The Federal Skilled Trades program is one of the three federal immigration programs managed by the Express Entry system that gives foreign nationals in skilled trades an opportunity to apply for permanent residency in Canada. The purpose of this initiative is to solve labor shortages in various specialized vocations across Canada. FST, like all Express Entry programs, uses the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to rate applicants and invite only the most competitive prospects to apply for permanent residence in Canada.
When submitting an Express Entry profile, an FST candidate will be required to provide information from several documents:
● Language Proficiency Test Results
● Identification Documents
● Educational Credentials Assessment (ECA) (optional in order to claim points for education as this is not a requirement for this program)
Some additional FST program requirements:
Work Experience
Have at least 2 years of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work experience) in a skilled trade within the 5 years before you apply.
● Your work experience must be for paid work (paid wages or earned commission—volunteer work or unpaid internships don’t count)
● Meet the job requirements for that skilled trade as set out in the National Occupational Classification, except for needing a certificate of qualification have a valid job offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least 1 year or certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
Skilled Work Experience:
Skilled trades for the Federal Skilled Trades Program are organized under these groups of the National Occupational Classification (NOC):
● Major Group 72, technical trades and transportation officers and controllers
○ excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers
● Major Group 73, general trades
● Major Group 82, supervisors in natural resources, agriculture, and related production
● Major Group 83, occupations in natural resources and related production
● Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers
● Major Group 93, central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors.
● Minor Group 6320, cooks, butchers, and bakers
● Unit Group 62200, chefs
You must show that you performed the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC. This includes all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.
Language Ability:
● You must meet the minimum score of Canadian Language Benchmark 5 for speaking and listening, and Canadian Language Benchmark 4 for reading and writing.