The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for skilled workers who want to become permanent residents on the basis of being qualified in skilled trades. The Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program is one of three federal immigration programs administered through the Express Entry System.
If you are a professional in skilled trades and desire to become a permanent resident of Canada, the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) is probably the right choice for you. You must meet all the needs of the Federal skilled trades program. Like all express entry programs, the FST uses the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to rank candidates who are interested in competing with each other, with only competitive candidates applying for permanent residency in Canada.
Eligibility criteria
The eligibility criteria can be divided into the following points :
- Skilled work experience
- Language proficiency
- Educational qualification
- settlement funds
- Your accommodation in Canada
- Admissibility in Canada
- Assessment by Canadian territory or province
Skilled work experience
You need a job offer of full-time employment for a length of 12 months period plus a certificate of your qualification in the specific skill trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority. A full-time working experience minimum of 24 months or an equal amount of part-time work experience in a skilled trade in five years before the submission of your application. Regarding skilled work experience, you must show that you performed the job duties set out in the lead statement of the occupation description in the National Occupation Classification. This consists of the essential duties and most of the main duties listed. you will be refused if you fail to show that your experience meets the description in the NOC. Skilled trades for the Federal Skilled Trades Program are organized under these types of the National Occupational Classification NOC:
Major groups
- Major Group 72, industrial, electrical, and construction trades
- Major Group 73, maintenance and equipment operation trades
- Major Group 82, supervisor and technical jobs in natural resources agriculture and related production
- Major Group 92, processing manufacturing and utility supervisor and central control, operators
Minor Group
- Minor Group 632, chefs and cooks
- Minor Group 633, backers and butchers
Language proficiency
You can earn 28 points for your language talent in English and French. You are awarded points based on your potential. You will be assessed against your score against Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. You have to obtain at least a score of Canadian Language Benchmark 5 for speaking and listening and Canadian Language Benchmark 4 for reading and writing.
You can get up to 50 additional marks for strong French language skills it does not matter if this is your second language. The additional points can be gained as under:
- if you get NCLC 7 or more in reading, writing, speaking, and listening each you can obtain: 50 additional marks
- if you scored CLB 5 or more on all four English fields 25 additional marks
Programs that use to judge your language level are:
- CLNC for French Niveaux de competence Linguistique
- Canadien CLB for English Canadian language Benchmark
You must have a minimum level of CLB 7 or NCLC 7 for the first official language in all 4 language skills to score a maximum of 24 points. Here are the details of the points table:
| for first official language | for second official language | |
| Language name | the lowest level for 4 language abilities | the lowest level for 4 language abilities |
| French | NCLC7 | NCLC5 |
| English | CLB7 | CLB5 |
| Language name | skills | the lowest level for 4 language abilities |
| French | Reading and Writing | NCLC 4 |
| French | Speaking and Listening | NCLC 5 |
| English | Reading and Writing | CLB 4 |
| English | Speaking and Listening | CLB 5 |
Education requirements
You are exempt from the educational requirements for the Federal Skilled Trades Program. In case you want to improve your rank in the Express Entry Pool see the following two points:
1– If you go to school in Canada, you can earn points for a certificate, diploma, or degree from Canada: Secondary school (high school) or Post Secondary Institution Or
2– If you have foreign education, you can earn points for a full academic certificate, if you have an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report for immigration purposes from a designated organization that shows this. Whether your education is equivalent to a full certificate, diploma, or degree from Canada: Secondary school (high school) or Post Secondary Institution. You must include your ECA report and reference number in your acceptance entry profile.
Evidence of your funds
Proof of funds is how you show that you have enough money to live in Canada. If you are invited to apply, you will need to provide written proof that you have the money. How much money you need to support your family depends on the size of your family as follows:
| your family members | financial requirement (in Canadian currency) |
| 1 | 12960 $ |
| 2 | 16135 $ |
| 3 | 19836 $ |
| 4 | 24083 $ |
| 5 | 27315 $ |
| 6 | 30806 $ |
| 7 | 34299 $ |
| for each additional family member | 3492 $ |
When you arrive in Canada, you must tell the Border Officer if you have brought more than 10,000 AN to Canada. If you don’t tell them, you could be fined, and your funds could be confiscated. The proofs of funds include: Cash Documents that show the property or capital payable to you, such as: stocks, bonds, debentures, treasury bills. Documents that guarantee the payment of a certain amount of money, which are payable to you, such as: banker drafts, checks, money orders, passenger checks. To be eligible, you will need to update your settlement fund numbers in your Express Entry profile.
Your accommodation in Canada
You must plan to live outside the province of Quebec. The province of Quebec selects its skilled workers on its own stream. When you fill out your profile, you’ll be asked, where you plan to live in which province. If you are a provincial nominee, you must reside in the province or region that nominated you.
Admissibility
You should be admissible to Canada. Some people are not allowed to come to Canada. They are “unacceptable” under Canadian immigration law. The Canadian Immigration Officer will determine if you can enter Canada when you:
- Apply for a visa or electronic travel authority (ETA)
- When you arrive at the entry port
There are various motives why you may now not be allowed to enter Canada, such as security, criminal or medical reasons. If you have been convicted or convicted of a crime, you have some choices to remove the criminal disability.
Be assessed by your territory or province
You have to go to the province or region to evaluate your trade. You may need an employer in Canada to give you experience and training. The following website of each province and territories can be found below for in-depth details:
- Alberta
- British Columbia
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Nunavut
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Saskatchewan
- Yukon