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Got an ITA under CEC but worked abroad for two months in my 2 year work experience

scylla

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Even if I go to NY for a weekend? I should split my Canadian experience? Sounds weird.
No, not for something like that. Longer periods of time outside of Canada. See OP's post. OP spent two months outside of Canada. This would need to be split out.
 
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ViktorKosenko

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Jul 6, 2023
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No, not for something like that. Longer periods of time outside of Canada. See OP's post. OP spent two months outside of Canada. This would need to be split out.
That’s why I am curious. Can you quote the source of these assumptions?
 

scylla

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That’s why I am curious. Can you quote the source of these assumptions?
I don't have the link handy. I'll have to look for it later. Someone else will probably come along and post it.
 

novemberrain

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That’s why I am curious. Can you quote the source of these assumptions?
An allowance for a reasonable period of vacation time will generally be made in calculating the period of qualifying work experience (for example, a 2-week period of paid vacation leave within a given 52-week period in which the applicant was engaged in qualifying work experience). An allowance for normal vacation time during a period of qualifying work experience cannot be used as a substitute or proxy for meeting the in-Canada element of the work experience requirement (that is, work experience obtained outside Canada will not be considered as though the applicant had been on a period of vacation in order to be counted as part of the period of in-Canada work experience). While officers will account for a reasonable period of vacation time in calculating the period of qualifying work experience in Canada, each application is considered on its own merits with a final decision based on a review of all the information available to the officer at the time of decision.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/economic-classes/experience/qualifying-work-experience.html
 

wwwweeeeee

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Jul 5, 2023
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No, not for something like that. Longer periods of time outside of Canada. See OP's post. OP spent two months outside of Canada. This would need to be split out.

Hi, thank you for the detailed explanation! I took your advice and declined the ITA last month. And I split my work experience into different sections. However, it is weird that my score got bumped to 2 years again now and I got an ITA this week.

At the same time, I got the PNP nomination too. In your opinion, what do you think I should do now?

Thank you so much for your help!
 

extraspam

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Dec 11, 2023
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Well one would be the IRCC website itself and the definition of Canadian work experience.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility/canadian-experience-class.html#minimum
  • have gained your work experience by working in Canada while under temporary resident status with authorization to work
The other would be refusals we've seen here where IRCC has consistently applied this rule.

This rule is very well known on this forum. Remote work outside of Canada is classified as foreign work even if you are working for a Canadian employer. You need to be physically working in Canada to count it as Canadian work experience.
Does this rule apply even if we have a valid work permit, started the work in Canada, and then traveled and worked from outside Canada for 2 months?
 

Naturgrl

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Does this rule apply even if we have a valid work permit, started the work in Canada, and then traveled and worked from outside Canada for 2 months?
Your experience outside Canada is foreign experience even if working for a Canadian company. Canadian experience must be IN Canada.
 
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scylla

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Does this rule apply even if we have a valid work permit, started the work in Canada, and then traveled and worked from outside Canada for 2 months?
Yes, it still applies. You need to be physically in Canada to count the work experience as Canadian work experience.
 
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newuser01012022

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Jan 12, 2022
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@wwwweeeeee , @ViktorKosenko - I believe you received ITA under CEC. Did you accept it and submit your application? Was there any query raised by IRCC with regards to your time spent outside Canada? Do you work 30 hrs a week or more than that?

@Naturgrl , @scylla
The IRCC website says one should have worked in Canada for 12 months full-time (or 30 hours/week for 12 months) which is 1560 hours. If someone works 40 hrs a week (full time job) in Canada, then their total number of hours in a year are (52 weeks minus time spent for vacation/remote work outside Canada) *40.

Eg: Let's say a person has spent 2 months (8 weeks) outside Canada (vacation or working remotely). Then his/her Canadian experience is (52 - 8)*40=1760 hrs which is still well above the required 1560 hrs. In my opinion there shouldn't be a problem if you work 40 hrs a week and spend about 8 weeks outside the country for whatever reasons. What's your take on this?
 

Naturgrl

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@wwwweeeeee , @ViktorKosenko - I believe you received ITA under CEC. Did you accept it and submit your application? Was there any query raised by IRCC with regards to your time spent outside Canada? Do you work 30 hrs a week or more than that?

@Naturgrl , @scylla
The IRCC website says one should have worked in Canada for 12 months full-time (or 30 hours/week for 12 months) which is 1560 hours. If someone works 40 hrs a week (full time job) in Canada, then their total number of hours in a year are (52 weeks minus time spent for vacation/remote work outside Canada) *40.

Eg: Let's say a person has spent 2 months (8 weeks) outside Canada (vacation or working remotely). Then his/her Canadian experience is (52 - 8)*40=1760 hrs which is still well above the required 1560 hrs. In my opinion there shouldn't be a problem if you work 40 hrs a week and spend about 8 weeks outside the country for whatever reasons. What's your take on this?
It is both. You must have worked at least 12 months full time in Canada (nothing to do with hours), and then the amount of hours. Read below from CEC site.

You must
  • have at least 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada (or an equal amount of part-time work experience) in the 3 years before you apply
  • have gained your work experience by working in Canada while authorized to work under temporary resident status
 
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scylla

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@wwwweeeeee , @ViktorKosenko - I believe you received ITA under CEC. Did you accept it and submit your application? Was there any query raised by IRCC with regards to your time spent outside Canada? Do you work 30 hrs a week or more than that?

