reference letters for past three years

[jangad]

Hi All,

I will be eligible to apply for PR in CEC category sometime around next month. While I was going through the document checklist I came across this requirement where as we need to get the Reference letters for all the work done in the last three years.Right now my job comes under NOC A and I have been working here for almost 2 years. But before getting this job I had worked in a lot of other industries like a 'csr' in a call centre (for few months) and for few weeks as a 'mail room clerk' for a employment agency. Now my question is do I need to give all the reference letters (with the details required by CIC like job duties etc..) for all this small stints here and there? If i need to give these letters then will regular employment agreement suffice the need for Reference letters.

 

[SenoritaBella]

Provide reference letters for ALL jobs done in the last 3 years. Ask those employers for a letter and if you can't get one, write an explanation why and attach paystubs, record of employment(can be obtained from HRSDC), contract/job offer and write your main duties and responsibilities youself. Note that for the skilled job you are using to claim work experience, you should do all you can to get a reference letter.

 

[WhiteNoise]

If your previous job was not full time i.e. if you were a student and doing some part-time jobs to support yourself and it does not fall under the skill category you are applying for then there is no need to provide a reference letter for that. However, if you were a graduate student and received RAship, then you need a letter of reference from your supervisor regarding your duties, your stipend and the amount of hours you were working.

Other than that, you will need to provide letter of reference from any place of work that you received a T4 slip from and was counted as full-time work. It would be a pretty big risk to not have them.

 

[jes_ON]

IT is quite unclear what CIC wants. If they say letters from all employers in the past three years, I agree with Senoritabella - give letters from all employers (in Canada) covering the past 3 years, regardless of whether the employment will "count" toward your experience requirement.

 

[jes_ON]

CIC instructions clearly indicate "past 3 years." Re-write the instructions at your own risk...

 

[SenoritaBella]

The checklist clearly states, "Work experience in Canada" - so provide reference letters for jobs done in Canada. If that's for just 2 years, it's what it is.

If you are working in Canada for the past 3 years it's fine to provide the reference letters. How about the experience gained in other countries?

 

[GSIn]

Thanks Senoritabella.

 

[jangad]

Thanks A Lot Everyone for your expert comments!!

 

[2_of_5]

The checklist clearly states, "Work experience in Canada" - so provide reference letters for jobs done in Canada. If that's for just 2 years, it's what it is.

That's exactly what I did. But after I went to my other two past employers in the US and asked them to provide letters to me. I re-read the instructions when putting my application package together and saw it said "work experience in Canada". So I just sent in my current employer's letter, covering two years.

I have the other two letters if CIC asks me, but I have a suspicion that they wont.

 

[Ozge]

You only have to provide reference letters for jobs that fall under NOC A,B and 0 in last 3 years. If you look at the form schedule 8 form, it says under work experience in Canada section " List only occupations that fall in Skill Type 0 or Skill Levels A or B of the NOC".

 

[Ozge]

And that "work experience in Canada" section of the check list is providing supporting documents for Schedule 8 form. Therefore, I would think reference letters are not required for every single job you did in Canada in last 3 years.

 

[jes_ON]

That's exactly what I did. But after I went to my other two past employers in the US and asked them to provide letters to me. I re-read the instructions when putting my application package together and saw it said "work experience in Canada". So I just sent in my current employer's letter, covering two years.

I have the other two letters if CIC asks me, but I have a suspicion that they wont.

The instructions used to ask for Letters covering the past 3 years (not specifying work in Canada), I think it was the January 2012 revision that changed it to "Canada only."

 

[jes_ON]

And that "work experience in Canada" section of the check list is providing supporting documents for Schedule 8 form. Therefore, I would think reference letters are not required for every single job you did in Canada in last 3 years.

Ozge, I don't disagree that that's the way it SHOULD be. But the Checklist IS a different document with different instructions than Schedule 8, and the required documents from the checklist also support other forms (e.g. Schedule A, Background Declaration - Personal History) which requires a list of all jobs over the past 10 years / since age 18.

Until CIC changes the instructions on the document checklist and specifies "only for the jobs listed on Schedule 8" it is safest to do exactly what the checklist says. If you don't need those jobs to qualify, then it may not really matter that much you don't include them, but I'm not a VO and am not comfortable suggesting that applicants are free to "interpret" the checklist...