Until January 2010, Permanent Resident applicants under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program had to have one year of continuous full-time (or equivalent part-time) paid work experience in the last ten years in one of the listed occupations.
As of January 2010, the requirement of having one year of continuous full-time employment or equivalent paid work experience means that an applicant may use any combination of full or part-time work experience in more than one eligible occupation. This means that a skilled worker applicant may use any combination of full-time or part-time work experience in more than one eligible NOC category in the last 10 years in calculating their one year of continuous work experience, as long as their experience adds up to at least one year. It is not necessary for the NOCs to be in related occupations, as long as all NOCs are listed in the Ministerial Instructions.
Previous instructions that an applicant cannot make up one year of continuous employment experience in a series of continuous periods of employment in different occupations have been revoked.
Anticipated short breaks in employment for FSW applicants who have been living legally in Canada for one year as a temporary foreign worker are also acceptable.
