Ministerial Instructions Amending the Ministerial Instructions Respecting the Express Entry System

(1) Pour l’application des articles 23 et 24, l’expérience de travail à l’étranger est l’expérience de travail qui, à la fois :

(2) Subsection 25(1) of the Instructions is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (b), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (c) and by adding the following after paragraph (c):

• (d) is remunerated by the payment of wages or a commission.

13 The Instructions are amended by adding the following after section 27:

Additional factors

27.1 The additional factors referred to in paragraph 8(1)(d) are factors relating to

• (a) provincial nomination;
• (b) qualifying offer of arranged employment; and
• (c) Canadian educational credentials.

14 Sections 29 to 34 of the Instructions are replaced by the following:

Points for qualifying offer of arranged employment

29 (1) If a foreign national has a qualifying offer of arranged employment, they may be assigned points as follows:

• (a) 200 points, if the offer is for employment in an occupation contained in Major Group 00 of the National Occupation Classification; or
• (b) 50 points, if the offer is any other qualifying offer of arranged employment.

Qualifying offer of arranged employment

(2) A qualifying offer of employment is one of the following:

• (a) an arranged employment as defined in subsection 82(1) of the Regulations, if
  • (i) the offer is supported by a valid assessment — provided by the Department of Employment and Social Development at the request of the employer or an officer and on the same basis as an assessment provided for the issuance of a work permit — that the requirements set out in subsection 203(1) of the Regulations with respect to the offer have been met,
  • (ii) the foreign national holds a valid work permit, the offer of employment is made by an employer for whom the foreign national currently works and who is specified on the work permit, the work permit was issued based on a positive determination made by an officer under subsection 203(1) of the Regulations with respect to the foreign national’s employment with that employer in an occupation that is listed in Skill Type 0 Management Occupations or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification matrix and the assessment provided by the Department of Employment and Social Development on the basis of which the determination was made is not suspended or revoked, or
  • (iii) the foreign national holds a valid work permit issued under the circumstances described in paragraph 204(a) or (c) or section 205 of the Regulations, the offer is made by an employer who is specified on the work permit and the foreign national works for that employer and has accumulated at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work, over a continuous period of work for that employer;
• (b) an offer of continuous full-time employment for a total duration of at least one year from the day on which a permanent resident visa is issued in a skilled trade occupation as defined in subsection 87.2(1) of the Regulations that is made to the foreign national by up to two employers, neither of which is an embassy, high commission or consulate in Canada or an employer referred to in any of subparagraphs 200(3)(h)(i) to (iii) of the Regulations if
  • (i) the offer is supported by a valid assessment — provided by the Department of Employment and Social Development at the request of one or two employers or an officer and on the same basis as an assessment provided for the issuance of a work permit — that the requirements set out in subsection 203(1) of the Regulations with respect to the offer have been met,
  • (ii) the foreign national holds a valid work permit, the offer is made by up to two employers who are specified on the work permit, the foreign national currently works for one of those employers, the work permit was issued on the basis of a positive determination by an officer under subsection 203(1) of the Regulations with respect to their employment with their current employer, the assessment by the Department of Employment and Social Development on which the determination is based is not revoked or suspended, and the offer is in a skilled trade occupation that is in the same minor group set out in the National Occupational Classification as the occupation specified on the work permit, or
  • (iii) the foreign national holds a valid work permit issued under the circumstances described in paragraph 204(a) or (c) or section 205 of the Regulations that specifies the employer or employers that made the offer, and the foreign national works for an employer specified on the permit and has accumulated a total of at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work, over a continuous period of work for the employers who made the offer.

Loss of offer or inability to perform duties

(3) If the offer referred to in subsection (1) is revoked or ceases to be a qualifying offer of arranged employment or if the foreign national is unable to perform the duties of the employment or is unlikely to agree to perform them, the foreign national is no longer entitled to the points assigned under subsection (1) in respect of that offer and the total number of points assigned to the foreign national under the Comprehensive Ranking System is to be adjusted accordingly.

Canadian educational credentials

30 (1) The points that are to be assigned for a Canadian educational credential are the following:

• (a) 0 points, if the foreign national has a secondary school educational credential;
• (b) 15 points, if the foreign national has an eligible credential from a one-year or two-year post-secondary program; and
• (c) 30 points, if the foreign national has
  • (i) an eligible credential from a post-secondary program of three years or more,
  • (ii) an eligible credential from a university-level program at the master’s level or at the level of an entry-to-practice professional degree for an occupation listed in the National Occupational Classification matrix at Skill Level A for which licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required, or
  • (iii) an eligible credential from a university-level program at the doctoral level.

Highest level of education

(2) Points are to be assigned under subsection (1) only for the eligible credential corresponding to the highest level of education for which the foreign national meets the requirements of subsection (3).

Requirements

(3) Points are only assigned under subsection (1) if, for the purpose of obtaining the credential, the foreign national

• (a) studied in Canada at a Canadian educational institution;
• (b) was enrolled in full-time study or training for at least eight months; and
• (c) was physically present in Canada for at least eight months.

Eligible credentials

(4) For the purpose of this section, an eligible credential is one of the following:

• (a) a degree, diploma, certificate or trade or apprenticeship credential from a Canadian public postsecondary institution or from a Canadian private post-secondary institution that operated under the same rules and regulations as a Canadian public postsecondary institution;
• (b) a diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP) or an attestation de spécialisation professionnelle (ASP) earned through a program of study of at least 900 hours from a private secondary or post-secondary institution in Quebec; or
• (c) a Bachelor’s, Master’s or doctoral degree from a Canadian private post-secondary institution, if a provincial statute authorizes that institution to confer that credential.

Exceptions

(5) For the purpose of this section, the following are not eligible credentials:

• (a) credentials obtained in a study or training program in which the study of English or French as a second language amounted to more than half of the program;
• (b) credentials obtained in a study or training program in which distance learning amounted to more than half of the program; or
• (c) credentials obtained in a study or training program while receiving a scholarship or fellowship that stipulated that the recipient return to their home country to apply the knowledge and skills gained.

Maximum points

31 The maximum number of points that may be assigned under subsections 28(1), 29(1) and 30(1), taken together, is 600 points.