Canadian Experience Class

Temporary Workers

As a temporary foreign worker, you must have two years of full-time (or equivalent) work experience in Canada. Your work experience must be gained within three years of applying.

Full-time work experience means working at least 37.5 paid hours per week.

Skill level - National Occupational Classification

Your work experience must be Skill Type 0, or Skill Level A or B on the NOC.

The NOC is a classification system for jobs in the Canadian economy. It describes duties, skills, educational requirements and work settings for occupations in Canada.

Find out your NOC category

To find out if your work experience qualifies you for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class, see Jobs and their NOC Descriptions of Occupations in the Related Links section at the bottom of this page. Follow the instructions to find the NOC category that matches your work experience.

If the description and list of main duties for a job classified under 0, A or B match what you did while you worked in Canada, you probably meet the requirement for that type of experience.

If the description and list of main duties do not match your work experience in Canada, then you might not have the type of experience you need to apply. Look through the NOC list to see if another occupation matches your experience.

You do not meet the minimum work experience requirement if:

• you gained your work experience without the proper status (for example, as an undocumented worker)
• your work experience in Canada is not classified as 0, A or B under the NOC list
• you do not have at least two years of work experience as a temporary foreign worker

If you do not meet the minimum work experience requirements, your application for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class will be refused.