The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for aimed at skilled workers who want to pursue permanent citizenship in Canada, outside the province of Quebec, provided they have experience in a skilled trade. This program is a form of Express Entry program, through which users can avail online processing of their application from a pool of skilled workforce.
The applicant must fulfill the following criteria for being eligible for this mode of permanent residence.
- The candidate must have had skilled, paid work as part of one of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) levels, 0 (Managerial jobs), A (Professional jobs) or B (Technical jobs and skilled trades). The applicant must have completed all of the essential job duties and most of the main duties.
- Experience gained during the last 10 years, in the same type of role (primary occupation) for which the application is filed is necessary.
- At-least 1560 hours of work must have been done over a continuous year of full-time employment, equivalent part time employment over a longer period or full-time employment at more than one job. More than 30 hours of work per week will not be counted towards the total of 1560 hours.
The applicant must take an approved language test in either English or French from the following:
- English
- Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP): The test taken should be the General test and not the General-LS test.
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS): The test should be taken in the General training format and not the Academic format.
- French
- Test d’évaluation de français (TEF): The test results should prove the candidates written and oral communication skills.
- Test de connaissance du français (TCF): The test results should prove the candidates written and oral communication skills.
The test should be taken from an agency approved by IRCC. The results have to be collated with the express entry profile. For an applicant to be eligible, he/she must obtain a minimum score of CLB 7 in English or NCLC 7 in French if these are their first languages, or if these are their second languages, a minimum score of CLB 5 and NCLC 5 respectively in all of reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities.
The test scores must be less than 2 years old when applying.
- The applicant must have a valid, full-time and continuous job offer in case he/she does not have a certificate of qualification for the skilled trade to practice. The job offer should be for at-least one year.
- The job offer must have the start date of the offer, employer name and address as well as a report of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), except for some jobs which are exempt from an LMIA.
- The job offer must also specify the job roles and responsibilities that the applicants need to fulfil.
- The applicant must have either of the following:
- A degree/ diploma/ secondary/ post secondary credential from Canada.
- A foreign degree/ diploma/ secondary/ post secondary credential which has been proved to be equivalent to the Canadian counterparts through an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA). Existing ECA reports can be submitted provided they are not more than 5 years old.
Unless the applicant is currently eligible to regally work in Canada, or has a valid job offer from a Canadian employer, he/she must have enough money to support the family members. The amount of money required depends on the number of family members as follows:
| Number of family members |
Funds required (in Canadian dollars) |
| 1 | $12,960 |
| 2 | $16,135 |
| 3 | $19,836 |
| 4 | $24,083 |
| 5 | $27,315 |
| 6 | $30,806 |
| 7 | $34,299 |
| For each additional family member | $3,492 |
The funds must be readily available (so money in the form of non-liquid assets such as real estate do not qualify). Money present with spouses can also be counted. Official letters of authorization from banks and other institutions are counted as proof of funds.
- The visitors must be eligible to visit Canada based on other norms which may be specific to the country of origin, depending on the economic and political situation in the country as well as the financial stability of the family.
- Some other aspects such as the nature of family relationships, purpose of visit and relations with the home country may also be looked at during the application process.
- Applicants are required to be assessed by the province or territory they want to immigrate to based on their trade. The assessment process depends on the province or territory of immigration.
The applicants have 60 days to complete their Express Entry applications. The selection criteria are a mix of several factors such as:
- Age
- Education
- Work Experience
- Adaptability with respect to settlement
All these criteria are mapped to a 100 point grid with points for each criteria. After calculation of each candidate’s scores, the applicants are ranked and the highest ranking applicants are invited to apply for permanent residence in Canada.
Note that this program is applicable for regions outside the province of Quebec. To settle in Quebec, the province has a different program.
The applications are typically processed in 6 months or less.