@Naturgrl , @scylla
The IRCC website says one should have worked in Canada for 12 months full-time (or 30 hours/week for 12 months) which is 1560 hours. If someone works 40 hrs a week (full time job) in Canada, then their total number of hours in a year are (52 weeks minus time spent for vacation/remote work outside Canada) *40.

Eg: Let's say a person has spent 2 months (8 weeks) outside Canada (vacation or working remotely). Then his/her Canadian experience is (52 - 8)*40=1760 hrs which is still well above the required 1560 hrs. In my opinion there shouldn't be a problem if you work 40 hrs a week and spend about 8 weeks outside the country for whatever reasons. What's your take on this?
Your take is incorrect.

IRCC's take is that one week of work only counts as one week no matter how many hours you work. You must meet the required number of hours AND also have the required number of weeks of work experience in Canada to be able to claim the full year. So the person who worked 40 hours a week in the examples you gave above still does not have a full year of work experience in Canada. They are short 8 weeks. It doesn't matter if someone works 30 or 40 or 90 hours per week. The answer will be the same. Hours worked over 30 hours cannot be used to create additional weeks of work experience.
 

newuser01012022

Full Member
Jan 12, 2022
36
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It is both. You must have worked at least 12 months full time in Canada (nothing to do with hours), and then the amount of hours. Read below from CEC site.

You must
  • have at least 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada (or an equal amount of part-time work experience) in the 3 years before you apply
  • have gained your work experience by working in Canada while authorized to work under temporary resident status
Thank you @Naturgrl and @scylla for your response. I am still a bit confused because original poster @wwwweeeeee mentioned s/he worked 2 years in Canada and then got ITA. The IRCC Website says the following about 1 year of skilled work experience - "This means you worked a total of 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before you apply. " I will try to ask my question using below example -

Example: Person A has worked in Canada for 2 years. Let's say s/he worked 1 full year in Canada and got 25 points as Canadian work experience. Then spent 2 months outside of Canada (1 month vacation and 1 month worked remotely). Then returned to Canada and continued working. At the end of 2 years, s/he was rewarded 25 additional points towards Canadian Experience. Soon after s/he received ITA because the additional 25 points helped raise the overall CRS score breach the cutoff mark. Person A has worked a total 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before s/he could apply. Should s/he apply or decline the ITA?
 

Naturgrl

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Thank you @Naturgrl and @scylla for your response. I am still a bit confused because original poster @wwwweeeeee mentioned s/he worked 2 years in Canada and then got ITA. The IRCC Website says the following about 1 year of skilled work experience - "This means you worked a total of 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before you apply. " I will try to ask my question using below example -

Example: Person A has worked in Canada for 2 years. Let's say s/he worked 1 full year in Canada and got 25 points as Canadian work experience. Then spent 2 months outside of Canada (1 month vacation and 1 month worked remotely). Then returned to Canada and continued working. At the end of 2 years, s/he was rewarded 25 additional points towards Canadian Experience. Soon after s/he received ITA because the additional 25 points helped raise the overall CRS score breach the cutoff mark. Person A has worked a total 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before s/he could apply. Should s/he apply or decline the ITA?
So when Person A submitted profile then 2 months outside Canada should have been documented separately as outside Canada. Person A is short 2 months. If still working in Canada then submit application once person has worked another 2 months to get two years of Canadian experience.
 

scylla

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Thank you @Naturgrl and @scylla for your response. I am still a bit confused because original poster @wwwweeeeee mentioned s/he worked 2 years in Canada and then got ITA. The IRCC Website says the following about 1 year of skilled work experience - "This means you worked a total of 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before you apply. " I will try to ask my question using below example -

Example: Person A has worked in Canada for 2 years. Let's say s/he worked 1 full year in Canada and got 25 points as Canadian work experience. Then spent 2 months outside of Canada (1 month vacation and 1 month worked remotely). Then returned to Canada and continued working. At the end of 2 years, s/he was rewarded 25 additional points towards Canadian Experience. Soon after s/he received ITA because the additional 25 points helped raise the overall CRS score breach the cutoff mark. Person A has worked a total 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before s/he could apply. Should s/he apply or decline the ITA?
Decline ITA. EE profile is incorrect and that's why the points were awarded. Assuming the one month of vacation was paid, fix the EE profile to split out the one month of remote work experience as a separate entry showing as foreign work experience. Submit these updates. Wait to get ITA again.
 
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scylla

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Thank you @Naturgrl and @scylla for your response. I am still a bit confused because original poster @wwwweeeeee mentioned s/he worked 2 years in Canada and then got ITA. The IRCC Website says the following about 1 year of skilled work experience - "This means you worked a total of 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before you apply. " I will try to ask my question using below example -

Example: Person A has worked in Canada for 2 years. Let's say s/he worked 1 full year in Canada and got 25 points as Canadian work experience. Then spent 2 months outside of Canada (1 month vacation and 1 month worked remotely). Then returned to Canada and continued working. At the end of 2 years, s/he was rewarded 25 additional points towards Canadian Experience. Soon after s/he received ITA because the additional 25 points helped raise the overall CRS score breach the cutoff mark. Person A has worked a total 30 hours per week for 1 year in the 3 years before s/he could apply. Should s/he apply or decline the ITA?
Or the alternative to my answer above is to wait until you have an additional month of work experience in Canada before you submit your application. That would work too. This assumes that the one month of vacation was paid.