Super Visa

Canada’s CEC program is for applicants who have at least one year of Canadian work experience—developed for the purpose of supporting temporary foreign workers and foreign graduates in their pursuit of permanent residence in Canada. The CEC is part of a concerted effort by Canada’s federal and provincial governments to encourage more temporary foreign workers and international students to build their futures in Canada. Research by IRCC, Statistics Canada, and academics is clear: skilled worker candidates have a major advantage integrating into the Canadian job market if they have previously lived in the country. The combination of having high human capital criteria (e.g., being young and middle-aged, having high levels of education, work experience, and education) plus building social and professional networks in Canada enables CEC immigrants to be very successful in the labour market.

To be eligible for Canadian Experience Class:

• Have at least one year of full-time or equal amount part-time and paid, skilled work experience in Canada in the last three years before you apply.
• Skilled work means your experience falls under a National Occupational Classification (“NOC”) 0, A or B job. You must have performed the actions described in the lead statement and a substantial number of the primary duties, including all essential duties listed in the NOC
• The length of your experience is assessed based on hours. To meet the requirement, you must have worked at least 1,560 hours over a minimum of 12 months. Full-time is considered 30 hours per week. Any hours worked over 30 in one week are not counted towards meeting your 1,560 hours.
• Your work experience must have been gained legally with valid work authorization
• Work experience while attending full-time studies will not count. This includes co-ops and internship as part of your study program
• Your work experience cannot be self-employed work
• You must have a language ability of CLB 7 for NOC 0 or A jobs, OR CLB 5 for NOC B jobs, as evidenced by an approved language test
• There is no education requirement, but including education will improve your overall CRS score
• You must be admissible to Canada; this includes maintaining valid status if you reside in Canada
• You must plan to live outside of the province of Quebec. Applicants who are in Quebec or work in Quebec can still apply through express entry but must prove their intention to reside outside of the province once approved.

How the immigration process:

IRCC uses Express Entry to manage skilled worker applications for three programs including the CEC. If you have lived in Canada before and gained eligible work experience here, you may be a strong candidate for the CEC. In addition, you may also be eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)and if you have a trades background, the Federal Skilled Trades Program.

The first step is to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria of the CEC or one of the other Express Entry programs. If you are eligible, you submit an Express Entry profile on IRCC’s website. Approximately every two weeks, IRCC holds Express Entry draws awarding permanent residence invitations to candidates with the highest CRS scores. CRS scores are determined base on each candidate’s human capital characteristics including their age, education, language skills, work experience, Canadian experience, among other criteria. If you receive an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence, you need to submit a completed application to IRCC within the specified deadline. IRCC aims to process applications in six months or less.

You’re not eligible for the Canadian Experience Class if

• you’re a refugee claimant in Canada
• you’re working without authorization
• your work experience was gained without temporary resident status in Canada