Who can apply

To be eligible, you must

• have an eligible job offer
  • If you reside in Canada when you submit your application, you may choose to meet this requirement or the educational requirement.
• meet or pass the educational requirements
  • If you reside in Canada when you submit your application, you may choose to meet this requirement or the job offer requirement.
• have eligible work experience
• meet or pass the language requirements
• prove you have enough money to settle in Canada (if applicable)
• have maintained your temporary resident status (if already in Canada)

Job offer

The job you’re offered must be a genuine job offer and meet all of the following requirements:

• The job must be
  • in an eligible occupation listed under 1 of the eligible industries
  • full time — This means you work at least 30 paid hours per week.
  • non-seasonal — This means you have consistent and regularly scheduled paid employment throughout the year.
  • Permanent — This means there is no set end date.
  • in Canada, outside of Quebec
• For unionized positions, the wage must be determined by the applicable collective agreement.
• For non-unionized positions, the wage must meet or exceed the Job Bank’s prevailing (median) wage for the occupation listed on your job offer in the province of employment (or at the national level if no provincial rate is available).

Educational requirements

You must have at least

• a Canadian high school diploma or
• an educational credential assessment (ECA) report from a designated organization or professional body showing that you completed a foreign credential at the secondary school level or above
  • The ECA report must be less than 5 years old on the date of your application.
  • The original ECA report must have been issued on or after the date the organization was designated.

How to get an educational credential assessment

An educational credential assessment (ECA) is used to prove that your foreign degree, diploma or certificate (or other proof of educational credential) is valid.

There are different types of ECAs. We’ll only accept ECAs for immigration purposes.

You must get your assessment from a designated organization. Once you choose a designated organization, they will tell you how to submit your documents to get your assessment. Processing times and costs may vary by organization.

Designated organizations

You must use one of these designated organizations:

• Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
  • designated: April 17, 2013
• International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
  • designated: April 17, 2013
• World Education Services
  • designated: April 17, 2013
• International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS)
  • designated: August 6, 2015
  • until further notice, IQAS can’t provide ECA reports to show your completed foreign secondary credential is lower than a Canadian secondary equivalent
• International Credential Evaluation Service
  • designated: August 6, 2015

Work experience

Your Canadian work experience must be

• at least 1 year of cumulative, non-seasonal, full-time work in the past 3 years (at least 1,560 hours)
• in 1 or more of the eligible occupations listed under 1 of the eligible industries
• gained though
  • an open work permit for vulnerable workers or
  • a work permit issued on the basis of a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) with a minimum 12-month duration, under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

If you’re not sure of the duration of the LMIA that was submitted by your employer when hiring you, you can ask the employer.

You must give us the following as proof of your work experience:

• an employer or union reference letter (only for unionized positions)
• a letter of employment
• a T4
• paystubs

Open work permits

If you currently have an open work permit, but you used to have a work permit through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, you may have eligible work experience.

However, any work experience you gained while holding an open work permit does not count unless it was gained under an open work permit specifically for vulnerable workers.

How to calculate your hours of work experience

• Do count the hours worked in full-time jobs
  • The hours can be in different eligible occupations and with different employers.
  • The hours must have been worked over a total period of at least 12 months (Note: working more than 30 hours per week does not shorten this period).
• Don’t count
  • hours you weren’t paid for (volunteering or unpaid internships)
  • hours worked when you were self-employed
  • hours worked in part-time or seasonal positions
  • hours where your work was not authorized by IRCC

Language requirements

You must prove your ability in English or French.

The minimum language requirements are Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) Level 4 in

• reading
• writing
• speaking
• listening

You must submit your results from an approved language test.

Your test results must be less than 2 years old when you apply. We count the 2 years from the date you receive your test results.

Find out more about language testing.

Settlement funds

You must prove that you have enough money to settle in Canada. You’ll need to prove that you have enough funds to support yourself and any family members you may have, even if they’re not coming to Canada with you.

If you’re already working in Canada with a valid work permit when you apply, you don’t need to provide proof of settlement funds.

Find out more about settlement funds

“Genuine job offer” means:

• The offer must meet the needs of the employer.
• The employer must be actively involved in the business where the applicant will work.
• The employer must be able to fulfill the terms of the offer.
• The employer must have complied with all employment laws and rules in the past.