Transferability of Experience

Independent immigrants are persons seeking to reside and earn their living in Canada by employment in their occupation. Work-related experience is 1 of the 9 factors for which units of assessment (points) are awarded by visa officers in determining whether or not an Independent applicant will be accepted or refused. In fact, it is a most important criterion because zero points under the experience factor will mean an automatic refusal unless the applicant has arranged employment approved by the National Employment Service in Canada (unlikely) or the applicant is qualified and destined to a Designated Occupation (a short list of occupations indeed). At most, there are 8 points available under the experience factor. Points are awarded for each year of experience (maximum 4 years) related to the applicant's intended occupation in Canada. To be awarded any points at all the applicant must have at least 1 year of experience. This is fine as far as it goes, but there are a number of gray areas which merit further consideration.

In an effort to achieve the maximum number of points or alternatively to be evaluated in an occupation which appears on the General Occupations List, an applicant may indicate an intended occupation other than that in which he/she is primarily qualified or has been predominately employed. Transferability of experience will have to be considered in situations such as the following:

• An applicant declares that experience gained in an occupation not included on the open list qualified him/her to adequately carry out the functions of an occupation which is included on the open list. As the Manual points out, each such case must be examined on its merits. One should not assume that experience gained in a higher skilled, more demanding occupation can automatically be transferred to a lower skilled, less demanding occupation.
• An applicant has carried out the functions of an occupation on the open list in addition to his/her primary occupation, perhaps in the past or as part of his/her current employment. If properly proved, points for this secondary experience and occupation should be awarded if beneficial to the applicant.
• An applicant has during his/her employment carried out some, but not all, of the functions of a particular occupation on the open list. Again , there is no fixed rule and the applicant will have to demonstrate that the skills, abilities and duties of his/her actual occupation match those of the intended occupation in Canada.

In any situation where transferability of experience is at issue, the applicant will first have to satisfy the visa officer that his/her experience qualifies him/her for the intended occupation. To do this effectively it would be helpful if the applicant could refer to and rely upon the National Occupational Classification (NOC) which lists the essential elements of each occupation on the open list.

In any event, let us assume that the applicant can establish that his/her employment history included the performance of at least some of the important elements of the intended occupation. In such cases, that percentage of the relevant employment background will be credited under the experience factor. The percentage must cumulatively add up to at least 1 year.