The Canadian government launched new programs to allow skilled foreign workers to gain entry into Canada much more rapidly than ever before. The programs work by allowing employers and government officers to choose immigrants based on their skill set and on Canada's needs. Under the Skilled Foreign Worker program, prospective immigrants would apply to express their interest in coming to Canada by answering a series of questions about their professional skills, education, languages spoken etc.
Federal Skilled Worker Program
- Express Entry - Permanent Residence - Federal Skilled Worker Applications
The system would then match the skills of the prospective immigrants with the labour requirements as identified by the provinces, territories and employers. On finding a suitable match, the immigration authorities would offer Express Entry to a prospective immigrant.
The minimum requirements for the Federal Skilled Worker category are as follows:
- must be at least one year (1,560 hours) of work in your field
- It must be paid
- It has to be in the same NOC skill type (0, A or B)
- Your experience must have occurred in the past ten years
- It must meet the skill type or levels according to the NOC or National Occupational Classification of 2011
CHECK YOUR EXPRESS ENTRY SCORE
Federal Skilled Trades Program
- Express Entry- Permanent Residence - Federal Skilled Trades Applications
The Canadian government created the Federal Skilled Trades program for those seeking to become permanent residents based on their qualifications in a specific skilled trade. There are minimum requirements that must be met:
- No plans to live in the province of Quebec as it does not use this system
- Language skills at the necessary levels
- Two full years of full-time experience in a skilled trade
- An offer of full-time employment must be made (for at least one year of employment) or a "certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial or territorial authority" must be available
- The job must meet the criteria for skilled trades as laid out by the NOC (these are 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 related production; Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors and central control operators; Minor Group 632, chefs and cooks; and Minor Group 633, butchers and bakers)
Global Skills Visa
The Global Skills Visa is a new work stream established by IRCC which allows certain highly-skilled foreign nationals to obtain priority processing with a target of two-weeks to obtain their Work Permits. This is a new strategy aimed at helping employers get the high-skilled workers they require. The stream delivers three benefits:
- 80% of work permit applications will be processed within two weeks of submission
- Work Permit exemptions will be granted to highly-skilled workers on short-term work assignments - these exemptions will also cover researchers involved in short-term research projects in Canada
- Provision of a dedicated service channel for companies intent on large job-creating investments in Canada
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