Canadian Experience Class (CEC) Background

The CEC, Canada’s fastest-growing economic immigration program, offers a pathway to permanent residency for international student graduates as well as others with skilled work experience in Canada.

Those who are eligible may apply from within Canada and expect a relatively quick decision. In the past, a brilliant student, for example, who graduated from a top university and who wanted to stay in Canada to help create jobs, would have had to return to their home country. From there, they would have to start the application process as well as the long wait at the back of a seven or eight-year queue.

The goal of the CEC is to ensure that Canada retains determined and knowledgeable people who have already shown that they can put their skills as well as their experience to work, grow the Canadian economy, create jobs and integrate easily into Canadian life.

In order to make the CEC even more responsive to Canada’s labour market needs and economic goals, CIC is proposing changes that will expedite the transition to permanent residence of those already working successfully in Canada.

CEC With the proposed change, all applicants will require:

• 12 months of Canadian work experience
• This experience is to be gained in the 36 months before their application.
• Some applicants currently require 24 months of full-time work experience as well.

This change will make the program more flexible for international student graduates. It will provide them with more time to launch their careers as well as gain the necessary experience to apply for permanent residency through the program.

Canada plans to welcome up to 15,000 permanent residents under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) in 2014 – the most since the program was launched in 2008.

The CEC allows people who meet a minimum language requirement and have at least one year of skilled work experience in Canada to transition to permanent residence. The CEC is a very popular choice for newcomers and may be a suitable option for you as well. To date, CIC has welcomed more than 25,000 permanent residents through the program.

The highly skilled team of immigration professionals at Akrami & Associates has a wealth of experience in assisting recent graduates and skilled professionals alike to reach their long-term goals in Canada.