Canadian Experience Class
This new category which announced by the government on September 17, 2008 allows foreign students who graduated in Canada or a temporary foreign worker who has legally worked or is currently working in Canada.Applicants who wish to apply for permanent resident visa under Canadian Experience Class must not plan to live in Quebec and they should have one of the following situations:
-
Be a person who has been graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution as a foreign student with at least one year of full-time (or equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada. In this case the application of applicants will be assessed based on their work experience, their ability in English or French, and their education.
-
Be a temporary foreign worker with at least two years of full-time (or equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada. In this case the application of applicants will be assessed based on their work experience and their ability in English or France.
Work experience
-
A foreign graduate of a Canadian post-secondary educational institution who is interested in immigrating to Canada under the Canadian Experience Class must have one year of full-time (37.5hrs/week) work experience and in Canada after graduation. A foreign student can apply for the Post-Graduation Work Permit after graduation. Her/his work experience under the permit, must be at Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations), or Skill Level A (professional occupations that usually require university education) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades that usually require college education or skilled apprentices) of NOC, must be after graduation, and must be gained within two years of applying for permanent resident visa.
-
A temporary foreign worker who wants to immigrate to Canada under the Canadian Experience Class must have two years of full-time and under permit work experience in Canada. The work experience must be at Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations), or Skill Level A (professional occupations that usually require university education) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades that usually require college education or skilled apprentices) of NOC and must be gained within three years of applying.
Language requirements (all applicants)
Applicants must be able to speak English or French at a level that will be determined by their occupation which means by the skill level of the Canadian work experience that they have gained. Applicants who have some abilities in both English and French should select one of them as their first official language and must prove their abilities in their first official language by taking an IELTS test (for applicants with English as their first official language) or an TEF test (for applicants who have chosen French as their first official language).
The CEC requirements for IELTS and TEF are as follow:
As you can see require scores are based on the job’s NOC level and CLB/NCLC factor. The Canadian Language Benchmarks/ Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien are descriptions of language abilities and visa officers use these descriptions to determine applicant’s language abilities based on the written evidence that he/she provides:
If applicant has qualifying Canadian work experience at Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A of NOC, her/his test results must match the CLB/NCLC (see above tables):
-
7 or higher for each of the language abilities, or
-
6 for any one of the language abilities, 7 or higher for any other two of those abilities and 8 or higher for the remaining ability,
If applicant has qualifying Canadian work experience at Skill Level B of NOC, her/his test results must match the CLB/NCLC (see above tables):
-
5 or higher for each of those abilities, or
-
4 for any one of those abilities, 5 or higher for any other two of those abilities, and 6 or higher for the remaining ability.
Education
Education is only assessed for graduates and temporary foreign workers who intend to immigrate to Canada under the Canadian Experience Class will not be assessed on this factor.
Foreign graduates who apply for a permanent resident visa under the Canadian Experience Class must have either:
-
Completed a full-time post-secondary program (the program’s duration must not be less than two years), or
-
Completed a one-year Master’s program and also have received at least one year of education in Canada before starting their Master’s program.
The programs must be provided by a Canadian post-secondary educational institution. The institution is provincially recognized and can be private or public.
Post-Graduation Work Permit
Foreign students who have graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution can apply under this program to receive a work permit. The work permit can not be valid for longer than the student’s study program. For example, if the applicant has graduated from a four-year degree program, he/she could be eligible for a three-year work permit.
Learn more:
FAQs – Cnadian Experience Class
FAQs – Cnadian Experience Class
