The Canadian Experience Class is one of several options available to foreign nationals already in Canada and who are wanting to become Canadian permanent residents.
This particular option is available for persons who are already in Canada who are working on a work permit. There are a few eligibility criteria that you will have to meet in order to qualify under the Canadian Experience Class option. First of all, you naturally must have been working in Canada legally for at least one year in the last three years and this work could have been full-time work or it could have been part-time work. The type of work that you must have been doing is also going to be important and generally must fit into one of three job categories.
Eligible NOC codes
The government of Canada categorizes jobs under a National Classification System. Within this system, each job is assigned National Occupational Classification (NOC) code. There are three skill types that fall within this occupational classification system that would be eligible under the Canadian Experience Class. The first skill type or work area is what’s known as the NOC 0. These are really management type jobs. Persons currently working in Canada as IT managers, marketing managers, senior managers in all the capacities typically fall within the NOC 0 job type and would have met the eligibility criteria as far as the type of work that they would have been doing in Canada is concerned.
The second category of persons who would qualify are persons who fall into the NOC A type. This type of jobs typically requires a first degree and are usually completed by professionals. Persons who are in the IT industry, an IT architect, somebody who is a business analyst or an engineer or a registered nurse, or any other professional type job that requires that minimum of first degree, would typically fall into a NOC A category and would therefore also be eligible under the Canadian Experience Class. The third category is made up of duties that fall under the NOC B category. Now, NOC B type jobs carried out by persons who are typically skilled in hands-on type work. Persons who pursue jobs in the trades, persons who typically have a college diploma or some kind of apprenticeship designation, those types of jobs typically fall within a NOC-B job category.
English or French proficiency
Generally, applicants for Canadian permanent residency are required to meet a minimum language proficiency level in either English or French. The extent of your ability to speak in either English or French is going to be measured depending on the category within which you fall. However, the critical thing to know is that meeting the minimum language requirement is also an important element of the Canadian Experience Class process. So those are the critical qualifying criteria for you to apply for the Canadian Experience Class Program. It is important to understand that the selection process for the Canadian Experience Class Program happens under what’s known as Express Entry. You can think of Express Entry as really being some kind of a pool into which people who meet the basic eligibility for Canadian permanent residency are put. This is followed by a sifting process.
This sifting process is done by assigning points based on how well you have ranked and how well you’ve done in such things as your language tests, whether or not you have a job offer among other factors. The highest scoring applicants are selected from that pool. Persons who are applying under the Canadian Experience Class Program would have been pulled from the express entry pool. Therefore, part of the requirement for the Canadian Experience Class Program is that you must first apply to get put into the Express Entry pool. It is only after being put into the Express Entry pool that you would be eligible to receive an invitation to apply under the Canadian Experience Class stream.
How long is the processing time?
Approximately 80% of applications made under this stream are processed within six or so months. However, you must bear in mind that processing times will vary depending on the volume of work that the immigration authorities have or depending on the situation at the time of processing. It’s important to note that there is no requirement for proof of funds under the Canadian Experience Class Program. Generally, persons applying under some of the other channels such as the skilled worker channel are required to show that they have enough money to maintain themselves in Canada typically for six or so months
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