PGWP to PR

Your experience must be gained in Canada while you have temporary resident status and are authorized to work, for example through a PGWP. If you still need to apply for your PGWP, the deadline is within 180 days of your school confirming that you've finished your program.

The length of your PGWP depends on what you studied. A master's program lasting at least 8 months can qualify you for a 3-year PGWP if your school offers PGWP-eligible programs. A bachelor's or doctoral degree program lasting at least 2 years can also qualify you for a 3-year PGWP. Some programs don't qualify for a PGWP at all, like programs shorter than 8 months, or English and French language classes.

Express Entry manages applications for the Canadian Experience Class and two other programs: the skilled worker program and the skilled trades program run at federal level. Your first move is to create a profile, and that places you among the pool of candidates.

Joining the pool isn't the same as applying. IRCC, the department in charge of immigration, holds regular rounds where it invites the candidates with the highest points. You only submit your permanent residence application once you've been invited.

Your PGWP work counts as long as it meets a few rules. It has to be done in Canada while you were allowed to work as a temporary resident, which your PGWP covers.

Your job also has to be skilled, which means it is at TEER level 0, 1, 2 or 3 in Canada's job classification system.

Certain kinds of work won't count, even when done in Canada:

• volunteer work and unpaid internships, since the work has to be paid
• jobs held while you were a full-time student, including co-op terms
• self-employment, apart from certain doctors
• working remotely, except when you were actually in Canada and employed by a Canadian company

The minimum is 1 year of skilled work, equal to 1,560 hours, earned in the 3 years before you apply. Working part-time is fine too. It simply takes more calendar time to add up to the same figure.

Working more than 30 hours a week won't get you there faster, because full-time counts as no more than 30 hours a week. And because only the 3 years leading up to your application are counted, anything older drops out of the total.

What you must score depends on your job's TEER level. English results are measured on the CLB scale and French results on the NCLC scale, and the required minimums appear in this table.

Test scores must be less than 2 years old both when you create your profile and when you submit your PR application. If your results are getting close to that 2-year mark, they could expire while you wait in the pool, so check the date before you build your profile.

The Canadian Experience Class has no education requirement. That said, your Canadian education can still add points to your Express Entry profile, and points determine who receives an invitation.

If you apply through the Canadian Experience Class, you must intend to settle outside the province of Quebec. If Quebec is where you'd like to make your home, this isn't the right program for you.

What you pay in fees depends on who is immigrating with you.

A couple with one child, for example, pays the main applicant fee, the spouse fee and one child fee.