Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)

Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is for those skilled workers who are having the foreign education and work experience and they want to live and work in Canada permanently by getting Permanent Residency of Canada.

Benefits of Permanent Resident Visa

Skilled workers can

live permanently in Canada
work and study anywhere in Canada
get Canada's health care benefits
sponsor eligible relatives for Permanent Residence
can become Canadian Citizens if eligible

Minimum Requirements for Eligibility

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will assess the applications of those Skilled Workers for the purpose of Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) who have satisfied the minimum requirements which are mentioned below:

To be eligible a skilled worker must

meet the CLB Level 7 or NCLC Level 7 in all four abilities.
have at least 1 year of full time paid Canadian or foreign work experience (or an equal amount of part time work experience) in either skill type 0 or skill level A or B of National Occupational Classification (NOC) within the last 10 years.
have either received a certificate, diploma or degree for secondary and/or post-secondary education from a Canadian educational institute or an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes from one designated organization out of seven if the secondary and/or post-secondary education is obtained from an educational institute which is outside Canada.
be under 47 years.
have got 67 points.

Selection Factors

1- Age

2- Education

3- Skilled Work Experience

4- Language Ability

5- Arranged Employment in Canada

6- Adaptability

These six selection factors makes up total of 100 points and minimum 67 points out of these 100 points are required by skilled workers to become eligible for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP).

1- Age

Maximum 12 points can be awarded to skilled workers under the age selection factor.

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers age at the time of invitation by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Age	Points
Under 18 years	0
18 - 35 years	12
36 years	11
37 years	10
38 years	9
39 years	8
40 years	7
41 years	6
42 years	5
43 years	4
44 years	3
45 years	2
46 years	1
47 years and older	0

2- Education

Maximum 25 points can be awarded to skilled workers under the education selection factor.

For getting points under the education selection factor, skilled workers should either have a certificate, diploma or degree from a Canadian educational institute or an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for immigration purposes from one designated organization out of seven if the education is obtained from an educational institute which is outside Canada.

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers level of education.

Level of Education	Points
Doctoral level (PhD)	25
Master's level or professional degree (MPhil or MS)	23
Two or more post-secondary qualifications, one of which is a three year or longer post-secondary qualification	22
Three year or longer post-secondary qualification (Bachelors 4 years or MSc after 2 years Bachelors)	21
Two year post-secondary qualification (Bachelors 2 years)	19
One year post-secondary qualification	15
Secondary school/high school diploma	5

3- Skilled Work Experience

Maximum 15 points can be awarded to skilled workers under the skilled work experience selection factor.

For getting points under the skilled work experience selection factor, skilled workers should have full time paid work experience which can be either at least 30 hours per week or an equal amount of part time (15 hours per week for 24 months - in case if they want it to be counted as 12 months work experience) at either skill type 0 (Managerial Jobs) or at skill A (Professional Jobs) or B (Technical Jobs and Skilled Trades) of the 2016 National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers number of years of skilled work experience.

Number of Years of Skilled Work Experience	Points
1 year	9
2 - 3 years	11
4 - 5 years	13
6 years or more	15

4- Language Ability

Maximum 28 points can be awarded to skilled workers under the language ability selection factor.

Skilled workers can get up to 28 points for their language skills in English and French, for which upto 24 points can be awarded for the first official language and upto 4 points can be awarded for the second official language. Skilled workers can get upto 24 points for their language skills for one language only which can either be English or French.

For getting points under the language ability selection factor, skilled workers should take an approved language test to prove their language ability.

For measuring skilled workers English or French ability level, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) use:

Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English
Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) for French

Skilled workers can take any of the following language tests which are accepted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

English

Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) – General Test

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers English language ability skill level through CELPIP - General Test for selecting it as a first official language test.

First official language (Maximum 24 Points)
CLB Level	Speaking	Listening	Reading	Writing	Points Per Ability
7	7	7	7	7	4
8	8	8	8	8	5
9	9	9	9	9	6
10 and above	10 +	10 +	10 +	10 +	6

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers English language ability skill level through CELPIP - General Test for selecting it as a second official language test.

Second official language (4 points if you meet the minimum threshold in all four language abilities)
CLB Level	Speaking	Listening	Reading	Writing	Points Per Ability
5 and above	5 - 12	5 - 12	5 - 12	5 - 12	4

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) – General Training

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers English language ability skill level through IELTS - General Training for selecting it as a first official language test.

First official language (Maximum 24 Points)
CLB Level	Speaking	Listening	Reading	Writing	Points Per Ability
7	6.0	6.0 - 7.0	6.0	6.0	4
8	6.5	7.5	6.5	6.5	5
9	7.0	8.0	7.0	7.0	6
10 and above	7.5 - 9.0	8.5 - 9.0	8.0 - 9.0	7.5 - 9.0	6

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers English language ability skill level through IELTS - General Training for selecting it as a second official language test.

