Canada’s Most Popular Immigration Program Will Not Have Priority List – Minister

The Federal Skilled Worker Program will not have a priority occupations list when it restarts on May 4th according to a tweet made by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last August (Twitter)

A 140 character tweet from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last August may have answered one of the most pressing questions about the updated rules of the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) when it relaunches in May: will it be limited to a select group of occupations?

The FSWP as it exists now is restricted to individuals qualified in one of the vocations on the priority occupations list.

The program is scheduled to begin accepting applications again in May of this year after a 10 month moratorium, and is expected to have a wide range of changes made to its selection rules.

One aspect of the program’s selection rules that was uncertain was whether a priority occupation list would exist under the revamped rules post-May 4th.

The Minister’s tweet on August 18th 2012, seen below, suggests it won’t:

Instead, applicants will be required to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from one of the designated credential assessment organizations to determine their educational credentials’ equivalent value in Canada.

10 comments

  • when the designated credential assessment organization names will be published

  • I’m have a Bachelor degree in Mechanical engineering – motor vehicles.

    But I also has a work experience (4 years) on the positon 6211 Retail sales supervisor which according to NOC is Skill level B.

    Can I apply as Principal applicant and list occupation – Retail sales supervisor but still get the points for education as Mechanical engineer – Bachelor degree (of course if the designated body accepts my faculty degree in the process of assessment of foreign educational credentials).

  • sir, my age is 29 running,i am bachelor of pharmacy(completed in 2007) as well as i did master in business administration(MBA)full time(completed in 2009) in specialization of pharma management., in addition i worked as part time employee during my master’s study in retail medical store for 2yrs. got 5.5 band in IELTS (general),my wife is diploma pharmacy (12+2)…..finally i have 4yrs experiance in retail pharma (2009 to 2013)and another 2yrs part time experiance in retail pharma store(2007 to 2009)..so total i have 6yrs experiance….i have query that is my part time job is calculated or not?.. and if i m eleigible then how much score that i deserved? ….please reply as early as possible.

  • Hello, everyone!
    I’m “new” in this matter, so I need some help: can you tell me what NOCs 0, A, B mean? What jobs are included in thses categories? I work as kindergarten teacher now, but I worked as elementary school teacher, too. Is my job on those lists under NOC 0, A, B?
    Thank you very much!!
    Best regards,
    Magda

  • I wish to know if I will be qualified to apply for Canada immigration. I have a Bachelors degree in Commerce and over 8 years of work experience. My age in completed years is 34 as of today and I complete 35 years on 28th Sept. 2013. My IELTS scores are a bit low than mentioned.

  • Hi,
    I scored 5 in IELTS .
    wheather i’m capable or not.

  • Joseph Christie

    Hi All,

    I have a master’s degree and 9+ experience. Currently I am working a Team Lead for an Identity and Access Management based company. I am about to appear for IELTS. Would there be any job related to my profile. I would come under the Skill O and A. Is there a chance of getting my application successful and landing in a job. Please advice, so that i could rethink on my thoughts of processing for Canada.

    • Hi,

      As the priority occupations list has not been published, we can’t know if your work experience would make you eligible for the FSW. We would know in April when the list is published.

      -CICS News

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