Immigration program for foreign workers who have at least 2 years of international and/or Canadian work experience in certain roles that require technical and specialized knowledge, listed as “Skilled Trades”, during the 5 years prior to their application.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS:
This program has minimum requirements for:
- Qualified work experience in Skilled Trade
- Language skill
- Technical graduation
You must meet all minimum requirements to be eligible.
SELECTION FACTORS:
If you meet all of the minimum requirements, immigration will evaluate your application based on:
- Work experience
- Technical knowledge
- Language skills
- Have a full job offer, valid for a total period of at least 1 year; or
- Have a Canadian provincial/federal qualification certificate.
UNDERSTAND THE SELECTION FACTOR SCORE
Immigration uses the Express Entry system to assess your eligibility and invite the highest ranked applicants from the pool to apply for permanent residency.
See below how this score is distributed:
FST MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Qualified work experience
- Have at least 2 years of full-time work experience (or equal period of part-time work experience) in a Skilled Trade in the 5 years prior to your application
- Have a valid full-time job offer for a total period of at least 1 year or a certificate of qualification in one of the Skilled Trades, issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
- Your work experience must be for paid work (paid wages or commission earned – voluntary work or unpaid internships do not count)
- Meet the job requirements for that Skilled Trade as set out in the National Occupation Classification, except for the need for a certificate of qualification.
Skilled Trade Occupations
Work experience in a skilled trade under key groups of TEER 2 or TEER 3:
- Major Group 72, technical trades and transportation officers and controllers, excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers
- Major Group 73, general trades
- Major Group 82, supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production
- Major Group 83, occupations in natural resources and related production
- Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers
- Major Group 93, central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors
- Minor Group 6320, cooks, butchers and bakers
- Unit Group 62200, chefs
You must show that you performed the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC.
This includes all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
If you don’t show that your experience meets the description in the NOC, IRCC will refuse your application.
The work experience only counts after you are qualified to independently practice the occupation.
Education
There is no education requirement for the Federal Skilled Trades Program. But, if you want to improve your rank in the Express Entry pool, there are 2 ways you can do this.
- If you went to school in Canada, you can get points for a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:
- secondary institution (high school) or
- post-secondary institution or
- If you have foreign education, you can get points for a completed educational credential, if you have an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report for immigration purposes from a designated organization showing that your education is equal to a completed certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:
- secondary institution (high school) or
- post-secondary institution
Language Ability
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
- Listening (oral comprehension)
- Speaking (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 score of Canadian Language Benchmark 5 for speaking and listening,
and Canadian Language Benchmark 4 for reading and writing.
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.
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.
The following 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 QUESTIONS?
- Book an appointment with us 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 Worker program
- Click here to read the full article about the Canadian Experience Class
