Caps Introduced for the Canadian Experience Class Permanent Residence Program

Canada is introducing a new cap on the number of permanent residence applications it will accept under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will accept only 12,000 CEC applications between November 9, 2013 and October 31, 2014.

CIC will accept only 200 applications for foreign nationals in each National Occupational Classification (NOC) B occupation, which are largely technical jobs and skilled trades. There are no sub-caps on new applications for foreign nationals in NOC levels 0 (managerial) or A (professional) occupations; these occupations are subject only to the overall cap of 12,000. In addition, the following six occupations are no longer eligible for the CEC program: accounting technicians and bookkeepers, administrative assistants, administrative officers, cooks, food service supervisors, and retail sales supervisors.

The CEC program allows temporary foreign workers to obtain permanent residence based on their qualifying Canadian work experience. The work experience must be in a managerial, professional, skilled trade, or technical occupation, and the applicant must demonstrate language proficiency.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global or send an email to [email protected].