Monday, October 6, 2025
No menu items!
No menu items!
HomeRead OnCan Student Work Experience be Valid for Express Entry Eligibility in Canada?

Can Student Work Experience be Valid for Express Entry Eligibility in Canada?


GH DATA BUNDLE

Can Student Work Experience be Valid for Express Entry Eligibility in Canada?

To be eligible for PR, candidates for any of Canada’s Express Entry system’s three programs must meet specified standards in terms of qualifying work experience. The list of minimum qualifications for any Express Entry program is detailed below.

This article will first provide an overview of whether student work experience is valid for Express Entry eligibility. Before delving into the technicalities, consider whether Express Entry programs allow candidates to use employment experience gained while in school to complete the program’s work experience requirements.

Eligibility for Student Work Experience for the FSWP

Candidates using the Express Entry procedure under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) can include job experience accumulated during their studies, whether locally or internationally. To qualify, various prerequisites must be met.

  • The work experience must have been rewarded, either with salary or commissions.
  • The employment must have been continuous, with no gaps.
  • The work must meet all other program conditions.

Co-ops and apprenticeships can be deemed acceptable student work experience if they match the IRCC’s requirements. This applies as long as the prerequisites are met.

CEC excludes student work experience from the eligibility criteria.

Unlike those enrolling through the Federal Skilled Trades Program, CEC applicants cannot use job experience obtained while obtaining their degrees, whether locally or overseas, to meet the program’s minimum requirements.

Student work experience is excluded from the minimum requirements – FSTP

The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), like the CEC, does not include student job experience to meet the program’s fundamental requirements.

CRS Impact: Student Work Experience

The Express Entry immigration pathway to Canada is primarily depending on the CRS results. The IRCC uses these scores to analyze and rank candidate profiles, which serve as the foundation for issuing ITAs for Permanent Residency.

It’s important to remember that Canadian job experience obtained while an Express Entry applicant is enrolled full-time in school does not contribute toward their CRS score, according to IRCC standards. On the other hand, employment experience gained while pursuing full-time school outside of Canada is considered for calculating a candidate’s CRS score.

Minimum requirements for each Express Entry Program

FSWP

The minimal requirements for this program are given in the following, which is divided into three sections.

Skilled Work Experience

Applicants must have at least one year of compensated full-time or similar part-time skilled employment experience. This employment must be continuous and fall under the same primary National Occupation Classification (NOC), which is coded NOC. To meet the qualifying standards, the job experience must be classified as TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, or TEER 3.

Language Ability

Candidates applying for the Federal Skilled Worker Program must have a minimum level of proficiency in French or CLB 7 in English. It is important to achieve this degree of proficiency in all four language domains: speaking, writing, listening, and reading. Use the provided resources to learn more about the language proficiency standards for Express Entry candidates.

Education

To be eligible for the FSWP, candidates must meet one of the educational prerequisites listed below:

  • Possession of a certificate, diploma, or degree from a Canadian high school or post-secondary institution, if the candidate attended school in Canada.
  • Alternatively, candidates with a foreign education background must present proof of a finished educational degree as well as a valid ECA.
  • This assessment is critical in determining the equivalence of foreign educational qualifications to Canadian norms.

CEC

The two sections that make up the program’s prerequisites are concisely stated here.

Skilled Work Experience

Candidates are required to have completed a minimum of one year of paid, full-time or comparable part-time, skilled job experience in Canada within the three years prior to the submission of their application. For this job experience to be considered for acceptance, it must be categorized as TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 according to the NOC TEER regulations.

Language Ability

Depending on the candidate’s NOC classification, numerous language examinations are required for the CEC.

  • Candidates designated as TEER 0 or TEER 1 for the CEC must exhibit CLB/NCLC 7 competency in all four language abilities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
  • Candidates designated as TEER 2 and TEER 3 must have a CLB/NCLC 5 competency level in all four languages.

Candidates have the opportunity to improve their CRS score if they have completed their studies in Canada or abroad and got the requisite ECA. This is despite the fact that the CEC does not have any specific educational requirements.

FSTP

The minimal requirements for this program are listed below, which is divided into three sections:

Skilled Work Experience

Candidates must have at least two years of competent work experience in particular recognized NOC groups. This should be completed five years before submitting their application.

Language Ability

In order to be accepted for the Foreign Service Training Program (FSTP), candidates must satisfy certain language competence standards. It is required that candidates attain a minimum of CLB/NCLC 4 in both reading and writing. Additionally, they are required to have a score of CLB 5 or NCLC 5 in both speaking and listening.

Job Offer or Certificate of Qualification.

Applicants for the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) must have one of the following qualifications.

  • A full-time work offer for at least a year.
  • A certificate of qualification for their skilled trade.

This certificate is only valid if it was issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial, or federal government.

ALSO, READ

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments