Canadian Experience Class selection criteria – Education requirement for Post-Graduation Stream

Applications received before January 2, 2013

The minimum requirement for the education criterion is obtaining a qualifying Canadian educational credential.
To qualify the applicant must have:

• been enrolled full-time in a program of study or training with a duration of at least two years (i.e., two academic years of at least eight months excluding scheduled breaks, such as summer holidays);
• studied at a Canadian institution located in Canada and must have been physically present in Canada for at least two academic years [R87.1(3)(d)];
• obtained one or more of the following educational credentials:
  • A diploma, degree, or trade/apprenticeship credential from a public, provincially recognized Canadian university, community college, CEGEP, or trade/technical school, or
  • A diploma or trade/apprenticeship credential from a private Quebec post-secondary institution, that operates under the same rules and regulations as public institutions and receives at least 50% of its financing for overall operations from government grants, subsidies or other assistance—at this time, only private CEGEPs qualify, or
  • A degree from a Canadian private provincially recognized post-secondary institution.

Exception: Applicants whose length of study in Canada is less than two academic years may be eligible if their credentials are for a graduate program (at least eight months) and a previous qualifying post-secondary educational credential (at least eight months), within the two years preceding the completion of the graduate program [R87.1(2)(a)(i)(D)]. See the examples below.

Excluded studies

• Any full-time program of study or training where the study of English or French as a Second Language amounted to more than half of the program [R87.1(3)(e)];
• Studies in Canada taken under an award which stipulates that the recipient return to their home country to apply their knowledge and skills [R87.1(3)(f)], including:
• All awards from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); and
• The following awards from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development :
  • Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program – Student Exchange Program (only);
  • Government of Canada Awards Program – Student Exchange Program (only);
  • Canada-China Scholars Exchange Program;
  • Equal Opportunities Scholarship Program, Canada-Chile;
  • Organization of American States Fellowships Program.
  • Distance learning, including on-line programs, completed outside Canada.

Examples of acceptable study

Generally, an applicant would meet the education requirement for CEC in the following situations:

• A student gets any qualifying educational credential of at least two years (e.g., university diploma, technical diploma from a qualifying college, general CEGEP diploma).
• A student gets a one-year qualifying credential (e.g., college diploma), and then gets another one-year graduate credential (e.g., master's, MBA or post-baccalaureate), no more than two years after graduating with the first credential. Note that the student may leave Canada between both graduations, as long as no more than two years separate the graduations.