Canadian Experience Class, FAQ’s

You must meet these minimum requirements to apply for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class. You must:

• plan to live outside the province of Quebec
• be either:
  • a temporary foreign worker with at least two years of full-time (or equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada, or
  • a foreign graduate from a Canadian post-secondary institution with at least one year of full-time (or equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada
• have gained your experience in Canada with the proper work or study authorization
• apply while working in Canada – or – within one year of leaving your job in Canada

According to the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC), skilled work experience means:

• Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations) or
• Skill Level A (professional occupations) or
• Skill Level B (technical occupations and skilled trades)

Your application will be assessed on two requirements if you apply as a temporary foreign worker:

• your work experience and
• your ability in English or French.

If you apply as a graduate of a Canadian post-secondary educational institution with Canadian work experience, it will be assessed using the above requirements, as well as:

• your education.

Principal applicant

If you are married or living with a common-law partner in Canada, and she/he also meets the above requirements, you can decide which one of you will apply for the Canadian Experience Class as a principal applicant.

How to apply – click here

FAQ’s: Canadian Experience Class

1. Can experience gained in Canada without proper work or study authorization be counted under the Canadian Experience Class?
2. Can lower-skilled workers apply to stay permanently under the Canadian Experience Class?
3. I have different types of work experience in Canada, some skilled (NOC 0, A or B) and some lower-skilled (NOC C or D). Does the lower-skilled work experience count in any way toward the work experience required when the majority of my work experience is skilled?
4. I had a refugee claim denied. Does the work experience I gained in Canada while waiting for a decision on my application as a refugee make me eligible to apply for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class?
5. I’m a skilled temporary foreign worker and want to apply to stay permanently. Is there an education requirement?
6. I meet the requirements to apply under the Canadian Experience Class but have since returned to my home country. Am I eligible to apply under the Canadian Experience Class?
7. Does part-time work experience count toward meeting the requirements for work experience?
8. I want to apply as a graduate. Can part-time work experience during my full-time studies in Canada be counted toward the one-year requirement?
9. I want to apply as a graduate. Does work experience that was part of my educational program’s requirements (such as Co-op terms and apprenticeships) count toward the one-year requirement?
10. It says that English- or French-as-a-second-language courses do not count toward education requirements under the Canadian Experience Class. Can my education be counted if there is a second language component?
11. I have a one-year master’s degree (or one-year certificate) from a Canadian post-secondary educational institution. Am I eligible to apply for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class?
12. If I don’t have a total of two years of Canadian post-secondary education, are there any other options to apply to stay permanently under the Canadian Experience Class?
13. If I have already submitted an application for permanent residence as a skilled worker (the traditional way to apply), can I still apply under this category?
14. When I applied for temporary residence, I needed to have a medical exam to get my work or study permit. Why do I have to have another medical exam to apply for permanent residence from within Canada?
15. Is the Canadian Experience Class open to temporary residents of Quebec?
16. Can I apply to stay permanently under the Canadian Experience Class if I plan to live in the province of Quebec?
17. Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) is based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks. Is it a designated testing agency if I am applying under the Canadian Experience Class?
18. Canada has agreements with several countries to allow their citizens to work in Canada temporarily as working holiday-makers. If part or all of my work experience in Canada was gained under such working holiday-maker programs, can it be counted toward the work experience requirement in the Canadian Experience Class?
19. I graduated from a Canadian medical school. Can my residency in Canada be counted toward meeting the work experience requirement for the Canadian Experience Class?