Software Engineering in Ontario for a year, I am stuck at 431 for CEC

[intkid]

Hi,

I recently discovered that my points are really low for the pool.

As a summary:
Job: Have been working remotely from home as a Software Engineer for over a year on PGWP. My Company hires my through a PEO. It is a US based company with many people working from Canada. It is full-time and permanent.
Education: Graduated from the University of Alberta, Computer Engineering.
IELTS: S7 R8 L6.5 W6.5
No spouse/Single.

My CRS score is 431. The cutoff seems to be 488 right now.

What is a next step I could take towards getting a PR? I am worried I won't be able to stay after PGWP expires.

 

[scylla]

Hi,

I recently discovered that my points are really low for the pool.

As a summary:
Job: Have been working remotely from home as a Software Engineer for over a year on PGWP. My Company hires my through a PEO. It is a US based company with many people working from Canada. It is full-time and permanent.
Education: Graduated from the University of Alberta, Computer Engineering.
IELTS: S7 R8 L6.5 W6.5
No spouse/Single.

My CRS score is 431. The cutoff seems to be 488 right now.

What is a next step I could take towards getting a PR? I am worried I won't be able to stay after PGWP expires.

Yes, your points are low. Some suggestions:

- Your IELTS results are low. Rewrite IELTS and achieve a higher score to max out these points.
- Learn French so that you can take the French language test for additional points.
- Get an LMIA supported job offer so that you can claim the 50 job offer points.
- Change jobs and get a job with an employer in Canada so that you can potentially qualify under a PNP program.

 

[qdee]

You can check out some of the PNP programs in Ontario.

If you want to improve your chances in EE, you should probably at least try to improve your IELTS score and accumulate more work experience. Improving your IELTS to CLB 9 not only increases your language related scores, it also grants you bonus scores for skill transferability.

Even if you fail everything, you can still move back to your home country and accumulate more work experience, which grants you points for foreign experience.

Maybe play around with the CRS tool to figure out what you need to work towards to.

 

[intkid]

Thank you for the CRS tool tip. I've started working on improving my IELTS scores.

> - Change jobs and get a job with an employer in Canada so that you can potentially qualify under a PNP program.

My payroll and benefits are all in Canada. And, I look as I work for a company in Canada. I did my taxes last year using a T4. I work remotely from Ontario. Do you think my job could qualify for Ontario's PNP ?

 

[scylla]

Thank you for the CRS tool tip. I've started working on improving my IELTS scores.

> - Change jobs and get a job with an employer in Canada so that you can potentially qualify under a PNP program.

My payroll and benefits are all in Canada. And, I look as I work for a company in Canada. I did my taxes last year using a T4. I work remotely from Ontario. Do you think my job could qualify for Ontario's PNP ?

No, it definitely won't qualify under Ontario PNP. You would need to switch to an employer with physical operations in Ontario and which is fully registered in Ontario as a business.

The job you have now limits your PR options in a number of ways.

 

[intkid]

My company uses PEO Canada. Their head office shows up as in Calgary. Would that make me eligible for Alberta's PNP then ?

 

[scylla]

My company uses PEO Canada. Their head office shows up as in Calgary. Would that make me eligible for Alberta's PNP then ?

No. It won't work.

For the PNP programs to be possible, your actual employer (not the PEO) needs to have physical operations in that province and be incorporated in that province (including filing taxes there, etc., etc.). You must also be living and working in that province.

With your current work situation, your main option is Express Entry but then you need to increase your score substantially (50+ points) to be able to compete with other applicants in the pool.

 

[intkid]

My main job still qualifies for Express Entry for the one year Canadian experience right? It just doesn't qualify for PNP as far as I understand.

 

[scylla]

My main job still qualifies for Express Entry for the one year Canadian experience right? It just doesn't qualify for PNP as far as I understand.

I would say that's not 100 percent certain since you are going through a PEO and your actual employer is not in Canada. We have seen some people be successful in claiming this as Canadian work experience. However I think this isn't completely black and white and there's a judgement call made by the visa officer for these cases. It's also possible that IRCC may decide they will no longer allow this at some point. Or they might not. Hard to say. I think the most accurate statement is thet you should be able to count this as Canadian work experience but that it's not 100 percent guaranteed that IRCC will accept it.