Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2002-227)

DIVISION 8[Repealed, SOR/2017-56, s. 1]

72.1 [Repealed, SOR/2017-56, s. 1]

72.2 [Repealed, SOR/2017-56, s. 1]

72.3 [Repealed, SOR/2017-56, s. 1]

72.4 [Repealed, SOR/2017-56, s. 1]

DIVISION 9Application to Renounce Permanent Resident Status

Marginal note:Separate application

72.5 Despite subsection 10(3), a separate application must be made for each family member that would like to renounce their permanent resident status.

Marginal note:Application — conditions

72.6 An officer may approve a person’s application to renounce their permanent resident status if

• (a) the person has provided evidence of their citizenship, nationality or permanent legal resident status in another country; and

• (b) in the case of an application in respect of a person who is less than 18 years of age, the application is signed by every person who has custody of that person or who is empowered to act on their behalf by virtue of a court order or written agreement or by operation of law, unless otherwise ordered by a court.

Marginal note:Sponsorship application suspended

72.7 If a permanent resident makes an application to renounce their permanent resident status, any sponsorship application made by them is suspended until a decision is made on the application to renounce permanent residence.

PART 6Economic Classes

DIVISION 0.1General

Marginal note:Requirements — family member

72.8 Subject to subsections 25.1(3) to (5) and for the purposes of this Part, to be considered a family member of an applicant, a person must be a family member of the applicant both at the time the application under Division 6 of Part 5 is made and at the time of the determination of the application.

DIVISION 1Skilled Workers

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 73 (1) The following definitions apply in this Division.

  Atlantic province

  Atlantic province means Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador. (province de l’Atlantique)

  Canadian educational credential

  Canadian educational credential means any secondary school diploma or any post-secondary diploma, certificate or credential that is issued on the completion of a Canadian program of study or training at an educational or training institution that is recognized by the provincial authorities responsible for registering, accrediting, supervising and regulating such institutions. (diplôme canadien)

  educational credential

  educational credential[Repealed, SOR/2012-274, s. 3]

  equivalency assessment

  equivalency assessment means a determination, issued by an organization or institution designated under subsection 75(4), that a foreign diploma, certificate or credential is equivalent to a Canadian educational credential and an assessment, by the organization or institution, of the authenticity of the foreign diploma, certificate or credential. (attestation d’équivalence)

  former Regulations

  former Regulations has the same meaning as in subsection 316(1). (ancien règlement)

  full-time work

  full-time work means at least 30 hours of work over a period of one week. (travail à temps plein)

  language skill area

  language skill area means speaking, oral comprehension, reading or writing. (habileté langagière)

  restricted occupation

  restricted occupation means an occupation designated as a restricted occupation by the Minister, taking into account labour market activity on both an area and a national basis, following consultation with the Department of Employment and Social Development, provincial governments and any other relevant organizations or institutions. (profession d’accès limité)

• Marginal note:Definition work

  (2) Despite the definition work in section 2, for the purposes of this Division, work means an activity for which wages are paid or commission is earned.

General

Marginal note:Criteria

• 74 (1) For the purposes of paragraphs 75(2)(d), 79(3)(a), 87.1(2)(d) and (e), 87.2(3)(a) and 87.3(2)(f), the Minister shall fix, by class prescribed by these Regulations or by occupation, and make available to the public, minimum language proficiency thresholds on the basis of

  • (a) the number of applications in all classes under this Part that are being processed;

  • (b) the number of immigrants who are projected to become permanent residents according to the report to Parliament referred to in section 94 of the Act; and

  • (c) the potential, taking into account the applicants’ linguistic profiles and economic and other relevant factors, for the establishment in Canada of applicants under the federal skilled worker class, the Canadian experience class, the federal skilled trades class and the Atlantic immigration class.

• Marginal note:Minimum language proficiency thresholds

  (2) The minimum language proficiency thresholds fixed by the Minister shall be established in reference to the benchmarks described in the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens.

• Marginal note:Evaluation of language proficiency

  (3) The Minister may designate, for any period he or she specifies, any organization or institution to be responsible for evaluating language proficiency and approve the language test to be used to evaluate that proficiency if the organization or institution

  • (a) has expertise in evaluating language proficiency; and

  • (b) has provided the Minister with an equivalency between its language test results and the benchmarks set out in the Canadian Language Benchmarks or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Public notice

  (4) The Minister shall make available to the public the names of the designated organizations or institutions and the approved language tests.

• Definition service agreement

  (5) For the purpose of subsection (6), service agreement means an agreement concluded between the Government of Canada and an organization or institution for the purpose of having the organization or institution supply the service of evaluating the language proficiency of foreign nationals.

• Marginal note:Revocation

  (6) The Minister may revoke a designation of an organization or institution or the approval of a language test if

  • (a) the organization or institution no longer meets the criteria set out in subsection (3);

  • (b) the organization or institution submitted false, misleading or inaccurate information or has contravened any provision of a federal or provincial law or regulation that is relevant to the service provided by the organization or institution; or

  • (c) either the Government of Canada or the organization or institution has terminated the service agreement.

• Marginal note:Conclusive evidence

  (7) The results of an evaluation of language proficiency by a designated organization or institution using an approved language test are conclusive evidence of an applicant’s language proficiency in respect of the federal skilled worker class, the Canadian experience class, the federal skilled trades class or the Atlantic immigration class, as the case may be.

