Agri-Food Pilot: Who can apply

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must

• have eligible work experience
• have an eligible job offer
• meet or pass the language requirements
• meet or pass the educational requirements
• prove you have enough money to settle in Canada (if applicable)
• have maintained your temporary resident status (if already in Canada)

Work experience

You must have eligible Canadian 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
• through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
  • A labour market impact assessment (LMIA) with a minimum 12-month duration must have been submitted by your employer when hiring you.
  • If you’re not sure, you can ask your former or current employer about the duration.

You must give us proof of your work experience, such as

• an employer or union reference letter
  • A union reference letter is 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.

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

Job offer

You must have a genuine job offer.

The job you’re offered must meet all of the following requirements:

• The job must be in an eligible occupation listed under 1 of the eligible industries.
• The job must be full time.
  • This means you work at least 30 paid hours per week.
• The job must be non-seasonal.
  • In general, this means you have consistent and regularly scheduled paid employment throughout the year.
• Your employment is permanent.
  • This means that there is no set end date.
• 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).
• Your job offer must be for a job in Canada outside of Quebec.

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 took the test.

Find out more about language testing

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

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