Skilled Worker / Independent Class Federal Program

Permanent Resident Canada | Immigration To Canada

Canada’s Federal Immigration Program - Canada’s Point System For Immigration

Under Canada’s immigration selection point system an applicant must attain a specific number of points based on several selection criteria including: education, work experience, intended occupation, language skills, age and personal suitability. Applicants must presently score a minimum of 67 points.

Recent Changes to Canada’s Federal Immigration Program

Canada's guidelines for the admission of Skilled Professionals for permanent residence are reviewed on an annual basis, and were revised most recently on July 1, 2011. The changes include a list of eligible occupations that is reviewed every year, annual limits to the number of applications to be processed in the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) class, as well as a mandatory requirement of official language proficiency.

New Cap for Federal Skilled Worker Applications

In an effort to reduce backlog and increase processing times in 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada implemented a cap in the number of applications it would process each year under the Federal Skilled worker category. Specifically, CIC accepted a maximum of 20,000 complete applications under the Federal Skilled Worker category, and no more than 1,000 applications under each occupation for the period from June 26, 2010 to June 30, 2011. Effective July 1, 2011, this cap has changed. Now, a maximum of 10,000 federal skilled worker applications will be considered for processing in the next 12 month-period. Within this cap, a maximum of only 500 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing. The cap in certain categories can be reached very quickly, and to this end, it is crucial that qualified applicants act fast and contact our law firm to have their application submitted as soon as possible. No change has been made to Federal Skilled worker applications with an offer of arranged employment, where there is no cap.

How Do The New Ministerial Guidelines For Canadian Permanent Residence Impact My Application?

The new ministerial guidelines apply to applications received by the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) on or after June 26, 2010. There are now only two categories under the Federal Skilled Worker program: 1. Applications submitted with an Arranged Employment Offer (AEO) that meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) section 82(2); and/or 2. Applications submitted based on at least 1 year of continuous work experience in the previous 10 years under one or more of the following 29 National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes:

• 0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
• 0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
• 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
• 1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
• 2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
• 2151 Architects
• 3111 Specialist Physicians
• 3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
• 3113 Dentists
• 3131 Pharmacists
• 3142 Physiotherapists
• 3152 Registered Nurses
• 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
• 3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
• 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
• 4151 Psychologists
• 4152 Social Workers
• 6241 Chefs
• 6242 Cooks
• 7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
• 7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
• 7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
• 7242 Industrial Electricians
• 7251 Plumbers
• 7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
• 7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
• 7371 Crane Operators
• 7372 Drillers & Blasters ¬ Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
• 8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service/

Note: As of June 26, 2010, the stream for temporary foreign workers and international students living in Canada for one year no longer exists.

Applications Submitted With Arranged Employment:

Generally speaking, arranged employment means an offer of "indeterminate employment in Canada." This may apply if a foreign national is currently in Canada working with valid authorization or if they hold an Arranged Employment Opinion issued by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Arranged Employment Opinions do not authorize Foreign Nationals to work and are issued for the purpose of applying for Canadian Permanent Residence under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

An Arranged Employment Opinion is based on the following factors:

• The job offer is permanent
• The job offer is genuine
• The wages and working conditions offered are comparable to those offered to other Canadians working in that occupation; and The employment is full-time and not seasonal.

Applications Submitted Under One of the 29 Listed Occupations:

When submitting applications under one of the listed occupations the following restrictions apply:

• A maximum of 10,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be processed each year with a maximum of 500 Federal Skilled Worker applications per National Occupation Classification (NOC) code within the list of 29 occupations;
• These annual caps do not apply to Federal Skilled Worker applications with an Arranged Employment Offer;
• The first year under these new regulations commences on June 26, 2010 and ends on June 30, 2011. Subsequent years will be calculated from July 1 to June 30; and
• All applicants must submit language test results from a third-party language testing agency designated by the Minister of Citizenship as per CIC website. This applies to all applicants including those whose first language is English, such as individuals born in the UK or USA.