Candidates do not need to be hired at the date of submission, but they must've had temporarily residency rights in Canada for the duration of the required period of work experience. Any periods of self-employment or illegitimate labor will not be factored into the work experience calculation. A person who has worked in Canada without authorization has broken a part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and may be deemed inadmissible under section A41 as a result. Note: Work experience obtained while in retained condition and cooperating under the authority of paragraph of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) will be taken into account eligible work experience under the CEC if the applicant kept working in Canada under the same conditions as their initial project permit until their work permit enhanced version application was approved. When calculating the period of qualifying work experience, a suitable amount of vacation time will usually be taken into account (for example, a 2-week period of paid vacation leave within a given 52-week period in which the applicant was engaged in qualifying work experience). Normal vacation time during a period of qualifying work experience cannot be used as a substitute or proxy for the in-Canada component of the work experience requirement (that is, work experience obtained outside Canada will not be considered as though the applicant had been on a period of vacation in order to be counted as part of the period of in-Canada work experience). While officers will take into account a reasonable amount of vacation time when determining the duration of qualifying work experience in Canada, each application is evaluated on its own merits, with a final decision based on a review of all available evidence at the time of decision. Work experience is being evaluated for applications submitted before January 2, 2013. In order to be considered for the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the applicant must have: • completed at least 24 months of full-time, Canadian skilled work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work experience) in one or more NOC 0, A or B occupations within the previous 36 months. In order to be considered for the Post-Graduation stream, applicants must have: • completed at least 12 months of full-time, Canadian skilled work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work experience) in one or more NOC 0, A, or B occupations within the previous 24 months. After students have finished the requisite program of study and gained a Canadian educational certificate, they must obtain this experience. (Work done on a co-op work term or under the Off-Campus Work Permit Program does not count.) Work experience is being evaluated for applications received on or after January 2, 2013. Within the 36 months before the date of application receipt, applicants must have completed at least 12 months of full-time, Canadian skilled work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work experience) in one or more NOC 0, A, or B occupations. Furthermore, the applicant must have both of the following within that time period of employment: • carried out the actions outlined in the lead statement for the occupation(s) as outlined in the NOC's occupational description; and • performed a significant number of the main responsibilities of the occupation(s), including all essential duties, as outlined in the NOC's occupational description Any period of employment during which the applicant was enrolled full-time in school will be excluded from the calculation of qualifying work experience (for example, work experience gained through co-op work permits, off-campus work permits while a full-time student and on-campus work permits). Officers should check the Global Case Management System for work permit information (GCMS). Identifying a candidate's job status Section R87.1 of the CEC requires applicants to demonstrate to an IRCC officer that they meet all program requirements. Any term of self-employment will not be counted against the CEC's qualifying work experience requirement. As a result, the CEC requires applicants to show that they gained skilled work experience in Canada through permitted third-party employment. Principal applicants must provide documentary evidence of their work experience in Canada in the form of a copy of their most latest work permit (unless they are work-permit exempt), photocopy of their most recent T4 tax information slips and Notice of Assessment (NOA) approved by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), or an adequate combined effect of other relevant evidence, as well as employer letters of reference for all periods of qualifying work experience. Employers in Canada must deduct and send Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payments, Employment Insurance (EI) premiums, and income tax from salaries or other amounts paid to their employees to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). They must also send T4 tax information slips to employees as a record of their compensation and deductions. The T4 slip is thus critical documented proof for the great majority of CEC applicants to show that they worked in an employer-employee relationship throughout their qualifying work experience in Canada. However, CEC candidates are not required by the regulations to provide a T4 tax information slip or a NOA with their application, and these documents cannot be regarded conclusive evidence or the only evidence recognized for substantiating whether an applicant has qualifying Canadian work experience. As a result, in the absence of a T4 tax information slip or a NOA, documents such as a record or letter of employment from a Canadian employer, work contracts, and pay stubs may be used to prove the applicant's work history in Canada. In all situations, it is the applicant's responsibility to demonstrate that they fit the CEC criteria at the time of application. All applicants must submit sufficient documentation of their work experience in Canada, including proof of being in an employer-employee relationship during their qualifying work experience. Consider the following factors: employee vs. self-employed. IRCC officers should evaluate the following considerations when deciding whether an applicant under the CEC was an employee or a self-employed individual during their period of qualifying work experience in Canada: • the extent to which the worker has control or autonomy over how and when work is completed, as well as the method(s) employed to complete the work; • whether the worker owns and/or provides the necessary tools and equipment for the job; • the extent to which the worker is required to complete the task personally, as well as whether the worker has the option of subcontracting or employing others to assist in the completion of the work; • whether the employee is obligated to produce any investment in order to finish the project or provide the service, and whether the worker is free to make business decisions that affect their ability to make a profit or lose money (as opposed to the opportunity to earn commissions or other productivity bonuses); the degree of financial risk assumed by the worker, such as whether the worker is required to make any investment in order to complete the work and then provide the service, and whether the worker is available to create business decisions that impact their ability to realize a revenue or suffer losses • any other relevant factors, such as contracts in writing The Employee or Self-employed? CRA guide has more information on each of the above factors, as well as indicators that can be used to determine whether someone is an employee or self-employed.