Express Entry

Federal Skilled Worker

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is for skilled workers who have foreign work experience and want to become permanent residents.

Skilled workers

We choose skilled workers based on education, work experience, language skills, and other criteria. They include:

  • managers and supervisors
  • people in jobs that usually need:
    • a university degree
    • a college diploma, or
    • apprenticeship training

Minimum requirements

Skilled work experience

First, find out the National Occupational Classification (NOC) for your job. Then check if it meets the requirements for skilled work experience.

Find your NOC

Your skilled work experience must:

  • be in 1 of these TEER categories: 0, 1, 2, or 3
    • TEER stands for training, education, experience and responsibilities.
  • have the same NOC as the job you want to use for your immigration application (called your primary occupation)
    • Your primary occupation may not be your most recent work experience.
  • show that you performed:
    • the actions in the lead statement of the NOC job description, and
    • most of the main duties listed
  • have been obtained within the last 10 years, in Canada or abroad
  • be paid work (you must have been paid wages or earned commission—volunteer work or unpaid internships don’t count)
  • be at least 1 year of continuous work or 1,560 hours total (30 hours per week)

Your skilled work experience must meet all the requirements to be eligible.

How to count your work hours

You can meet the 1,560 hour requirement in a few different ways:

  • full time at 1 job: up to 30 hours/week for 12 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)
  • equal amount in part-time work: for example, 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)
    • You can work as many part-time jobs as you need to meet this requirement.
  • full time at more than 1 job: 30 hours/week for 12 months at more than 1 job = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)

Part-time work experience

  • For part-time work, you can work more or less than 15 hours/week as long as it adds up to 1,560 hours. You can work more than 1 part-time job to get the hours you need to apply.
  • Any hours you work above 30 hours/week isnot counted.

Student work experience

Work experience gained while you were studying may count towards your minimum requirements if the work:

Language ability

You must:

Education

If you went to school in Canada, you must have a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian:

  • secondary institution (high school) or
  • post-secondary institution

If you have foreign education, you must have:

Selection factors

If you meet all the minimum requirements, we'll use selection factor points to help assess your eligibility.

We’ll assess your selection factors and assign an overall score out of 100.

  • If you score 67 points or higher, you may qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. You can then submit a profile to the Express Entry pool.
  • If you score lower than 67 points, you won’t qualify for the program.

These points are different from the points we use to rank your profile in the Express Entry pool.

Proof of funds

You must show that you have enough money for you and your family to settle in Canada.

You don't need proof of funds if you:

  • are currently able to legally work in Canada, and
  • have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada

Admissibility

You must be admissible to Canada.

Some people aren’t allowed to come to Canada. There are different reasons we may not let you into Canada, such as security, criminal or medical reasons.

Where you can live in Canada

You must plan to live outside the province of Quebec. The province of Quebec selects its own skilled workers. If you plan on living in Quebec, see Quebec-selected skilled workers for more information.

When you fill out your profile, we’ll ask you where you plan to live in Canada. You don’t have to settle in that province or territory.

If you’re a Provincial Nominee, you must settle in the province or territory that nominated you.

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