Skilled Workers

Federal Skilled Worker applications are assessed based on an applicant's ability to become economically established upon immigration to Canada. All the information you need to apply as a federal skilled worker is here. Note: The province of Quebec is responsible for selecting its own skilled workers.

The rules for applying as a Federal Skilled Worker can change from time to time without notice, so make sure you visit this site regularly if you are considering immigrating to Canada under this category. Federal skilled worker applications are assessed for eligibility according to the criteria set out below.

CIC will only process your Federal Skilled Workers (FSW) application if you have:

• at least one year of continuous and paid (full-time or an equal amount in part-time) work experience in a single occupation,
• within the last 10 years,
• at skill type 0, or skill levels A or B of the 2011 edition of the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC), and who:
  
  1. have this work experience in one of the eligible occupations, OR
  2. have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
  3. are an international student who is enrolled in a PhD program in Canada (or who graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months) and meet these criteria.

AND

You meet all the minimum requirements below.

Work Experience

If your application is eligible to be processed, we will then assess it to see if your work experience is valid.

Your work experience must be:

• for at least one year in the same occupation,
• continuous and paid (full-time or an equal amount in part-time),
• within the last 10 years,

AND

• skill type 0 (managerial occupations) or
• skill level A (professional occupations) or
• skill level B (technical occupations and skilled trades)

on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) list.

(The National Occupational Classification is a system used to classify jobs in Canada.)

Language Ability

You must meet minimum language levels and include the results of a language test from an agency approved by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) when you apply that shows you meet the minimum language requirement of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7.

Education

You must have:

• a Canadian diploma, certificate, or credential

AND/OR

• a foreign educational credential, and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) by an agency approved by CIC to show it is equal to a completed Canadian secondary or post-secondary educational credential.

About the Application Cap

Due to the large number of applications CIC gets, they will only consider a limited number of applications per year. Between May 4, 2013, and April 30, 2014, they will consider no more than 5,000 complete FSW applications for processing. Within the 5,000 cap, they will consider no more than 300 applications per eligible occupation for processing within this same time frame.

This does not apply if you:

• have a valid offer of arranged employment, or
• are applying under the PhD stream (there is a cap of 1,000 applications in this stream, from May 4, 2013 to April 30, 2014).

Six Selection Factors

If you meet all the conditions set out in sections A and B above, we will process your application based on the six selection factors in the skilled worker points grid. They are:

• your skills in English and/or French, Canada's two official languages,
• your education,
• your work experience,
• your age,
• whether you have arranged employment in Canada, and
• your adaptability (how well you are likely to settle here).

Click here to read more in detail about the six selection factors

Proof of funds

You must also show that you have enough money to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada.

Inadmissibility

Some people are inadmissible-they are not allowed to come to Canada. Several things can make you inadmissible, including being involved in:

• crime, or
• human rights violations.

You can also be inadmissible for:

• security,
• health,
• financial reasons, or
• other reasons.