Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) – Express Entry
Skilled workers are people with skilled professional work experience who are chosen as permanent residents based on their ability to contribute to the Canadian economy. As of January 1, 2015, potential candidates interested in applying to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, must go through the Express Entry system.
These people have to complete an online Express Entry profile, and meet the criteria to get into the pool of candidates. As an employer, if you want to hire a skilled worker using this system, you can greatly improve their chances of success by making a qualifying job offer in a skilled occupation.
When we assess an application for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, we use a grid of 100 points to assess how well an applicant will adapt to Canada’s labour market. The grid looks at six selection factors including:
- English and/or French skills,
- Education,
- Work experience,
- Age,
- Arranged employment, and
- Adaptability.
In order to qualify under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, applicants must meet the pass mark of 67 out of 100 points.
As an employer, you can hire skilled foreign workers to meet your labour needs when you are unable to find Canadians or permanent residents to fill job vacancies. You will have the flexibility and choice to use current recruiting and hiring practices.
You will also have access to candidates through Canada’s Job Bank, private sector job boards and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) where applicable.
Candidates are assessed against others in the pool, and be ranked based on criteria that are known to contribute to a newcomer’s economic success once in Canada. Only the highest-ranked candidates, and those with valid job offers or provincial/territorial nominations, will be invited to apply for permanent residence.
Candidates have 60 days to apply for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. CIC will process the majority of complete permanent residence applications received (i.e. those including all the necessary supporting documents) in six months or less.
Note: As of January 1 2015, under the new Express Entry system there is no occupation lists or caps.
Federal Skilled Trade (FST) – Express Entry
The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) is for people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade. As of January 1, 2015 potential candidates interested in applying to the Federal Skilled Trades Program must go through the Express Entry system. As an employer, you can greatly improve their chances of success by making a qualifying job offer in a skilled occupation.
- In order to qualify under the Federal Skilled Trades Program, candidates must either have an offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least one year or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a provincial or territorial body. The job offer can be from up to two employers.
AND
- Have valid third-party language test results (that show they meet the minimum language threshold- (IELTS Result),
- Have at least two years of full-time experience in a skilled trade within the five years before they apply, and
- Meet all job requirements for that skilled trade as set out in the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
As an employer, you can hire skilled foreign workers to meet your labour needs when you are unable to find Canadians or permanent residents to fill job vacancies. You have the flexibility and choice to use current recruiting and hiring practices.
You will also have access to candidates through Canada’s Job Bank, private sector job boards and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) where applicable.
Candidates are assessed against others in the pool, and are ranked based on criteria that are known to contribute to a newcomer’s economic success once in Canada. Only the highest-ranked candidates, and those with valid job offers or provincial/territorial nominations, are invited to apply for permanent residence. Candidates have 60 days to apply for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Trades Program. CIC will process the majority of complete permanent residence applications received (i.e. those including all the necessary supporting documents) in six months or less.
Note: As of January 1 2015, under the Express Entry system there are no occupation lists or caps.
Canadian Experience Class (CEC) Express Entry
The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) is for people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade. As of January 1, 2015 potential candidates interested in applying to the Federal Skilled Trades Program must go through the Express Entry system. As an employer, you can greatly improve their chances of success by making a qualifying job offer in a skilled occupation.
- In order to qualify under the Federal Skilled Trades Program, candidates must either have an offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least one year or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a provincial or territorial body. The job offer can be from up to two employers.
AND
- Have valid third-party language test results (that show they meet the minimum language threshold- (IELTS Result),
- Have at least two years of full-time experience in a skilled trade within the five years before they apply, and
- Meet all job requirements for that skilled trade as set out in the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
As an employer, you can hire skilled foreign workers to meet your labour needs when you are unable to find Canadians or permanent residents to fill job vacancies. You have the flexibility and choice to use current recruiting and hiring practices.
You will also have access to candidates through Canada’s Job Bank, private sector job boards and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) where applicable.
Candidates are assessed against others in the pool, and are ranked based on criteria that are known to contribute to a newcomer’s economic success once in Canada. Only the highest-ranked candidates, and those with valid job offers or provincial/territorial nominations, are invited to apply for permanent residence. Candidates have 60 days to apply for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Trades Program. CIC will process the majority of complete permanent residence applications received (i.e. those including all the necessary supporting documents) in six months or less.
Note: As of January 1 2015, under the Express Entry system there are no occupation lists or caps.
Provincial Nominee Program
(PNP)
Under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), provinces and territories can nominate people who meet specific local labour market needs for permanent residence. Details about each PNP can be found on provincial and territorial government immigration websites.
Regular PNP nominations are processed within the current service standard of 11 months, in 80 percent of cases. PNP nominations that are processed through the Express Entry system will be processed in 6 months or less, in 80 percent of cases.
Provinces and territories have various streams in their PNPs, but they tend to fall into five areas:
- Skilled workers,
- Semi-skilled workers,
- Business/investors,
- International student graduates, and
- Family or community connections.
Most PNPs include one or more employer-driven streams, which let employers nominate workers who meet provincial or territorial nomination requirements. These may include certain jobs, education, work experience, official language skills and age. Applicants must show they can establish themselves economically in that province. CIC is responsible for ensuring that nominees meet admissibility requirements (i.e., medical, criminal and security checks).
As of January 1, 2015, provinces and territories can also nominate a certain number of skilled workers through the Express Entry system to meet local immigration and labour market needs. These people have to complete an online profile, meet the criteria to get into the pool of candidates, and obtain a nomination from a province or a territory under one of the PNP Express Entry streams.
As an employer, if you want to work with a province or territory to nominate a skilled worker using this system, you have a few options:
- You may be able to work with your province or territory to find eligible candidates through their Express Entry portal.
- If you find a candidate you want to hire and who is not already in the pool, you can ask them to apply under the PNP and complete an Express Entry profile.
- As with the current PNP process, you may be able to tell your province or territory that you want to hire a candidate.
If a province or territory nominates an Express Entry candidate, they need to update their profile to reflect this. (If the candidate already has a nomination at the time they create their profile, they are told to include that information.)
If a candidate is nominated by a province or territory, they will get enough points in their Express Entry ranking to ensure that they are invited by CIC to apply for permanent residence at the next eligible draw. After being invited, they would submit an electronic application for permanent residence to CIC.
Note: Any candidate you want to hire through Express Entry (whether PNP applicants or not) must meet the criteria of at least one of the three federal immigration programs in order to enter the pool. They are
- the Federal Skilled Worker Program,
- the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and
- the Canadian Experience Class.