THE FEDERAL SKILLED WORKER (FSW) PROGRAM

15/12/2021

Immigration program for foreign workers who have at least 1 year of qualified and paid international professional experience.

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS:

This program has minimum requirements for:

skilled work experience
language ability
education

You must meet all the minimum requirements to be eligible.

SELECTION FACTORS:

If you meet all of the minimum requirements, we will assess your request based on:

your age
your studies
your work experience
whether or not you have a valid job offer
your language skills in French or English
your adaptability (how well you can settle in Canada)

These factors are part of a 100-point grid used to assess eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. You can get points for each of the six criteria.

The current pass mark is 67 points.

UNDERSTAND THE CRITERIA POINTS OF THE SELECTION FACTORS

The immigration uses the selection criteria points to assess your eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Once you are registered in the Express Entry pool, the IRCC uses a system to rank your profile.
They select the candidates from the pool with the highest scores and invite them to apply for permanent residence.

See below how this score is distributed:

FSW MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Qualified work experience

Qualified work experience means that you have held a job in one of the following job groups from the National Occupational Classification (NOC):

Management positions (TEER 0)
Professional positions (TEER 1)
Technical or skilled trades jobs ( TEER 2 or 3 )

You must show that, as part of your primary occupation, you performed at least 60% of the duties listed in the primary statement of the NOC occupation description. These include all essential functions and most of the main functions listed.

Your skilled work experience must:

have been acquired in the same type of job (have the same NOC- TEER designation) as the job you want to use for your immigration application (called your main occupation);
have been acquired within the last 10 years;
come from paid work (in other words, you must have received a salary or a commission = volunteering or unpaid internships do not count);
have at least 1 year of continuous work or 1,560 hours in total (30 hours per week) = you can meet this requirement in different ways:
- full-time in 1 job: 30 hours per week for 12 months = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours)
- same duration part-time: for example 15 hours per week for 24 months = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours)
  - You can work as many part-time jobs as you need to meet this requirement.
- full-time in more than one job: 30 hours per week for 12 months in more than one job = 1 year full-time (1,560 hours).
- The IRCC does not count the hours worked beyond 30 hours per week.

Finding Your NOC:
Be sure to make a list of your roles and do a search to identify your NOC at https://noc.esdc.gc.ca/ .
Attention: To find out your updated TEER code, remember to select the NOC 2021 category.

Language skills

You will need to take an English and/or French test, in order to find out your level of the language in the following components :

writing
reading
oral comprehension
oral expression

There are four Canadian government-accepted language proficiency testing organizations:

For English: CELPIP General or IELTS General
For French: TEF or TCF

And to be eligible you will need to obtain a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of 7 for the four skills previously mentioned.

Do you speak French and English? Great!
For those who take the proficiency test in both languages, it is possible to earn up to 50 additional points in their express entry profile.

Importante Remind: Your language tests are valid for two years from the date of the test result. They must be valid on the day of the application for permanent residence.

Education

To be eligible to apply for the FSW, you must also demonstrate your level of education.

If you have studied abroad (out of Canada), you must have:

A full credential (diploma/Certificate + final transcript)
An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes from a designated institution, showing that your education equals a completed certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian institution of secondary (high school) or post-secondary institution.

In addition, if you graduated from an secondary education (high school) or post-secondary institution in Canada,
you may have your express entry profile score favored with an increase of points..

Proof of funds

You must show that you have sufficient funds to settle in Canada with your family , unless:

You have the right to work legally in Canada at the time of your application
You have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada

The amount of money you will need to support your family depends on the size of the family. To calculate the size of your family, you must include:

yourself;
your spouse or partner;
your dependent children;
dependent children of your spouse or partner.

You must include your spouse or dependent children even if:

they are permanent residents or Canadian citizens;
they don’t come to Canada with you.

This table shows the minimum amount you need to immigrate to Canada as of June 9, 2022. If you have more money, you should list the full amount in your profile or application.

ADMISSIBILITY

You must be admissible to enter Canada .

Meaning of inadmissibility

Normally, when someone is inadmissible to Canada, you will not be allowed to enter the country.
They are said to be “inadmissible” under the law governing immigration to Canada.
There are several reasons why a person might be banned from entering Canada , for example, security, legal and medical reasons.

STILL GOT QUESTION?

Book an appointment with our Regulated Consultant to assess your chances of immigrating through the Federal Skilled Worker.
Follow our youtube channel and our social networks, where we post daily content about immigration, with tips, clarifications and news from the Government of Canada.
See also the comparison between the 3 Express Entry programs here
Click here to read the full article about the Federal Skilled Trades program
Click here to read the full article about the Canadian Experience Class