Information about the Federal Skilled Worker Program

Obtaining your Permanent Residency with the Federal Skilled Worker Program

There are many ways by which you may obtain a permanent residence status in Canada. Express Entry is one of the options. However, Express Entry can be very confusing to many foreign national, because there are many categories under it. There are three major programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class. In order to prepare you for your application, it is important for you to recognize and understand the eligibility requirements prior to applying. In this blog, you will learn about eligibility requirements for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, as well as other important information one should know before applying under this economic immigration program.

What is the Federal Skilled Worker Program

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is for skilled workers with foreign work experience to gain permanent residency in Canada. This program selects its applicants based on their skilled work experience, language ability, and education. However, simply meeting these three requirements does not guarantee you will be selected by the Canadian government. You will be given a rank based on the comprehensive ranking system. You will also be placed in a pool with other applicants, and you will need to compete with other applicants. The higher you ranking is, the closer you are to your permanent residency in Canada.

The Minimum Requirement for the Federal Skilled Worker Program

Skilled work experience

Individuals can be recruited for positions which qualify as Skill Type 0 (managerial jobs) or Skill Level A (professional jobs) or Skill Level B (technical jobs and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) list.

Apart from having worked in one of the NOC job groups, you prove you performed the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC. You need to also make sure you have worked in the same type of job as the job you want to use for your immigration application within the last ten years. Please note, the job needs to be a paid work, meaning that volunteer work or unpaid internships do not count. Last but not least, your full-time job needs to be at least 1 year of continuous work or 1,560 hours total (30 hours per week). For part-time work, you can work more or less than 15 hours per week, as long as it adds up to 1,560 hours.

Language ability

In order to demonstrate you are proficiency in English or French, you must take language tests that are approved by the Canadian government. The tests for English can be IELTS or CELPIP. The test for French can be TEF. These tests will examine your ability to write, listen, speak, and read in either English or French.

Education

If you completed secondary or post-secondary in Canada, you will need to provide your certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian secondary or post-secondary school. If you completed your education in a foreign country, you need to have a completed credential. Your foreign credential needs to be written in an Educational Credential Assessment report by an approved agency, showing that your education is equal to a completed certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian or post-secondary school.

Other requirements

As previously mentioned, simply meeting the minimum requirements is not sufficient for you to be eligible to apply for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. You must also be admissible to Canada by meeting the conditions in Canada’s Immigration Law. That being said, you cannot have a serious financial problem, a serious health problem, or have criminal inadmissibility. You cannot lie about your application or lie during your interview with an immigration officer, either.

How are applications assessed

If you meet all the aforementioned requirements, your application will assessed based on the following:

• Age
• Education
• Work experience
• Whether you have a valid job offer
• English and/or French language skills
• Adaptability (adaptability means how well you will adapt to Canada in general and how likely you will be settled in Canada)

These factors constitute a 100-point grid. The current pass mark is 67 points. If you pass the assessment (score 67 or above), you will be placed in the Express Pool, and you will be ranked by the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The CRS is a points-based system that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada uses to assess and score the applicant’s profile and rank it in the Express Entry pool. The major components of the CRS include:

• skills
• education
• language ability
• work experience
• other factors

To conclude, you will be assessed twice, after you have met the minimum requirements. The first assessment is six selection factors that are specifically designed for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. The second assessment is the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

Contact Akrami & Associates

The Federal Skilled Worker application may have many different requirements which may make this type of application confusing, or sometimes, overwhelming. Moreover, the application for Federal Skilled Worker can be difficult when you are doing it on your own. As a result, it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to apply for Federal Skilled Worker. Akrami & Associates work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients to obtain their permanent residency with the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at 416-477-2545 for more information, or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advise.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!