The Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program is one of the three federal immigration pathways under the Express Entry system. It employs the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to evaluate and rank candidates, inviting only those with the highest scores to apply for Canadian permanent residence. Each year, the FST program helps skilled tradespeople obtain permanent residency in Canada, offering them the opportunity to live and work in Canada indefinitely.
To qualify for the FST program, candidates must meet the following criteria:
Work Experience: At least two years of full-time work experience in a skilled trade within the past five years, or the equivalent part-time experience. This experience must be post-certification, meaning it should have been obtained after receiving the certification to practice the trade in the candidate’s country of residence.
Canada Employment Connection: Candidates must either have a valid offer of full-time employment for a minimum of 12 months or hold a certificate of qualification in their skilled trade from a Canadian provincial or territorial authority.
Language Proficiency: Achieve a minimum of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 4 on an approved English or French language test.
Residence in Canada: Candidates must intend to live outside the province of Quebec.
Eligible candidates should submit an Express Entry profile to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Submitting a profile does not guarantee an invitation to apply for permanent residence. Candidates will be assigned a CRS score and considered in future Express Entry draws for Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence.
Yes, candidates can include their spouse and children in the application. However, including a spouse may affect the CRS score.
No, parents cannot be included in the FST application. However, once you become a permanent resident, you may sponsor your parents.
Criminal records or serious medical conditions may render you inadmissible to Canada. However, there are processes to address inadmissibility.
Our Canada Immigration Law Firm specializes in helping individuals from around the world obtain express entry into Canada. While the application process might seem simple, the legal details and potential pitfalls are often quite complex. We frequently step in to fix issues that have arisen, usually after errors have occurred. Mistakes made by those who apply on their own can lead to costly delays or unfavorable results, which an experienced Canada immigration lawyer can avoid.
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