Skilled workers and professionals: Who can apply

Skilled workers are people who are selected as permanent residents based on their ability to become economically established in Canada.
Federal skilled worker applications are assessed for eligibility according to the criteria set out below.
For your application to be eligible for processing, you must:

• include the results of your official language proficiency test, AND
• have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
• have one year of continuous full-time paid work experience in at least one of the occupations listed here.

Work experience minimum requirements
If your application is eligible for processing, it will then be assessed against minimum requirements.
Your work experience must be:

• for at least one year, continuous, and paid (full-time or the equivalent in part-time), AND
• Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations) or Skill Level A (professional occupations) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) list, AND
• within the last 10 years.

If you meet the above minimum requirements, your application will be processed according to the six selection factors in the skilled worker points grid , which are:

• your education
• your abilities in English and/or French, Canada’s two official languages
• your work experience
• your age
• whether you have arranged employment in Canada, and
• your adaptability.

You must also show that you have enough money to support yourself and your dependants after you arrive in Canada.

Note: If you are applying under one of the 29 eligible occupations, as of June 26, 2010, a maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing in the following 12 months. Within the 20,000 cap, a maximum of 1,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing each year.

These limits do not apply to applications with an offer of arranged employment.

If you are not sure if you should apply as a skilled worker, you can:

• use the eligibility tool to get an idea of whether your application would be eligible for processing, then
• try a self-assessment test to see if you might earn enough points to qualify.

There are many ways to immigrate to Canada. If you don’t meet the criteria to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, you may qualify under another category.