Federal Skilled Trades Program Overview

Federal Skilled Trades

The Federal Skilled Trades Program is geared towards facilitating the immigration of foreign skilled tradespeople to fill in-demand positions in Canada.

“The new Skilled Trades Program addresses serious labour shortages that some regions of the country are facing and will help grow Canada’s economy.”  These long-overdue changes are part of the government’s plan to build a fast and flexible immigration system that is responsive to the needs of Canada’s economy. Canadian employers have long been asking for ways to get the skilled tradespeople they need to meet demands in many industries across the country. We’ve listened to their concerns and created this program in response.

Currently, there is a 3,000 application cap. This means that no more than 100 new applications for certain jobs will be considered for processing each year.

Group A – Jobs with sub-caps of 100 applications each (and their corresponding 2011 NOC code)

• 7202 Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations
• 7204 Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades
• 7205 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
• 7271 Carpenters
• 7301 Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades
• 7302 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
• 8211 Supervisors, logging and forestry
• 8221 Supervisors, mining and quarrying
• 8222 Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling services
• 8241 Logging machinery operators
• 8252 Agricultural service contractors, farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
• 9211 Supervisors, mineral and metal processing
• 9212 Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities
• 9214 Supervisors, plastic and rubber products manufacturing
• 9231 Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing
• 9241 Power engineers and power systems operators
• 9243 Water and waste treatment plant operators

Group B – no sub-caps (2011 NOC code)

• 7231 Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
• 7233 Sheet metal workers
• 7235 Structural metal and plate work fabricators and fitters
• 7236 Ironworkers
• 7237 Welders and related machine operators
• 7241 Electricians (except industrial and power system)
• 7242 Industrial electricians
• 7243 Power system electricians
• 7244 Electrical power line and cable workers
• 7245 Telecommunications line and cable workers
• 7246 Telecommunications installation and repair workers
• 7251 Plumbers
• 7252 Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers
• 7253 Gas fitters
• 7311 Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
• 7312 Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
• 7313 Refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics
• 7314 Railway carmen/women
• 7315 Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors
• 7318 Elevator constructors and mechanics
• 7371 Crane operators
• 7372 Drillers and blasters – surface, mining, quarrying and construction
• 7373 Water well drillers
• 8231 Underground production and development miners
• 8232 Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers
• 9232 Petroleum, gas and chemical process operators

In addition to being qualified for an eligible occupation, Federal Skilled Trades Program, you must demonstrate basic language proficiency in either English or French at the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 5 for speaking and listening and CLB 4 for reading and writing. This is due to the overall importance of language as a determinant of immigrant success and general health and safety reasons. CLB 4 is considered basic proficiency, while those with CLB 5 can more effectively participate in and understand routine conversations.