Federal Skilled Workers

Federal Skilled Worker Class

Marginal note:Class

• 75 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the federal skilled worker class is hereby prescribed as a class of persons who are skilled workers and who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada and who intend to reside in a province other than the Province of Quebec.

• Marginal note:Skilled workers

  (2) A foreign national is a skilled worker if

  • (a) within the 10 years before the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made, they have accumulated, over a continuous period, at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work, in the occupation that they identified in their application as their primary occupation, other than a restricted occupation, that is listed in TEER Category 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification;

  • (b) during that period of employment they performed the actions described in the lead statement for the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification;

  • (c) during that period of employment they performed a substantial number of the main duties of the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification, including all of the essential duties;

  • (d) they have submitted the results of a language test that is approved under subsection 74(3), which results must be provided by an organization or institution that is designated under that subsection, must be less than two years old on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and must indicate that they have met or exceeded the applicable language proficiency threshold in either English or French that is fixed by the Minister under subsection 74(1) for each of the four language skill areas; and

  • (e) they have submitted one of the following:

    • (i) their Canadian educational credential, or

    • (ii) their foreign diploma, certificate or credential and the equivalency assessment, which assessment must be less than five years old on the date on which their application is made.

• Marginal note:If professional body designated

  (2.1) If a professional body has been designated under subsection (4) in respect of the occupation identified by the foreign national in their application as their primary occupation, the foreign diploma, certificate or credential submitted by the foreign national must be relevant to that occupation and the equivalency assessment — which must be less than five years old on the date on which their application is made and must be issued by the designated professional body — must establish that the foreign diploma, certificate or credential is equivalent to the Canadian educational credential required to practise that occupation in at least one of the provinces in which the equivalency assessments issued by this professional body are recognized.

• Marginal note:Minimal requirements

  (3) If the foreign national fails to meet the requirements of subsection (2), the application for a permanent resident visa shall be refused and no further assessment is required.

• Marginal note:Designation for equivalency assessment

  (4) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(e) and subsection (2.1), the Minister may designate, for a period specified by the Minister, any organization or institution to be responsible for issuing equivalency assessments

  • (a) if the organization or institution has the recognized expertise to assess the authenticity of foreign diplomas, certificates and credentials and their equivalency to Canadian educational credentials; and

  • (b) if, in the case of a professional body, its equivalency assessments are recognized by at least two provincial professional bodies that regulate an occupation listed in TEER Category 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification for which licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required.

• Marginal note:Public notice

  (5) The Minister shall make available to the public a list of the designated organizations or institutions.

• Definition service agreement

  (6) For the purpose of subsection (7), service agreement means an agreement concluded between the Government of Canada and an organization or institution for the purpose of having the organization or institution supply the service of assessing the authenticity of foreign diplomas, certificates and credentials and their equivalency to Canadian educational credentials.

• Marginal note:Revocation of designation

  (7) The Minister may revoke a designation if

  • (a) the organization or institution no longer meets the criteria set out in subsection (4);

  • (b) the organization or institution submitted false, misleading or inaccurate information or has contravened any provision of federal or provincial legislation relevant to the service provided by the organization or institution; or

  • (c) either the Government of Canada or the organization or institution has terminated the service agreement.

• Marginal note:Conclusive evidence

  (8) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(e), subsection (2.1) and section 78, an equivalency assessment is conclusive evidence that the foreign diplomas, certificates or credentials are equivalent to Canadian educational credentials.

Marginal note:Selection criteria

• 76 (1) For the purpose of determining whether a skilled worker, as a member of the federal skilled worker class, will be able to become economically established in Canada, they must be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

  • (a) the skilled worker must be awarded not less than the minimum number of required points referred to in subsection (2) on the basis of the following factors, namely,

    • (i) education, in accordance with section 78,

    • (ii) proficiency in the official languages of Canada, in accordance with section 79,

    • (iii) experience, in accordance with section 80,

    • (iv) age, in accordance with section 81,

    • (v) arranged employment, in accordance with section 82, and

    • (vi) adaptability, in accordance with section 83; and

  • (b) the skilled worker must

    • (i) have in the form of transferable and available funds, unencumbered by debts or other obligations, an amount equal to one half of the minimum necessary income applicable in respect of the group of persons consisting of the skilled worker and their family members, or

    • (ii) be awarded points under paragraph 82(2)(a), (b) or (d) for arranged employment, as defined in subsection 82(1), in Canada.

• Marginal note:Number of points

  (2) The Minister shall fix and make available to the public the minimum number of points required of a skilled worker, on the basis of

  • (a) the number of applications by skilled workers as members of the federal skilled worker class currently being processed;

  • (b) the number of skilled workers projected to become permanent residents according to the report to Parliament referred to in section 94 of the Act; and

  • (c) the potential, taking into account economic and other relevant factors, for the establishment of skilled workers in Canada.

• Marginal note:Circumstances for officer’s substituted evaluation

  (3) Whether or not the skilled worker has been awarded the minimum number of required points referred to in subsection (2), an officer may substitute for the criteria set out in paragraph (1)(a) their evaluation of the likelihood of the ability of the skilled worker to become economically established in Canada if the number of points awarded is not a sufficient indicator of whether the skilled worker may become economically established in Canada.

• Marginal note:Concurrence

  (4) An evaluation made under subsection (3) requires the concurrence of a second officer.