRCC won’t take extra hours worked over the stipulated 30 hours per week as a full-time job.

Work experience requirements for FSWP

• A minimum of 1 year of skilled work experience in the last 10 years.
• The work experience counted for qualification under the FSWP must match the primary job mentioned in the application for immigration.
• A minimum of 67 points out of 100 to be scored in the assessment to pass, 15 points of which must come from work experience.
• To get 15 full points, you will need a minimum of 6 years’ work experience in an eligible occupation.

Work experience requirements for CEC

• You will need a minimum of one year’s full-time Canadian work experience in a skilled occupation.
• The work experience coming from self-employment or work done during studies in Canada won’t be counted.
• Minimum language proficiency has to be displayed.

Work experience requirements for FSTP

• You need a minimum of 2 years of full-time work experience in a skilled trade within 5 years prior to filing the application. An equal amount of work experience in a paid part-time job is also counted as eligible.
• You must meet the requirements for the skilled trade you mentioned in the application except that you need a qualification certificate.
• You must also have a valid job offer. The job offer must be for full-time employment of a minimum of 1 year or a qualification certificate in your skilled trade issued by the authority in a Canadian province/territory/federal government.
• Minimum language proficiency has to be displayed.

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Note:

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

FSWP – Federal Skilled Worker Program

FSTP – Federal Skill Trades Program

CEC – Canadian Experience Class