Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway: Assessing the application against the policy conditions
May 26, 2021
Applicants should be assessed against the established eligibility criteria below, based on the information and documents provided in their application.
Applicants must meet all of the following criteria to be approved based on the stream to which they are applying:
- Legal entry into Canada and status as a temporary resident
- Official language proficiency
- Current work experience
- Intent to reside outside of Quebec
- Qualifying work experience
- Education requirements (international graduates from a Canadian institution and French-speaking international graduates from a Canadian institution)
Legal entry into Canada and status as a temporary resident
All principal applicants must reside in Canada with valid temporary resident status (or be eligible to restore their status) and be physically present in Canada when the application for permanent residence is received and when the application is approved. Foreign nationals who do not currently have temporary resident status in Canada, such as refugee claimants, are not eligible for this public policy.
Official language proficiency
The applicant must provide an original language test from a designated provider that shows the applicant meets the minimum language level in each of the 4 language skill areas for the stream to which they are applying, for either the
- Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) in English
- Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) in French
Note: The test results must be less than 2 years old on the date of application. For French-speaking streams, they must provide their NCLC.
English
- IELTS: International English Language Testing System (General Training test only)
- CELPIP: Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (General test only)
French
- TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français
- TCF Canada: Test de connaissance du français (in French only)
The minimum language requirements for each stream are:
| Workers in Canada: Health care and Workers in Canada: Essential non-health care | CLB/NCLC 4 (in either English or French) |
| International graduates from a Canadian institution | CLB/NCLC 5 (in either English or French) |
| French-speaking workers in Canada: Health care and French-speaking workers in Canada: Essential non-health care | NCLC 4 (must be in French) |
| French-speaking international graduates from a Canadian institution | NCLC 5 (must be in French) |
See the language requirements section for information on providing evidence of language proficiency.
Current work experience
Principal applicants must be currently working in order to be eligible for this public policy. Current employment
- must be in Canada
- can be in any occupation listed in the National Occupational Classification (NOC)
- must be authorized
- must be paid in wages or commission
- does not include self-employment, unless the applicant is working as a medical doctor in a fee-for-service arrangement with a health authority
The lock-in date to determine “currently employed” is the date the application is received by IRCC.
Factors to consider – Employee vs. self-employed
In determining whether an applicant was an employee or a self-employed individual during their period of qualifying work experience in Canada, officers should consider factors such as
- the degree of the worker’s control or autonomy in terms of how and when work is performed and the methods used to do the work
- whether the worker owns or provides tools and equipment to accomplish the work
- the degree to which the worker has to perform the work personally and whether the worker has the option of subcontracting work or hiring others to help and assist with completing the work
- the degree of financial risk assumed by the worker, including whether the worker is required to make an investment in order to complete the work or provide the service and whether the worker is free to make business decisions that affect their ability to realize a profit or incur a loss (as opposed to the opportunity to earn commissions or other productivity bonuses)
- any other relevant factors, such as written contracts
Self-employed medical doctors in a fee-for-service arrangement with a health authority are considered to have eligible work experience.
Note: Current employment while under maintained status will be considered as eligible employment under the public policy, provided the applicant continued to work in Canada under the same conditions as their original work permit until a decision was made on their application for a work permit extension.
There are no requirements that the current employment be full-time or permanent.
Applicants do not need to remain employed throughout the processing of the application.
Principal applicants are requested to provide documentary evidence of their employment in Canada through a combination of
- a copy of their most recent work permit (unless they are work permit exempt) and
- an employer letter of reference from their current employment
In all cases, the onus is on the applicant to establish that they meet the public policy eligibility criteria at the time of their application. All applicants are required to provide satisfactory evidence of their work experience in Canada, including the fact that they were in an employer–employee relationship during their period of qualifying work experience (unless they were a self-employed medical doctor in a fee-for-service arrangement with a health authority).
Intent to reside outside of Quebec
IRCC must be satisfied that the applicant intends to reside in a province or territory other than the province of Quebec.
