Federal government creates Canadian Experience Class program to fast-track immigration process

In a move that will drastically change the immigration application process for international postsecondary education students, the federal government recently unveiled its new Canadian Experience Class Program.

The program has yet to be officially approved, but if and when successful, skilled temporary foreign workers and international students would have to wait months instead of years to complete the immigration process.

“It’s been in the works for a few years. It’s something that [Citizenship and Immigration Canada] and the government of Canada find very valuable. It couldn’t have come soon enough,” explained Danielle Norris, a spokesperson with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

“The Canadian Experience Class Program gives them the opportunity, as well as Canada, to keep the best and the brightest coming from other countries. It gives them the opportunity to apply for permanent residency,” Norris said.

International students who have attended a postsecondary education institution for two years and have been employed within Canada for at least one year are eligible to apply for the fast-tracked program.

Sorcha McGinnis, Public Affairs Officer with Alberta Employment and Immigration, agrees with Norris, and feels that the addition of the program is a positive step by the federal government.

With labour shortages facing provinces like Alberta and British Columbia, the announcement comes as welcome news to addressing those issues.

“In response to a competitive environment, it gives us another tool to attract [...] international students who have already made steps to integrate into society,” McGinnis said. “They have the skills that are much needed in the labour environment.”

However, the widespread praise for the program doesn’t extend to the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL).

“The new experience class rules can be seen as a small step in the right direction. Workers in that group will now be given a new avenue to citizenship, which is something we feel should be made available to all temporary foreign workers,” Gil McGowan, president of AFL, explained.

McGowan’s concerns are the result of the program’s separation of skilled workers from non-skilled and domestic ones.

“Without going further, the federal government is doing nothing to stop this creation of underclass workers who are being exploited,” McGowan noted. “By continuing the exclusion of unskilled temporary foreign workers, the federal government is thumbing its nose at Canadian values and best traditions when it comes to immigration.”

Other criticism stems from a lack of communication on the part of the federal government.

Hossein Safaie, an international student at the University of Alberta, is glad to know that steps have been taken to improve the application process, but he isn’t sure what the program means for him.

“The only thing that bothers me is that not all the details are being advertised. I don’t know what I can or what I can’t do, or what it takes,” Safaie said.

Unlike McGowan, he also feels that the focus on applications could stand to be further narrowed.

“Maybe it’s a good idea to have program priority. For example, in Alberta I think we need more doctors, engineers, and nurses compared to other jobs,” he stated.

Either way, Safaie, who is working towards his master’s in mechanical engineering, will be applying for the program come graduation.

And according to Norris, Safaie is the kind of person that the Canadian Experience Class Program hopes to attract.

“The bottom line is that we want to get the right people, here at the right time, at the right place,” Norris explained.

“It’s about keeping Canada’s talent in the country.”