Sunday 17 November 2013
Important changes have been made to the Canadian Experience Class (CIC) immigration stream.
The changes are good news for those who want to become permanent residents of Canada.
The CEC programme is designed to offer permanent Canadian residency to those who have been working in Canada for a minimum of 12 months in the three years prior to the application.
The programme is a popular option among temporary foreign workers and new graduates who managed to stay in Canada on a temporary work permit.
Incepted in 2008, the programme has undergone several changes to improve accessibility, and from November 9 this year the opportunities have increased once again.
Most important is the renewed intake cap.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris announced that within the period of November 9, 2013 to October 31, 2014, 12,000 new immigrants would be accepted through the programme.
This number shows a continuous increase in the intake, as the cap stood at 10,000 in 2013, and at 6500 prior to that.
The announced changes include some procedural changes too.
For occupations designated as ‘B’ level in Canada’s National Occupation Classification (NOC) index, a cap of 200 per job category has been implemented.
B level jobs are generally technical, administrative, or skilled trades.
NOC levels ‘A’ and ‘0’, which are managerial and professional in nature, are not subject to the individual 200 cap, although they are subject to the overall cap of 12,000.
Furthermore, a list of occupations receiving a relatively low number of applications has been removed from the eligible occupations list of the CEC programme.
These occupations are the following:
The changes are good news for those who want to become permanent residents of Canada.
The CEC programme is designed to offer permanent Canadian residency to those who have been working in Canada for a minimum of 12 months in the three years prior to the application.
The programme is a popular option among temporary foreign workers and new graduates who managed to stay in Canada on a temporary work permit.
Incepted in 2008, the programme has undergone several changes to improve accessibility, and from November 9 this year the opportunities have increased once again.
Most important is the renewed intake cap.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris announced that within the period of November 9, 2013 to October 31, 2014, 12,000 new immigrants would be accepted through the programme.
This number shows a continuous increase in the intake, as the cap stood at 10,000 in 2013, and at 6500 prior to that.
The announced changes include some procedural changes too.
For occupations designated as ‘B’ level in Canada’s National Occupation Classification (NOC) index, a cap of 200 per job category has been implemented.
B level jobs are generally technical, administrative, or skilled trades.
NOC levels ‘A’ and ‘0’, which are managerial and professional in nature, are not subject to the individual 200 cap, although they are subject to the overall cap of 12,000.
Furthermore, a list of occupations receiving a relatively low number of applications has been removed from the eligible occupations list of the CEC programme.
These occupations are the following:
- - Cooks
- - Food Service Supervisors
- - Administrative Officers
- - Administrative Assistants
- - Accounting Technicians and Bookkeepers
- - Retail Sales Supervisors
Third, some procedural changes have been made in the language requirement processing.
When language proficiency is not up to standards, the applicant will directly receive his file back with a refund of processing fees.
This move will ensure a more efficient application process, and give the opportunity to applicants to think of alternatives for permanent residency.
In order to be eligible for the programme, applicants must meet the following basic eligibility requirements:
- Have at least 12 months of full-time skilled work experience (or an equal amount in part-time)* in the past three years before applying;
- Plan to live outside of the Province of Quebec;
- Have gained the Canadian work experience legally; and
- Meet minimum language requirements
Experts recommend applicants to act fast, as the newly imposed caps on B-level jobs may result in a closed door due to the 'capping out' of applicants.
