The Canadian Experience Class is a new immigration policy that allows international students and temporary foreign workers to apply for permanent residence status from within Canada.

Unlike the Skilled Worker or Provincial Nominee programs, the Canadian Experience Class does not use a points system. The program looks at what work experience or what type of education the applicant already has. The worker applicant is someone who is already living in Canada and who has two years of work experience. Also, the work needs to be a higher skill level according to the National Occupation Codes (NOC), requiring professional or technical skills. The student applicant needs to have completed at least two years of post-secondary school and have one year’s work experience.

The reason for this change is that the government wants to encourage skilled, educated workers to stay in Canada. These people have already established themselves here while pursuing their education at a Canadian institution or working for a Canadian employer. They are settled in Canada, so making them leave in order to apply for permanent residence status is a barrier for them to make a life here. The Canadian Experience Class means that they can put their education or work experience to work for Canada, rather than take all those benefits back to their home country.