Better to apply under CEC or FSW?

[moonpalace]

Hi,

I'm working with a PGWP as a social service worker. I have accumulated 1200 hours and will soon have a full time position at my work (currently permanent part time).

I will ask my employer to do an LMIA for me and I am hopeful about this happening!

Is it better to apply as FSW once I get the job offer OR wait until I get 1560 hours of work experience and apply as CEC? I'm not sure which has more places/less competition.

This is all dependent on whether I get LMIA of course!

 

[purplesnow]

you don't get to choose. Its a generic application that determines which you're eligible under and then puts you in that. the computer will put you in both streams if you qualify for more than one.

 

[moonpalace]

Thanks for your answer!

To do this will I need to be in a full time job that's a minimum of 30 hours/week or 37.5 hours/week? I hear different things from different sources, official and otherwise!

 

[hariskhan]

CEC was the route for people who were lucky enough to enter Canada via temporary work visa, at a time when there were relatively no or less restrictions on it.

Now, Canada has imposed requirement of LMIA on temp work visa, or nearly all kind of work visa. So, its become nearly impossible to at least enter Canada, in order to work, to then later be eligible to apply for PR from inside Canada, be it under CEC or FSW/FST.

For those who are already outside Canada, they can't apply for CEC, and the FSW with job offer/LMIA has been made "near impossible", for the present. Not sure what the future holds.

 

[moonpalace]

I'm not outside Canada, I have been working here on a 3-year post graduate work permit since June 2014. My job will become full time (either 32 hours or 40 hours, I have a choice) and permanent soon, so my question was related to which amount of hours would be better to apply for PR (either CEC or FSW).

I'm going to request that my work go through an LMIA on the job that I already have.

 

[purplesnow]

it needs to be a minimum of 30 hours.

 

[hariskhan]

For those who are already inside Canada, CEC is better choice. From what I read, it has less requirements than FSW.

 

[Intocanada]

hariskhan is right! Looks like people prefer CEC compared to FSW.
But I have less than one year experience in Canada. So I had to apply thru FSW.(I mean I got the ITA in FSW)

 

[moonpalace]

So it is better to apply for an invitation with CEC and with a LMIA in a 30 hr/week full time job?

 

[purplesnow]

like i said, it doesn't matter what's better, you don't get to choose your stream if you qualify under more than one.

 

[moonpalace]

So its arbitrarily chosen for me?

Regarding the hours - what is the minimum amount of hours I need for either?

 

[purplesnow]

was i unclear in my answer earlier?
You answer generic questions when you're creating your EE profile. You don't get to choose a stream ,it determines what you're eligible for. If you're eligible under more than one stream you go in both.
Minimum work hours is 30 full time for both.

For FSW your work needs to be continuous & you need an ECA to be eligible. You also need to meet the fund requirement.
Under CEC your work doesn't need to be continuous to be eligible, but does need to be continuous to get the points. ECA is also not required under CEC, but you get no education points without one. No fund requirement for CEC.

 

[moonpalace]

I getcha, I was just surprised and a bit incredulous that I have no choice - government immigration websites seem to imply otherwise. Also, immigration is super stressful and sometimes its hard to get ahold of all the different strands of information. As I'm sure we all know.

Cheers!

 

[jes_ON]

Minimum work hours is 30 full time for both.

Well actually ... this isn't quite right.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-express.asp

EE, FSW, and CEC all accept the "full-time equivalent" of part-time work. Full-time = 30 or more hours per week, part-time is less than 30 hours per week. If you have part-time work experience, it can be used to qualify, but it will take longer than 1 year. For example, if you work 15 hours per week, it will take 2 years to reach the full-time equivalent.

But as purplesnow noted, even though CEC does not require the experience to be continuous, EE does.

 

[Champ16]

Full Time

30 hours/week for 12 months = 1 year full time (1560 hours)

Part time

15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full time (1560 hours)
OR
30 hours/week for 12 months at more than one job = 1 year full time (1560 hours)

You must show that you did the duties set out in the lead statement of the occupational description in the NOC, including all the essential duties and most of the main duties listed.

If you do not show that your experience meets the description in the NOC, we will not accept your application.