Program Federal Skilled Trades (FST) is intended for qualified workers who have a valid job offer or qualification certificate.

Minimum requirements for participation in the program:

  1. Experience in the specialty. A minimum of two years of full-time or part-time work experience in a skilled occupation within the five years prior to application. The position must meet the requirements for the occupation in the list of the National Classification of Occupations (National Occupational Classification, NOC). You must prove that the primary job duties, or a majority of them, correspond to the duties listed in the main part of the job description in the NOC.
  2. Job offer or qualification certificate. Applicants must have a valid offer from an employer for full-time employment for a total period of at least one year. A certificate of qualification in the specialty issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial, or federal government agency is also required.
  3. Knowledge of language. You must pass the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) for French. Get at least five points on each test item (oral, written, listening) and upload the results to your Express Entry application. The results are valid for two years.

Main occupational groups according to NOC:

  • Major Group 72: technical occupations, except transport officers and controllers (subgroup 726).
  • Major Group 73: general professions.
  • Major Group 82: executives in the natural resources, agriculture, and related industries.
  • Major Group 83: occupations in the field of natural resources and related production.
  • Major Group 92: controllers in the processing, manufacturing, and utilities sectors, as well as operators and controllers of public utilities.
  • Major Group 93: central control and process operators, aircraft assemblers, and assembly inspectors, with the exception of subgroup 932 — aircraft assemblers and assembly inspectors.
  • Minor Group 6320: professions of cooks, butchers, and bakers.
  • Unit Group 62200: cooks.

There are no educational requirements for this immigration program.

To summarize: to successfully participate in the Federal Skilled Trades program, you must have at least two years of relevant work experience within the last five years, a current job offer or official certificate of qualification, and a demonstrated proficiency in English or French (minimum score of 5 on the CLB/NCLC tests). 

An important advantage of the program is that there are no formal education requirements, making it accessible to professionals with practical experience in fields such as technical specialties, natural resources, and manufacturing, as well as chefs, butchers, and bakers.