Ok this might sound crazy but apparently when filling my application for Tr to Pr I applied under a 2011 standardized NOC rather then a 2016 NOC, which forced them to look into my previous job which had a different not applicable for the program NOC.
A reminder that meeting the hours requirement does not necessarily make you eligible. You also have to have worked those hours over at least a one year period in one or more combined essential worker NOCs. They might have been asking about the other jobs to ‘help’ you get greater than a year of eligible work hours.
I would add the following for clarity:
- if you worked more than one eligible NOC, you may combine the hours to achieve the needed 1560 hours minimum
- however, you must also have worked for at least 1 year, and you can count up to 3 years of hours to reach the 1560
The confusion of 'only counting 30 hours/week' comes from the minimum 1 year requirement.
For example, if you worked 40 hours per week for 40 weeks, you will have achieved 1600 hours which is more than 1560, BUT it is not worked over a full year, so they will only count 30 hours of the 40 weeks worked, which is 1200 hours. Why are they counting only 30 hours/week? Because it is a simple way to ensure that you have worked a minimum of 1560 hours over at least one year (52 weeks x 30 hours/week = 1560 hours). So, although they will discount hours over 1560 if worked over less than one year, they will allow you to add more hours to reach the minimum 1560 hours from eligible work done in any of the two earlier years.
I believe some officers have been stricter than others on this matter so if you are close to the right numbers, there may not be an issue.