How To Calculate Work Experience For Immigration To Canada

Work experience is one of the factors that contribute to the CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) points for Canadian immigration within the Express Entry pool.  CRS determines the rank of a candidate within the Express Entry pool. Prospective immigrants are ranked supported by their language ability, education, skills, work experience, and other factors. 

Express Entry is a web application system employed by the Canadian government to arrange and process the applications of skilled workers who have an interest in immigrating to Canada and acquiring Canadian permanent residency status. 

Express Entry offers three Canadian immigration programs. The three immigration programs offered by Express Entry are:

• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
• Federal Skilled worker (FSW)
• Federal Skilled Trades (FST)

Applicants must be eligible for one of the three programs listed to use through Express Entry.

Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program

This program is for prospective candidates who have acquired Canadian work experience. The work experience must be acquired within the last 3 years before application. Prospective candidates must have a minimum of 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada. The work experience gained should fall into Skill Type 0, Skill Level A, or Skill Level B of the NOC.

NOC is that the National Occupational Arrangement wants to classify occupations in Canada. Skill Type 0 is employed to explain management jobs, Skill Level A describes professional jobs that sometimes require a university degree while Skill Level B describes technical jobs and skilled trades that typically involve apprenticeship training or a university degree.

The minimum work experience for CEC immigration candidates is 1 year of skilled work experience. There are several ways to satisfy this requirement:

• One (1) full-time job for 1 year
• Full-time work on quite 1 job
• An equal amount of part-time work

How To Calculate Work Experience For The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) Program (Express Entry)

One full-time job for 1 year: the need is 1,560 hours of labor in 1 year. this suggests that prospective candidates must have gained 30 hours of skilled work experience in Canada per week for 12 months at an equivalent job. 

Full–time work on quite 1 job: the candidate should have acquired 30 hours of skilled work experience for 12 months at quite 1 job. 

Equal amount in part-time work: candidates must acquire the full-time equivalent. For part-time workers, they need 2 years to realize 1,560 hours of skilled work experience. What this suggests is 15 hours of labor hebdomadally for twenty-four months. A candidate can work as many part-time jobs as necessary to satisfy the need for 1,560 hours in 2 years.

For the Canadian Experience Class, the work experience must be gained by working in Canada while holding a short-lived resident status with authorization to figure. Unpaid internships and volunteer work aren’t counted for skilled work experience. For your work experience to be counted you want to either earn a commission or be paid a wage.

It is important to notice that employment experience gained as a full-time undergraduate won’t count when meeting the immigration work experience requirement (even if you were on a co-op work term). Work hours above 30 hours per week won’t be counted either. 

For you to be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class you want to not be:

• A refugee claimant in Canada
• Working without authorization

Any work experience gained without a short-lived resident status in Canada won’t count towards meeting the skilled work requirement. Self-employment doesn’t count towards meeting the minimum requirements for the Canadian Experience Class Program.

Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program

You should apply through the federal Skilled worker (FSW) program if your skilled work experience was gained in a country outside of Canada. The Federal trained worker program applies to prospective candidates with foreign work experience. 

For you to be eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker program you want to meet the minimum educational requirements and language ability. It’s important to note that employment experience is one of the factors considered for Canadian immigration. 

For the FSW, your skilled work experience must have an equivalent NOC because the job you plan to use for your Canada immigration application must be gained within the last 10 years. For your work experience to satisfy the need for immigration it must be added that you were paid a wage or earned a commission. Unpaid internships or volunteer work doesn’t count as skilled work for Canadian immigration. The work must be done continuously for a minimum of 1 year (12 months).

How To Calculate Work Experience For The Federal Skilled Worker (Fsw) Program (Express Entry)

The work experience requirements are often met in a few alternative ways. It can either be gained working full-time at 1 job. Working full-time at quite 1 job, or working part-time. Whether full-time or part-time, the work done must be under an equivalent NOC. The specified number of hours may be a total of 1,560. 

For full-time work on one job, a candidate must meet the work requirement of 30 hours of labor per week for 12 months. This is often almost like full-time work on quite 1 job. you want to have gained 1,560 hours of labor experience in 1 year which is 30 hours of labor per week for 12 months. The sole difference is that the work experience is often gathered by working full-time at quite 1 job under an equivalent NOC.

If your work experience was gained by working part-time you want to acquire the full-time equivalent of labor hours. This suggests that you simply can work 15 hours per week for twenty-four months for 1,560 hours which is like 1 year of full-time work experience. 

For part-time work, you’ll work less or quite 15 hours per week and may work as many roles as you would like to satisfy this requirement. The aim is that the work hours must add up to 1,560 hours. Hours above 30 hours during a week wouldn’t be counted. Volunteer or unpaid internships won’t be counted either. 

For full-time and part-time work, the work experience must be acquired from paid work. This is often added to which you receive pay (wage, commission, or salary). For the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, your student work experience may count towards your minimum work experience requirement. 

For the work experience gained while you were studying to count towards your Canada immigration work experience, it must be paid, continuous, and meet other requirements of the program. So while working as a student you want to be paid and there should be no gaps employed.

Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program

The Federal Skilled Trades program is for candidates who want to use permanent residence supported by their qualifications during a skilled trade. The Federal Skilled Trades program could be an excellent option for you if you’re qualified in a skilled trade. 

For you to be eligible for this program you want to either have a certificate that shows your qualification or a legitimate job offer. The work experience required for the FST program may be a minimum of two years of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work experience) during a skilled trade within the last 5 years before a candidate’s application. The work experience must be acquired at a paid job for it to count towards your Canada immigration work experience. 

The minimum work experience requirements for the FST program include:

• Must have gained 2 years of full-time work experience within the 5 years before the appliance
• The work experience must not be volunteer work or unpaid internship. 
• Your work experience must be for a piece during which you earned a commission or was paid a wage.
• You must meet the duties for the skilled trade you claim to be qualified in as stated by the NOC apart from the certificate of qualification. 

You must have either;

• A valid full-time job employment offer for a minimum of 1 year or
• A certificate of qualification therein skilled trade. The certificate must be issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial, or federal authority. 

The National Occupation Classification (NOC) has classified the skilled trades for the Federal Skilled Trades program in groups and they are all of the skill B. What this suggests is that the skill you claim to be qualified for must be of skill B and must fall into any of those groups:

Major group 72 – industrial, electrical, and construction trades

Major group 73 – maintenance and equipment operation trades

Major group 82 – supervisors and technical jobs in natural resources, agriculture, and elated production

Major group 92 – processing, manufacturing, and utilities supervisors, and central control operators

Minor group 632 – chefs and cooks

Minor group 633 – butchers and bakers

The NOC further divides major groups into various occupations all under skill B. Your skilled work experience must be classifiable under one of these groups. Your experience must meet the work duties described within the NOC for your application to not be refused. It’s important to notice that each work experience gained before you qualified to practice the occupation independently doesn’t count within the Canadian immigration process.