This cap was announced today and is effective immediately. According to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, the cap will help ensure that processing times remain short and prevent an application backlog from forming.

“The Canadian Experience Class has allowed more than 25,000 people to stay in Canada permanently to contribute their skills and talents,” said Minister Alexander. “The government is taking concrete action to reduce backlogs and processing times. By making these changes to the Canadian Experience Class, we are moving toward a more effective and efficient immigration system.”

In addition, in order to make sure that certain occupations are not overrepresented in the program, six occupations have been made ineligible. They are:

• Cooks (NOC 6322);
• Food service supervisors (NOC 6311);
• Administrative officers (NOC 1221);
• Administrative assistants (NOC 1241);
• Accounting technicians and bookkeepers (NOC 1311); and
• Retail sales supervisors (NOC 6211)

Further, an intake cap of 200 applications has been instituted for all NOC ‘B’ level occupations. Occupations at the NOC A and 0 levels will not be subject to individual caps, but will be subject to the overall cap of 12,000.

Finally, while language requirements remain unchanged, applicants will have their language skills assessed upon submission of their files. Earlier screening of these requirements is expected to further enhance processing efficiency.

All changes are effective as of November 9, 2013.