Federal Skilled Workers

Note from CIC: As of May 1, 2014, there is an overall cap of 25,500 for new federal skilled worker applications. This includes a cap of 500 applications from PhD students. There are also sub-caps of 1,000 for each of the 50 eligible occupations . The caps do not affect people with a valid job offer . These are the last applications CIC will accept under the current system before Express Entry launches in January 2015.

A) Basic eligibility

  • at least one year of continuous and paid (full-time or an equal amount in part-time) work experience
    • in a single occupation,
    • within the last 10 years,
    • at skill type 0, or skill levels A or B of the 2011 edition of the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC)

      AND

      1. You have this work experience in one of the eligible occupations,

        OR

      2. You have a valid offer of arranged employment,

        OR

      3. You are an international student who is enrolled in a PhD program in Canada (or who graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months) and meet these criteria.

No matter what category above you apply to, you must meet ALL the minimum requirements in B.

B) Minimum requirements

Work experience

  • at least one year (1560 hours), full-time or an equal amount in part-time,
  • paid work (volunteer work, unpaid internships, etc. do not count),
  • in the same occupation, and
  • within the last 10 years,
  • at skill type 0, or skill levels A or B of the 2011 edition of the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC)

Language ability

You must meet minimum language levels and include the results of a language test from an agency approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) when you apply that shows you meet the minimum language requirement of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7.

Education

You must have:

  • a Canadian diploma, certificate, or credential

    OR

  • a foreign educational credential, and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) by an agency approved by CIC to show it is equal to a completed Canadian secondary or post-secondary educational credential.

C) Six selection factors

Besides sections A and B, you need pass 67 points of 100-point gridbased on the six selection factors:

  • your skills in English and/or French, Canada’s two official languages,
  • your education,
  • your work experience,
  • your age,
  • whether you have arranged employment in Canada, and
  • your adaptability (how well you are likely to settle here).

D) Proof of funds

Have enough money to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada.

E) Inadmissibility

Being involved in:

  • crime, or
  • human rights violations.

or for the reason of:

  • security,
  • health,
  • financial reasons, or
  • other reasons.