The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) Program
Each year, Canada offers thousands of temporary residents the chance to realize their dreams of securing Permanent Residence (PR) through the trades and education they have acquired during their time in Canada. Accordingly, any foreign worker living in Canada and having at least 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada within the last 3 years, or its equivalent in part-time work is eligible to apply for PR under the CEC program.
This is an attractive PR gateway for foreign students who have undergone college education in Canada and are now gainfully employed. All they must do is ensure that their work experience falls skill types ‘0’, ‘A’ or ‘B’ or skilled trades of the government-designated listing of occupations in Canada – the National Occupation Code (NOC).
In addition, the applicant must demonstrate sufficient proficiency in either English or French by appearing for a language test.
How we can help with this process
Just like the other Express Entry options, the CEC program is designed to be a fast, online process. The CEC program rewards applicants who have already started their life in Canada. You can be one of these lucky individuals, but you must be diligent and careful when you trace your steps in the application process.
Our immigration experts have helped countless applicants in navigating their way through the CEC process towards successfully obtaining PR. We will professionally apply our expertise to assess your case and recommend the best course of action. Rest assured that our competent and licenced experts will deal with your queries and issues in a timely and cost-effective fashion.
A few CEC FAQs
We possess vast experience in helping applicants towards their goal of securing PR through the CEC program route. Some common queries that our clients come to us with are:
Well, the short answer is ‘no’. Only work experience gained under temporary resident status with authorization to work can be counted.
We all know how COVID has disrupted people’s lives but the program’s eligibility for work experience remains unchanged. So, if you have not worked in Canada for the last 12 months, you are not eligible. If, however, this gap in work experience is less than the last 12 months, you can apply – even from your home country!
Apprenticeships undergone before graduation are not considered for the simple reason that they formed part of the course pedagogy. You will have to demonstrate eligible skilled work experience gained after graduation.
Hard luck! They cannot, because the CEC program currently is only restricted to work experience in the skill types ‘0’, ‘A’ and ‘B’.
Did you know?
If you have qualifying skilled experience in the skill types ‘C’ and ‘D’ categories, you can still apply for PNP if matching nomination streams open. Get in touch with our immigration experts to know more about how you can get this attractive gateway to Canadian PR open up for you!