How To Transition From Canadian Experience Class to Permanent Residence

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) offers an immigration pathway for anyone working in Canada and want to transition to permanent residence. As announced by IRCC, the Express Entry invitation rounds for CEC candidates will resume in July. So, if you are eligible for the CEC, you will get a score on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). In this article, I will share some steps on how to transition from Canadian Experience Class to permanent residence.

1: Find out if you meet the CEC’s eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible to apply under the CEC, there are some criteria you must meet. These include:

• Have at least one year of skilled, professional or technical work experience in Canada within 36 months of the application date;
• Meet or surpass a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 5 (“initial intermediate”) for NOC B jobs or CLB 7 (“adequate intermediate proficiency”), for NOC skill level 0 or A jobs; and
• Looking to live and work outside of the province of Quebec

If you have work experience in Quebec and plan to reside in Quebec, you may apply to the Quebec Experience Class.

As an applicant, you can remain in Canada throughout the application process. However, the CEC is also open to individuals who are no longer in Canada. You only need to submit your application within three years of leaving their Canadian job.

2: Have an Express Entry profile on the IRCC website

If you meet the eligibility criteria above, the next step is for you to create an IRCC secure account and follow the instructions to create your Express Entry profile. Please note that you have 60 days to complete and submit your Express Entry profile. Otherwise, you will have to start again. Once you complete your profile, you can submit it and IRCC will figure out which Express Entry program you are eligible for.

If you are eligible for the CEC, you will be in the Express Entry pool with others who are also eligible. You will get a score based on factors like work experience, education, age, and official language ability.

3: Wait for an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence

Completing an online Express Entry profile is a great step in the process. However, it does not guarantee that you will receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence. Aside meeting the criteria, you also need to have a score that is high enough to meet the minimum threshold in a given Express Entry draw.

If you do receive an ITA, you will have 60 days to submit a complete application. This is an important step if you want to transition from Canadian Experience Class to permanent residence. IRCC holds Express Entry draws approximately every two weeks.

4: Submit your application

If you get an ITA, you will receive a message from IRCC. This will tell you which program you have been invited for and what you need to do next. The IRCC system automatically invites candidates to apply under one of the Express Entry-managed programs in the following order:

• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP),
• CEC,
• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), and then
• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

At this stage, you will need to provide proof of the information you have in your Express Entry profile. The immigration officers will then assess whether the information you provided in your application is different from your profile. If they find false information, or you have left out important details, they may refuse your application, find you inadmissible, or bar you from applying for immigration for five years.

Please note that, any time, if your personal situation changes, you may have to re-calculate your score before applying. If your recalculated score is less than the minimum CRS cut-off for your round of invitations, IRCC recommends declining the invitation. Declining an invitation means you will be put back into the Express Entry pool of candidates and you may be considered for future rounds of invitations if you are still eligible. It does not affect whether you are invited to apply later.

If you do not respond to your ITA within 60 days, IRCC will take your profile out of the pool.

If you are looking for other ways to migrate to Canada, you can check out our write-up on how to become permanent resident through express entry. The write-up covers other pathways including PNPs.

If you like this article “How To Transition From Canadian Experience Class to Permanent Residence”, please share it with your friends and family. Also, subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube Channel to ensure you don’t miss any update from us.  Finally, don’t forget to join our community to connect with others. Lastly, you can also follow us on our social media pages – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Image credit: radvision