UNDER THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE CLASS, DOES MY WORK NEED TO BE CONTINUOUS?
DOES IT NEED TO BE IN THE SAME NOC?
To qualify for the Canadian Experience Class, I know that I need one year of full time or part-time equivalent work in a high skilled NOC. Is it fine if I have 3 months of work experience in one NOC code and 9 months in another NOC code? I can’t find the answer on the IRCC website.
ANSWER
This is a good question. Many people confuse the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
Unlike the requirements for the FSW program, which state that the minimum qualifying experience must be continuous and in the same National Occupational Classification (NOC), the work performed to qualify for the CEC does not need to meet either of those requirements. "Applicants do not have to be employed at the time of application, but they must have temporary status during the qualifying period of work experience acquired in Canada [R87.1(3)(c)]." As a result, you can use non-continuous eligible work experience to meet the minimum CEC requirements and this experience can be in more than one NOC.
The sections from the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that apply to both programs have been reproduced below.
In the case of the Canadian Experience Class, the Regulations state that:
87.1 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the Canadian experience class is prescribed as a class of persons who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada, their experience in Canada, and their intention to reside in a province other than the Province of Quebec.
Member of the class
(2) A foreign national is a member of the Canadian experience class if
(a) they have acquired in Canada, within the three years before the date on which their application for permanent residence is made, at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work experience, in one or more occupations that are listed in Skill Type 0 Management Occupations or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification matrix, exclusive of restricted occupations; and
(b) during that period of employment, they performed the actions described in the lead statement for the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification
(c) during that period of employment they performed a substantial number of the main duties of the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification, including all of the essential duties;
(d) they have had their proficiency in the English or French language evaluated by an organization or institution that is designated under subsection 74(3) using a language test that is approved under that subsection, the results of which must indicate that the foreign national has met the applicable threshold that is fixed by the Minister under subsection 74(1) for each of the four language skill areas; and
(e) in the case where they have acquired the work experience referred to in paragraph (a) in more than one occupation, they meet the threshold for proficiency in the English or French language, fixed by the Minister under subsection 74(1), for the occupation in which they have acquired the greater amount of work experience in the three years referred to in paragraph (a).
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