The Federal Skilled Worker Program is an attractive immigration program for skilled workers and professionals who have work experience and training in areas that are in high demand in Canada. Applicants can settle and work in anyone of Canada's provinces or territories except Quebec and there are no conditions placed on applicants upon entry to Canada.

To qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, you must have a valid offer of arranged employment from a Canadian employer, or be an international student enrolled in a PhD program in Canada (or graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months), or have at least one year of continuous full-time paid work experience within the last ten years, in one of the 29 occupations listed below.

A maximum of 500 complete applications per eligible occupation, without an offer of arranged employment, will be considered for processing by the Government of Canada each year. For the unique purpose of calculating the cap, the cap year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. Therefore, if you qualify as a Federal Skilled Worker it is important to act quickly and file your application before the limit is reached for your occupation. In addition, the list of eligible occupations may change from year to year and the Government of Canada will not announce ahead of time which occupations will be on the list the following year.

Eligible Occupations

• Restaurant and Food Service Managers * cap reached
• Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
• Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management * cap reached
• Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
• Biologists and Related Scientists * cap reached
• Architects * cap reached
• Specialist Physicians * cap reached
• General Practitioners and Family Physicians * cap reached
• Dentists * cap reached
• Pharmacists * cap reached
• Physiotherapists
• Registered Nurses * cap reached
• Medical Radiation Technologists
• Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
• Licensed Practical Nurses * cap reached
• Psychologists
• Social Workers * cap reached
• Chefs
• Cooks
• Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
• Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
• Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
• Industrial Electricians
• Plumbers
• Welders & Related Machine Operators
• Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
• Crane Operators
• Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
• Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

If you meet the above requirements, your application will be assessed according to the following six selection factors:

• your education
• your abilities in English and/or French, Canada's two official languages (you must submit the results of an official language proficiency test)
• your work experience
• your age
• whether you have arranged employment in Canada
• your adaptability

In addition, you must also show that you have enough money to support yourself and your accompanying family members after you arrive in Canada. The amount of money you need is determined by the size of your family.

Number of Family Members	Funds Required (in Canadian Dollars)
1	$11, 115
2	$13, 837
3	$17, 011
4	$20, 654
5	$23, 425
6	$26, 419
7 or more	$29, 414

International Students Enrolled in a Canadian PhD Program

To qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker Program under the PhD category international students must be enrolled in a PhD program at a Canadian educational institution and completed at least two years of study towards a PhD, or graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months. In addition, applicants must not be recipients of an award requiring them to return to their home country following graduation.

A maximum of 1,000 applications under the PhD category will be considered for processing each year by the Government of Canada. The first cap year for the PhD category began on November 5, 2011.

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