Federal Skilled Worker Program

Federal Startup Visa Program for Canada

The Federal Skilled Worker program is one of the Express Entry Immigration options to join Canada’s workforce. Federal Skilled Worker program is popularly known as the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC). It is open for skilled workers with foreign work experience, who are planning to immigrate to Canada permanently. Candidates applying under this program can apply with their spouse and dependent children. FSWC doesn’t require the candidate to have a job offer or any job experience in Canada, but they should possess the skilled work experience in any other country. This is the significant difference between FSWC and Candian Experience Class, which requires to have at least one year of work experience in Canada. Under the FSWC program, Canada welcomes thousands of eligible candidates from across the globe to join their workforce and, in turn, help the economy. You could be the next one, provided you meet specific requirements applicable to the program.

As this program is a part of Express Entry, 80% of the applications are approved within few months. However, as this doesn’t require any job offer, the competition is pretty high. The application process is similar to that of CEC and uses the Comprehensive Ranking System to allot ranks based on the provided personal information. The minimum requirements for FSWC program are listed below:

• 1. Work Experience:  A minimum of one-year full-time continuous skilled work experience is required.
• 2. Education:   Should have completed an education that is equivalent to the Canadian high school diploma.
• 3. Language Ability:   Candidate should score at least level 7 in the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) test in either English or French language.

Candidates should meet all the minimum requirements to be eligible for the further process, which involves Selection factors. The “Selection factors” are set for a total of 100 points grid to access the eligibility of the candidates through the Federal Skilled Worker Program. A candidate must possess 67 points to be considered for the program. The cut-off is 67 points, but it doesn’t guarantee the selection. More the points, the higher will be the selection based on the CSR ranking mechanism. Points allotted for each factor are based on your skill in that particular category. Additionally, points are classified based on different factors, as shown in the table below.