Canadian Experience Class

The Canadian Experience Class is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience and want to become permanent residents.

On this page

• Canadian skilled work experience
• Language ability
• Education
• Admissibility
• Where you can live in Canada

Canadian 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 or more of these NOC categories: training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER) 0, 1, 2, or 3
  • Your experience can be in more than 1 NOC.
• be gained by working in Canada while authorized to work under temporary resident status
  • If you worked remotely, you must have been physically in Canada and working for a Canadian employer.
• show that you performed:
  • the actions in the lead statement of the NOC job description, and
  • most of the main duties listed
• 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 work or 1,560 hours total (30 hours per week) in the 3 years before you apply

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

Your skilled work experience meets the criteria

You may be eligible for the Canadian Experience Class if you meet all other minimum requirements.

Self-employment and student work experience

Self-employment and work experience gained while you were a full-time student (even if you were on a co-op work term) doesn’t count toward the minimum requirements for this program.

Exemption for physicians

We introduced a temporary public policy for foreign national physicians who:

• were invited to apply for permanent residence through Express Entry on or after April 25, 2023, and submitted an application
• have work experience in providing publicly funded medical services in Canada (such as fee-for-service work) and
• aren’t eligible because they’re self-employed

We now count this work experience as Canadian work experience. When you create your Express Entry profile, to make it possible for your work experience to count as Canadian work experience, do not check the “Self-employed work” checkbox under Work experience in Canada.

Language ability

You must:

• take approved language tests in English or French
• meet the minimum score in all 4 abilities:
  • writing
  • reading
  • listening
  • speaking

Education

There is no education requirement for the Canadian Experience Class.

If you want to improve your rank in the pool

If you want to improve your rank in the Express Entry pool, there are 2 ways you can do this.

1. If you went to school in Canada, you can get points for a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian high school or post-secondary institution.
2. If you have foreign education, you can get points if you have both of these:
   • a completed educational credential
   • an educational credential assessment report for immigration purposes

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.