The Canadian experience has great worth in terms of getting permanent residency. Making the most of Canadian experience can help your as a skilled worker or graduate pathways to PR in Canada. This could be possible through temporarily introduced PR stream, provincial nominee programs, and Canada experience class.
Experience in Canada has always been beneficial when applying for permanent residency. This is much more important as Canada has closed its border to non-essential foreign travel due to the Coronavirus. As a result, until regular travel returns, Canada will concentrate much of its immigration efforts on temporary residents already in the country. IRCC is regularly engaged in exploring different immigration pathways to permanent residence in Canada.
Here we will discuss some of the important immigration streams for PR that help in currently on a big deal.
1- Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
The CEC is a long-running government immigration programme aimed at attracting and retaining people who have already lived and worked in Canada in a skilled occupation. Candidates must have one year of skilled (NOC 0, A, or B) work experience in Canada within the previous three years, as well as moderate to high English proficiency, depending on the type of occupation. To be eligible, you do not need to have a job.
Eligibility criteria for CEC
Following are the major requirements for the CEC program:
- Canadian work experience
- Language proficiency
- Your education
- Your settlement location in Canada
- Admissibility
The Express Entry system is in charge of the CEC, which is designed to process most complete applications in six months or fewer. Express Entry ranks candidates using a grid known as the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and those with the highest scores receive Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for Canadian permanent residency on a regular basis. Having a job offer, a high level of English or French fluency, an advanced educational degree, and more years of work or educational experience in Canada can all help you increase your score. You can read here all details about this program.
Conditions under you are not eligible for the Canadian Experience Class
You are not allowed to apply for this PR program if:
- Your job is unauthorized
- You have obtained working experience without a temporary resident status
- You are an asylum claimant in Canada
2- Temporary PR streams (the new 6 programs)
Due to the issues of travel restrictions, Canada has been unable to allow most of the foreigners during last one years’ time. The solution to some extent of this issue has been found to some extent. Canada introduced a new temporary public policy that allowed 90,000 temporary foreign workers to apply for permanent residency during May and November 2021. The essential workers, international student graduates, and French speakers will be able to apply under the stream through 6 PR programs.
The focus of this new pathway would be on temporary workers employed in Canadian hospitals and long-term care homes (40 occupations) and on the frontlines of other essential sectors (95 occupations), as well as international graduates who are driving the economy. In general, to be eligible, workers must have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience in a healthcare profession or another pre-approved essential occupation. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last 4 years and no earlier than January 2017.
3- Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
There are 10 Canadian provinces, with three territories to the north. The provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. PNP currently has about 80 unique streams in the participating provinces and territories. Except for Quebec, a person who is nominated via a federal immigration program can settle in any province or territory in Canada. Aside from the federal and Quebec programs, there is a slew of Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) that allow governments to nominate people for immigration to their jurisdiction.
How the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) works?
Each province and territory has its own “streams” (immigration programs that target certain groups) and requirements. For example, in a program stream, provinces and territories may target:
- students
- business people
- skilled workers
- semi-skilled workers
The PNP works for those who:
- want to live in that province
- want to become permanent residents of Canada
- have the skills, education, and work experience to contribute to the economy of a specific province or territory
The Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS) is a programme for those who are already employed in the province. You must be employed in an appropriate occupation and demonstrate that you will continue to do so. Alberta mentions occupations that are not qualified, but it does not give a list of occupations that are.
For its Employer Job Offer Category, Ontario has implemented an Expression of Interest (EOI) system. Although it is not required for the programme, domestic experience is worth more points on the EOI scoring grid.
Several PNPs, like the CEC, are aligned with Express Entry and the programmes it handles. “Enhanced” programmes are PNPs that are linked to the Express Entry system. In the CRS system, a nomination from an improved PNP earns a candidate 600 additional points out of a possible 1,200. As a result, receiving a nomination from an upgraded programme increases the chances of receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residence. You may find all details of this program here.
4- Quebec immigration program
Quebec manages its own immigration schemes for economic reasons. Many of these programs are structured and formatted similarly to those offered by the federal government, with an emphasis on French language skills. A Quebec Experience Class, for example, comprises sub-streams for those with competent work experience in the province and recent graduates of Quebec post-secondary schools. You can read here all details of the Quebec immigration program.
The factors and criteria considered
Candidates are assessed against certain criteria which could be summarised as follows:
Your training (level of education and area of training). Only diplomas obtained before the submission of your application are considered in the attribution of points for the Education Level criterion;
- knowledge of French and English
- stays in Québec and family relationship with a Canadian citizen or a permanent Québec resident
- work experience
- having a permanent employment offer validated by the Ministère
- age
- characteristics of your accompanying spouse or de facto spouse, if applicable
- other factors, including the number of children under the age of 22 who will be accompanying you to Québec
- capacity for financial self-sufficiency (you must sign a contract in which you undertake to provide for your needs and your family’s needs for at least the first three months following your arrival in Québec).