What is the Federal Skilled Workers (FSW) Program?
The Federal Skilled Workers Program, sometimes called the FSW Program, is the immigration program through which you can apply for Canadian Permanent Residency if you have suitable foreign (i.e. outside Canada) work experience.
Work experience in Canada also counts but in this instance Canadian Experience Class would likely be better for you.
The Federal Skilled Workers Program is the program my partner and I used to immigrate to Canada last year.
Federal skilled worker draws paused for almost 19 months between December 23, 2020 and July 6, 2022. But they have resumed and are back to being drawn around every two weeks.
How do I immigrate to Canada using the FSW Program?
You apply on the FSW program using the Express Entry mechanism. Express Entry is how the Canadian Federal Government manages applications for permanent residency in Canada from skilled workers.
The Federal Skilled Worker Program has a number of eligibility criteria you must meet as a first step (see next section).
If you meet those eligibility criteria then you can enter the Express Entry process (using an Express Entry Profile and the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) based on your experience).
Eligibility Criteria for FSW Program
To be eligible for the FSW Program you are scored against a number of eligibility criteria. The factors assessed are:
- Language skills in French or English
- Education
- Work Experience
- Age
- A job arranged in Canada
- What Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) refers to as “adaptability”, covering a range of things like any relatives you have in Canada, past studies in Canada, your partners education etc.
From these criteria you will be award a score out of 100. To qualify to apply for the FSW Program you need to score at least 67.
Rather confusingly, this stage is different to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scoring which comes next (if you meet the eligibility criteria minimum score). The factors assessed are basically the same between the initial criteria and the CRS but the scoring for each is different.
Work experience requirements for FSW Program
Type of work
Eligible work experience falls into one of three categories:
- Managerial jobs
- Professional jobs
- Technical jobs and skilled trades.
Immigration, Refuge and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) use a categorisation called National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes to specify exactly which jobs would be acceptable under each of these categories.
NOC codes with skill type 0, skill level A and skill level B are accepted under Federal Skilled Workers. You can find out what the NOC code for your work experience is here.
Keep in mind that as part of the Express Entry process, you will have to provide detailed reference letters from your employers listing your job responsibilities. These will need to meet the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC. This includes all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
So don’t be tempted to stretch your experience to fit a NOC that it doesn’t – all that will happen is your application will get rejected a few months down the line.
Length of experience
Your work experience must be at least 1 year of continuous, paid, work within the past 10 years. 1 year here means 1,560 hours of work. The required amount of hours could be made up in different ways, for example:
- One full time job for a year (30 hours a week for 12 months)
- A part time job which adds up to 1,560 hours. (e.g. 15 hours/week for 24 months)
- 6 months full time at one job and 6 months full time at another
Any hours you work over 30 a week don’t count towards the 1,560 total.
Language skills requirements for FSW Program
You have to sit tests to prove your language skills meet a certain level for either English or French (or both). The tests cover writing, reading, listening and speaking.
Everyone needs to sit the tests, even if your first language is French or English.
You have to arrange and pay for the language tests yourself with one of the IRCC approved language tests.
You can check what score you need to get in the tests here, but essentially you need to have an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings.
Education requirements for FSW Program
You need to have a qualification (certificate, diploma or degree) from a secondary institution (high school) or post-secondary institution. If the qualification is not from a Canadian institution then you will need to get a Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to prove that your qualification is valid and equal to a Canadian one.
There are a few organizations approved by IRCC to do the ECA but the most common is World Education Services (WES) who we used for our application.
Settlement funds requirement for FSW Program
You have to be able to show proof that you have enough money to get settled in Canada unless you are currently able to legally work in Canada and have a valid job offer. You can check the amount of money you’ll need here.
Additional requirements
You must not have an underlying health condition that would cause too much demand on health or social services in Canada. Get more information on this here.
You also cannot have a criminal record. Unless you can show rehabilitation.
What is the difference between the FSW Program and Express Entry?
The FSW Program is a Canadian immigration program you can apply to for permanent residency of Canada. Express Entry is not an immigration program; it is the mechanism that the Canadian Federal Government uses to manage applications for permanent residency.
You use the Express Entry mechanism to apply for Canadian permanent residency through one of the three immigration programs managed by Express Entry:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program. For skilled workers with no Canadian work experience.
- Federal Skilled Trades Program. For qualified tradespeople.
- Canadian Experience Class. For skilled workers with recent Canadian work experience