What Work Counts for the Canadian Experience Class

The Canadian Experience Class is the Express Entry program for people who have already worked in Canada. It asks for one thing above all: one year of skilled work here, done the right way. It does not ask for education, a job offer or settlement funds.

The catch is in "done the right way". A lot of the work people do in Canada does not count, and they find out only after building a profile on it.

The job must be in NOC TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. It can be more than one job and more than one NOC.

You must have done it in Canada while you held temporary resident status and were allowed to work. A work permit is the usual case. If you worked remotely, you must have been physically in Canada and working for a Canadian employer.

It must have been paid, with wages or commission. And you must have performed the actions in the lead statement of the NOC and most of the main duties, not just held the title.

Work you did while you were a full-time student. This includes paid co-op terms and campus jobs. Many graduates are surprised by this, because the work was real and the pay was real. IRCC still excludes it from the CEC minimum.

Self-employment. Contract work where you were your own employer does not count, even in a skilled occupation.

Volunteer work and unpaid internships. Work outside Canada. Work you did without authorization. None of these count toward the CEC year.

IRCC has a temporary public policy for physicians who provide publicly funded medical services in Canada on a fee-for-service basis and are technically self-employed. Their work counts as Canadian work experience. If that is you, IRCC says not to tick the self-employed box for that work when you create the profile.

One year, or 1,560 hours, in the three years before you apply. That is 30 hours a week for 12 months, or the same total part time. You can combine jobs, but IRCC does not count hours above 30 in any week.

The three-year window moves with you. Experience from four years ago has aged out, even if it was perfect. If your only skilled year is getting old, that changes the timing of everything else.

There is a language test requirement, and it depends on the job. If your Canadian work was TEER 0 or 1, you need CLB 7 in all four abilities. If it was TEER 2 or 3, CLB 5 is enough. French results use the NCLC scale at the same levels. The results must be under two years old when you build the profile and when you apply.

No education requirement. No job offer. No proof of settlement funds. Education can still raise your CRS score, and a higher score is what gets you invited, but it is not part of CEC eligibility. A job offer no longer adds CRS points at all. You do need to plan to live outside Quebec, because Quebec selects its own skilled workers.

We go through each job and ask three questions. Were you authorized to work, were you a full-time student at the time, and do the duties match the NOC. Then we count the hours that survive. That number, not the number on your resume, is your CEC experience.