Immigration to Canada - Federal Skilled Trades Program

Once you have determined your eligibility for Federal Skilled Trades Program, you must get your:

• Language Ability Test results
• Educational Credentials Assessment results (if you want to claim points for education under Comprehensive Ranking System)
• Valid job offer or Certificate of Qualification from one of the Canadian Provinces other than Quebec

After that you must create your Express Entry Profile and submit it to the Express Entry Pool. Here your profile will be ranked according to the Comprehensive Ranking System. Once your profile comes up in the Express Entry Draws you will get an Invitation to Apply for Immigration to Canada under Federal Skilled Trades Program.

You now have to file your application along with all the documents within 60 days of getting the ITA (Invitation to Apply).

The main documents that you will require are Valid Job offer from a Canadian Employer and/or Certificate of Qualification, Your Experience Certificate(s), Language Ability Test results, Police Clearance Certificate, Medical Exam, and Educational Credentials Assessment.

Preparations and Application Phases

Once you have determined that you are eligible, you should prepare to apply for Immigration to Canada through Express Entry System.

Below is the explanation of different phases of planning, preparing and application:

Phase 1

Before beginning the process of applying for immigration under Federal Skilled Trades program you must have either a valid job offer or a Qualification Certificate.  Given below are the details of both:

Valid Job Offer

For Federal Skilled Trades Program a valid job offer means an offer from a Canadian employer for continuous, full-time employment. The job offer must be for a period of at least one year.

Up to two Canadian employers can employ you for continuous full time work, which means for a total of 30 hours or more per week.

Under Express Entry, most job offers need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). Only employers can apply for and get and LMIA. Candidates can not directly get one.

The LMIA verifies that Canadian labour market has a need for this type of worker, and that your employer(s) have tried to hire a Canadian or permanent resident first.

In some cases, your employer may not need an LMIA to support your job offer. Find out more about jobs that are exempt.

Qualification Certificate

In Canada many trades are regulated Provincially or Federally. Which means that to be able to work in those trades one must have the required qualifications and work experience.

Certificate of Qualification or Qualification Certificate is a certificate that certifies that the individual holding that certificate has the required training, qualification and experience to work in that trade independently.

As a foreign trained tradesperson, one can get the Qualification Certificate by demonstrating that you have the skills, Knowledge and experience required to work in your trade.

You can do this by showing your work experience, passing a theory exam and/or complete a competency assessment.

Every Province has a designated organisation for each regulated trade to issue Certificate of Qualification.

Given here are the links to each Provincial Agency responsible to issue Certificate of Qualification:

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon

Some trades like Airplane Mechanic may be regulated by the Federal Agencies. Check Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials website  to find out about those.

You may have to travel to the Province of your choice to get your certificate of Qualification.

Proceed to phase 2 only when you have one of the two above mentioned documents.

Phase 2

Language Skills

Now that you have your Job Offer or Certificate of Qualification, you must sit for IELTS to show your language ability. Your spouse should also appear in the IELTS as that will improve your overall CRS rank. If you know French then you must also appear for TEF.

In case you already have your language ability test results and want to use those make sure the test results are not more than 2 years old.

You will not be able to create your Express Entry Profile without these results.

Educational Credentials Assessment

Although no minimum education level is required for this program and you don’t need to show any proofs, it will help in improving your CRS rank if you get your Educational Credentials Evaluated.

You will only get points for your education which is equal to or above secondary/high school. So, if your education is below secondary/high school then you don’t need to get the credentials assessed.

The designated organizations for Educational Credentials Assessment are:

1. Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
2. International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
3. World Education Services
4. International Qualifications Assessment Service
5. International Credential Evaluation Service
6. Medical Council of Canada
7. Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (professional body for Pharmacists)

You must contact directly the one authorized for your education assessment. They may take up to 20 weeks for assessment so apply as soon as possible.

Phase 3

Express Entry Profile

After you get your language test results and educational Credential assessment report (if applied for ) you should complete and submit your Express Entry profile online.

Create your profile at the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada website. You will receive an email regarding submission of your profile and an Express Entry Profile Number will also be generated for you.

Phase 4

Invitation to Apply

When you get an invitation to apply for permanent resident status you will have 60 days to apply with all required documents. Log into your online account. Fill in the Application for Permanent Residence under Express Entry. Once you complete the form a document checklist will be generated.

The documents will be mainly to prove the information that you have given in your profile. You will also be asked to update any information that has changed since then.

You will need to upload the documents through your online account so make sure all your documents are in .jpg, .png, .doc, .docx, .pdf or .tiff formats.

Documents for Express Entry Application

• Language test Results
• Educational Credential Assessment Report (if Applied)
• Proof of Work Experience
• Police Certificates
• Medical Exam
• Marriage certificate (If married)
• Valid job offer or qualification Certificate
• Provincial nomination (If you have one)
• Valid Passport
• Photographs
• Fees
• Proof of funds (only if you don’t have job offer and have only Qualification Certificate)

For further clarification about documents check here.

Information

Along with the above mentioned documents you will need to fill the application form. So be ready with the following information before you start the application. The following information is needed for the principal applicant, spouse and all dependent children over 18 years of age.

• Skilled worker express entry comes under Economic Program
• You must know your personal information like height, eye colour, distinguishing marks
• Your current mailing address and residential address if different from mailing address and contact number
• Your father and mother’s personal details that include
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Date of birth
  • Town/city and country of birth
  • Date of death (if applicable)
• Details of your activities in the last 10 years or since the age of 18 if your age is less than 28 years. These activities are working, studying, unemployed or travelling etc. Make sure there are no gaps in between. You will need to provide month and year for start and end of each period
• Details of any memberships of political, social, student, trade or professional associations that you hold or held in the past
• All residential addresses including postal codes where you have lived in the past 10 years or since the age of 18 if your age is less than 28 years. Include addresses of any hostels where you have lived during the course of your studies
• Personal details of your brothers, sisters, half or step brothers or sisters
• If you have a representative then your representative’s name and contact information including email

Phase 5

After you submit your application for Canada Immigration along with the documents, it will take about 6 months for final approval from the Immigration Department of Canada.

At this time you will be asked to submit your and your family members passports for visa stamping.

You must submit the passports along with Right of Landing Fee as per the instructions at the VFS or Visa Office.