Self-Assessment Test-Canada

There frequently are new threads on the Canada forum in which new posters ask questions about the points they've scored on Citizenship and Immigration Canada's self-assessment test.

They are relevant only when you apply for a permanent residence visa via the skilled worker route.

During 2006 and 2007, the waiting times for skilled worker visas without pre-arranged employment had grown to 5 - 8 years (depending on the visa posts to which applications had been submitted).

The Canadian government addressed this unwieldy situation by passing new legislation on June 18th, 2008.

At the time of this writing (July 2nd, 2008), the full implications of the new legislation are not fully understood.

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has yet to issue implementation guidelines to her Department.

The gist of the legislation, however, is that much greater emphasis will be placed on the applicant's occupation and how much demand there is for people in that occupation.

This means that there essentially will be a pre-screening process for permanent residence applications that have been submitted via the skilled worker route.

It is expected that applicants who do not have pre-arranged employment but who are in high demand occupations will have their applications processed more quickly than before -- say in about a year.

On the other hand, applications from people who do not have pre-arranged employment and who are in low demand occupations will be rejected out of hand.

Another important element of the new system is that the Minister will set quotas for each high-demand occupation. The Minister will establish occupation-based categories, set an annual visa quota for each category, and adjust the annual quota as needed. As a result, many applicants who belong to occupations in high demand may not make the cut for the year in which they apply, especially if they apply late in the year. In such cases, applications from people who are in high demand occupations may be retained until the following year or years, while other applications will be returned almost immediately.

So, even if you hypothetically have enough points for education, age, fluency in one or both of Canada's official languages, etc., if you are in an occupation for which there is little demand in Canada, that fact alone will override everything else, and your skilled worker application will be rejected.

If you want to get into Canada relatively quickly, say within a year or so, in most cases it would help if you got a [temporary work permit], applied to one of the [Provincial Nominee Programs], started a business, or found some other creative avenue.

Update as of September 24th, 2008:
- The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration still has not published her list of high-demand occupations.
- Citizenship and Immigration Canada has stated that the list of high-demand occupations will be published some time in the fall (autumn) of 2008.