5 Minimum Requirements to Immigrate to Canada
Through the Federal Skilled Worker Program
If you have these 5 items, you have what it takes to immigrate to Canada!
And better yet, through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which means you leave your country already as a Permanent Resident .
These are the requirements:
- Enough money on the Bank
- Education at least equivalent to Canadian Standard of Education
- At least one year of work experience
- (Very) Good level of English or French
- Clean police records on your home country
If you have these 5 items, you are eligible to enter a candidate pool. Then the more points you have (based on your education, skills, etc.), more likely it is for you to be invited to become a permanent resident.
About how the Federal Skilled Worker program works
With these 5 requirements, you are accepted on what’s called Express Entry Pool. Once in that pool, you will get a certain amount of points, based on your level of English, your level of education, etc.
Every now and then (usually every 2 weeks), IRCC (the government department responsible for immigration) will invite the top scorers from that pool to apply for permanent residence. These are called Invitation Rounds. If/when you get invited, it is then just a matter of filling up the paperwork, wait for it to process, and then, finally, pack!
Requirement #1 – Enough money on the bank
At some point during the Express Entry process, you will be required to prove that you have enough money to maintain yourself and your family while you settle in Canada.
IRCC is very specific about the values that you need to have, depending on how big your family is. Here they are:
| Number of family members | Funds Required (in Canadian Dollars) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $12,960 |
| 2 | $16,135 |
| 3 | $19,836 |
| 4 | $24,083 |
| 5 | $27,315 |
| 6 | $30,806 |
| 7 | $34,299 |
| For each additional family member | $3,492 |
If you have the amount required for your family size, you can go ahead and check this out of the list!
Besides the funds that you need to prove you have to sustain your family when you arrive (values above), you will also need to spend some money on the Express Entry process itself. This includes fees, medical appointments, translations, etc.
Requirement #2 – Education at least equivalent to Canadian high school
Canada is looking for skilled workers. And education is a big part of being skilled.
The minimum requirement to be eligible for immigration is to have at least the equivalent to the Canadian Bachelor’s Degree.
Of course, the higher your education is, the more points you will get for it, and the higher will be your chances of getting invited to become a permanent resident.
Each country has its own definition for certifications, titles, courses, etc. Therefore, there are specific organizations that are allowed to say what is the Canadian equivalent level for your education. These are called Education Credential Assessment (ECA).
Basically, you send them your education history (diploma, certifications, etc.), and they will say what’s your Canadian education level.
Requirement #3 – Work Experience
The requirement is to have at least 1 year of skilled work experience.
However, it can’t be in ANY job. It has to be related to the profession that you will present yourself in.
For an example, if you are an engineer, and presenting yourself to IRCC as such, you can’t use previous work experiences as a butcher.
Besides that, the job experience must be in managerial jobs (skill level 0), professional jobs (skill level A), or technical jobs (skill level B).
Here is a brief description of what each of those terms mean:
| Skill Level | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 0 (zero) | Management jobs | Restaurant manager, factory manager, etc. |
| A | Jobs that usually require university diploma | Doctor, scientist, engineers, etc. |
| B | Jobs that usually require technical training | Chefs, plumbers, electricians, etc. |
| C | Jobs that usually require high-school or job-specific trainings | Butcher, truck driver, food servers, etc. |
| D | Jobs that usually require on-the-job training | Fruit pickers, cleaning staff, etc. |
They way you proof your work experience is through letters from your current and/or previous employers.
Requirement #4 – English Skills
This is a big one! You need to have a (very) good level of English (or French) skills.
It needs to be good enough for you to score at least 6 on each of IELTS skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking).
The good news is that this is something totally under your control to improve. And you can take the IELTS tests as many times as you need to.
Also, of course, the higher your IELTS score is, the more points you will get for it, and the higher your chances of being invited to become a permanent resident will be.
Requirement #5 – Clean criminal records
This is a pretty easy one, there is not much you need (or can) do about it.
It can be a deal breaker though. IRCC is not 100% specific on what is acceptable on the record or not, but it will be subject to the agent analyzing your case.
The safest way is just to have a clean record. If you do have something there, I recommend you to reach out to a Expressway immigration consultant for advice.
You have all it takes?
So, you have these 5 items? Great! Now get ready for lots of webforms and paperwork!
I know it doesn’t sound good to hear that, nobody likes paperwork. But Express Entry is a very solid process, with a great amount of control on which candidate is selected or not.
Therefore, it is reasonable to agree that in this case the bureaucracy is really needed.
Glossary
IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. It is the Canadian Government department responsible for all matters related to immigration.
Express Entry – Process in place to select candidates to become permanent residents based on their skills. Express Entry is used for different immigration programs, including the Federal Skilled Worker Program
Federal Skilled Worker Program – A program designed to attract and bring skilled immigrants for the areas in which Canada needs workers. Candidates are selected through the Express Entry process.
IELTS – English exam accepted by IRCC to assess your English skills levels.