Public Policy: Permanent Residence Pathways for Hong Kong Residents

Stream B: Canadian work experience

To be eligible for this stream, you must

• hold a valid passport issued by one of the following:
  • Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
  • United Kingdom to a British National (Overseas) as a person born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong
• be physically present in Canada when you apply and when you get permanent residence
• have valid temporary resident status in Canada
• intend to live in Canada, in any province or territory other than the province of Quebec
• have a level 5 score in all 4 skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in English or French on one of the following scales:
  • Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)
  • Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC)
• have worked in Canada for at least 12 months full-time, or an equal amount of part-time hours in the 3 years before you apply.

How to meet the hours of work requirement

To be eligible for this stream, you must have worked in Canada for at least 12 months full-time, or an equal amount of part-time hours (at least 1,560 hours in total) in the 3 years before you apply.

You must have been allowed to work legally in Canada for these hours to count. This means you either had a valid work permit, or you were exempt from needing a work permit.

You can’t include any hours of work that you spent

• as a full-time student
• self-employed
• working outside Canada
• on leave from your job (medical, parental or similar)
• on an extended absence outside Canada
• unemployed

Before you apply for permanent residence, you should gather all the documents you need. Your application may be delayed if you’re missing anything. You can find a full list of the documents you need to submit in your document checklist.

Supporting Documents:

Language test

You must provide a copy of your language test results that shows you have a level 5 score in all 4 skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) on one of the following scales:

• Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)
• Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC)

If you haven’t already completed a language test, make sure you book one early. It takes time to book the test and get your results.

Intent to live in a province or territory other than Quebec

If you currently live in Quebec, you must prove that you intend to live in a province or territory other than Quebec.