Our overview to what the Canadian Experience Class immigration program is and how you can use it to immigrate to Canada and become a permanent resident.
What is Canadian Experience Class (CEC)?
Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is the immigration program you can apply to for Canadian Permanent Residency if you already have at least one year of Canadian skilled work experience. It is one of three immigration programs managed by the Express Entry mechanism.
How do I immigrate to Canada using the CEC?
You can apply on CEC if you meet the requirements of the program which are laid out below.
If you do meet the requirements of CEC you can apply to immigrate using this program through the Express Entry mechanism. Express Entry is how the Canadian Federal Government manages applications for permanent residency in Canada from skilled workers – including CEC.
Work experience requirements for CEC
Type of work
Work experience must be in Canada to be eligible and fall into one of three categories:
- Managerial jobs
- Professional jobs
- Technical jobs and skilled trades.
Immigration, Refuge and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) use a categorisation called National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes to specify exactly which jobs would be acceptable under each of these categories.
NOC codes with skill type 0, skill level A and skill level B are accepted under Canadian Experience Class. You can find out what the NOC code for your work experience is here.
You must have gained your work experience by working in Canada while under temporary resident status with authorization to work.
In addition, self-employment and work experience gained while you were a full-time student (even if you were on a co-op work term) doesn’t count towards the minimum requirements for the Canadian Experience Class Program.
Keep in mind that as part of the Express Entry process, you will have to provide detailed reference letters listing your job responsibilities. These will need to meet the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC. This includes all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
So don’t be tempted to stretch your experience to fit a NOC that it doesn’t – all that will happen is your application will get rejected a few months down the line.
Length of experience
Your work experience must be at least 1 year paid work within the past 3 years. 1 year here means 1,560 hours total. The required amount of hours could be made up in different ways, for example:
- One full time job for a year (30 hours a week for 12 months)
- A part time job which adds up to 1,560 hours (e.g. 15 hours/week for 24 months)
- More than one part time job which adds up to 1,560 hours.
Any hours you work over 30 a week don’t count towards the 1,560 total.
Education requirements for CEC
There are no minimum educational requirements for Canadian Experience Class.
However you want to try and get as high a Comprehensive Ranking System Score (CRS) as possible, so you should add any qualifications you have from secondary institutions (high school) or post-secondary institutions.
If the qualification is not from a Canadian institution then you will need to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to prove that your qualification is valid and equal to a Canadian one.
There are a few organizations approved by IRCC to do the ECA but the most common is World Education Services (WES) who we used for our application.
Language requirements for CEC
You have to sit tests to prove your language skills meet a certain level for either English or French (or both). The tests cover writing, reading, listening and speaking.
Everyone needs to sit the tests, even if your first language is French or English and you have to arrange and pay for the language tests yourself with one of the IRCC approved language tests.
You can check what score you need to get here.
- For NOC 0 or A jobs you need to have a generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings.
- For NOC B jobs you need to have a partial command of the language and cope with overall meaning in most situations, although likely to make many mistakes.
Settlement funds requirements for CEC
Unlike both the Federal Skilled Workers and Federal Skilled Trades programs, you do not need to show proof of enough money to get settled in Canada.
Additional Requirements for CEC
You must not have an underlying health condition that would cause too much demand on health or social services in Canada. Get more information on this here.
You also cannot have a criminal record. Unless you can show rehabilitation.
Should I apply using the Federal Skilled Workers Program or Canadian Experience Class?
You might be in the position where you are eligible for both Federal Skilled Workers and Canadian Experience Class and asking which one is better.
Both programs award Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for skilled work experience but with the Canadian Experience Class you get up to 70 point for your Canadian work experience whereas with FSW, the maximum you can get for work experience alone is 50.
However, you don’t really need to worry about selecting the best program because the Express Entry system will automatically select the program that will get you the most point based on the information (education, work experience etc.) you provide in your Express Entry profile.
What is the difference between CEC and Express Entry?
Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is a Canadian immigration program you can apply to for permanent residency of Canada. Express Entry is not an immigration program; it is the mechanism that the Canadian Federal Government uses to manage applications for permanent residency.
You use the Express Entry mechanism to apply for Canadian permanent residency using one of the three immigration programs managed by Express Entry:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program. For skilled workers with no Canadian work experience.
- Federal Skilled Trades Program. For qualified tradespeople.
- Canadian Experience Class. For skilled workers with recent Canadian work experience