Second official language (4 points if you meet the minimum threshold in all four language abilities)
CLB Level	Speaking	Listening	Reading	Writing	Points Per Ability
5 and above	5.0 - 9.0	5.0 - 9.0	4.0 - 9.0	5.0 - 9.0	4

French

TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers French language ability skill level through TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français for selecting it as a first official language test.

First official language (Maximum 24 Points)
NCLC Level	Speaking (expression orale)	Listening (compréhension de l’oral)	Reading (compréhension de l’écrit)	Writing (expression écrite)	Points Per Ability
7	310 - 348	249 - 279	207 - 232	310 - 348	4
8	349 - 370	280 - 297	233 - 247	349 - 370	5
9 and above	371 +	298 +	248 +	371 +	6

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workerss French language ability skill level through TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français for selecting it as a second official language test.

Second official language (4 points if you meet the minimum threshold in all four language abilities)
NCLC Level	Speaking (expression orale)	Listening (compréhension de l’oral)	Reading (compréhension de l’écrit)	Writing (expression écrite)	Points Per Ability
5 and above	226 - 371 +	181 - 298 +	151 - 248 +	226 - 371 +	4

TCF Canada: Test de connaissance du français

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers French language ability skill level through TCF Canada: Test de connaissance du français for selecting it as a first official language test.

First official language (Maximum 24 Points)
NCLC Level	Speaking (expression orale)	Listening (compréhension de l’oral)	Reading (compréhension de l’écrit)	Writing (expression écrite)	Points Per Ability
7	10 - 11	458 - 502	453 - 498	10 - 11	4
8	12 - 13	503 - 522	499 - 523	12 - 13	5
9 and above	14 +	523 +	524 +	14 +	6

Second official language (4 points if you meet the minimum threshold in all four language abilities)
NCLC Level	Speaking (expression orale)	Listening (compréhension de l’oral)	Reading (compréhension de l’écrit)	Writing (expression écrite)	Points Per Ability
5 and above	6 +	369 - 397 +	375 - 405 +	6 +	4

5- Arranged Employment in Canada

Maximum 10 points can be awarded to skilled workers under the arranged employment in Canada selection factor.

For getting points under the arranged employment in Canada selection factor, skilled workers should have a valid paid job offer (minimum of 30 hours/week) from a Canadian employer for at least 1 year duration and the occupation should be listed as Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the NOC

6- Adaptability

Maximum 10 points can be awarded to skilled workers under the adaptability selection factor.

For getting points under the adaptability selection factor, skilled workers and their spouses and common-law partners who are going to immigrate with them can earn points for adaptability.

Elements under adaptability selection factor will determine how well skilled workers and their spouses are likely to settle in Canada.

Mentioned below is the table for calculating points based on skilled workers and their spouses adaptability.

Adaptability	Points
Language level of spouses or partners of skilled workers For points to be awarded under the adaptability selection factor spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers should have at least CLB 4 or higher level in either English or French language in all 4 language abilities (speaking, listening, reading and writing).	5
Past studies of skilled workers in Canada For points to be awarded under adaptability selection factor skilled workers should have completed at least 2 academic years of full time (at least 15 hours of classes per week) study (in a program of at least 2 years long) at a secondary or post-secondary school in Canada.	5
Past studies of spouses or partners of skilled workers in Canada For points to be awarded under adaptability selection factor spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers should have completed at least 2 academic years of full time (at least 15 hours of classes per week) study (in a program of at least 2 years long) at a secondary or post-secondary school in Canada.	5
Past work experience of skilled workers in Canada For points to be awarded under adaptability selection factor skilled workers should have completed at least 1 year of full time work in Canada on a valid work permit (if applicable) in a Skill Type 0 or Skill Levels A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).	10
Past work experience of spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers in Canada For points to be awarded under adaptability selection factor spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers should have completed at least 1 year of full time work in Canada on a valid work permit (if applicable) in a Skill Type 0 or Skill Levels A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).	5
Arranged employment in Canada For points to be awarded under adaptability selection factor skilled workers should have an arranged employment in Canada.	5
Relatives in Canada For points to be awarded under adaptability selection factor skilled workers or their spouses or common-law partners should have a relative who is: living in Canada 18 years or older and a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident This relative must be a: parent grandparent child grandchild skilled workers or their spouses sibling (child of skilled workers or their spouses parent) skilled workers or their spouses aunt or uncle (by blood or marriage) skilled workers or their spouses niece or nephew (grandchild of skilled workers or their spouses parent)	5