Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program is designed to allow international students and temporary foreign workers who have one year of work in Canada to apply to become Permanent Residents of Canada. From January 1, 2015, you will need to qualify fully in this program, and also apply in the Express Entry (EE) protocol. This is different than in prior years, when you were allowed to apply directly into the CEC program. Now you must compete with a broad range of candidates in other programs where you will be ranked and selected and then invited to apply. Having a perfect first step application is now essential to even be chosen for the second round where only then will you be allowed to apply for permanent residence.

The Canadian Experience Class should be of interest to any temporary Foreign Worker in Canada now, or international student who has studied here and worked in Canada for one year after graduating. For international students who are soon to graduate, at this stage in your Canadian Immigration journey, it is important that you make the right career choices, and to understand the recent changes to the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program that show there are more changes to come that may impact your ability to qualify in future. You will need to understand the next most important step, that of choosing the right job in the right NOC (National Occupation Code) level, and to take the correct language proficiency test. Also, if you need to potentially extend your work permit by having your employer ‘sponsor’ you in the LMIA process, you will need to know what your employer should be aware of in advance, so that they will be willing to help you.

If you have already worked in Canada for one year, or will come up to that date within the next few months, you may qualify now.

80% of our recent inquiries in this category are all reapplications, where the client filed on their own and was refused on the smallest of technicality for a detail they missed. You cannot afford to have this happen to you, especially since being disqualified in the EE round will then prevent you from applying again for a full year, or worse, see you banned from applying for 5 years if CIC feels you misrepresented any important fact.

I invite you to consider calling us and booking a detailed consultation with us, to see if you can qualify now.

We will be glad to assess your qualifications for immigrating to Canada in this category. Kindly fill out the Canadian Experience Class Assessment Form, and we will get back to you shortly with our assessment, and an invitation to meet with us. All inquiries are confidential.

You can also call us to set up an in office consultation, or for those not near our offices, we can book a phone or Skype consultation as well. I hope we will get a chance to meet soon in person or phone, and look forward to being of service to you in making your immigration journey a success.

CEC Highlights

Here is a brief summary of what you need to know in the CEC program:

You have worked in an occupation in the NOC 0, A or B categories for at least one year in the past 3
You must qualify fully in this program based on your Canadian education and or work history in a qualifying occupation
You must have your English or French Language proficiency test done and completed, with scores (not older than 2 years from application date) in hand
You must not have any serious health issues, or a criminal record that would make you inadmissible to Canada
If you are chosen in the EE protocol, you will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) and you will have exactly 60 days to submit a complete perfected application and all supporting documents
Having one qualifying year of Canadian work experience and applying for EE does not mean you will be chosen, as you will be ranked among ALL of the applicants who have entered the EE pool, and those with the highest CRS scores will be chosen first
You may have to have your Education Credentials Assessment done in future, prior to applying, and this has not been formalized as a requirement as yet

Canadian Experience Class Assessment Form

Here is a small selection from our many thank-you letters.

“What I want to convey to you as a prospective client of F-W is that you need an expert in your corner because you never know what lies ahead. Why ever would you look elsewhere?”

Tim L