Regulation 77 — Federal Skilled Trades — requirements
Text of provision
For the purposes of Part 5, the requirements and criteria set out in sections 75 and 76 must be met on the date on which an application for a permanent resident visa is made and on the date on which it is issued.
Plain English
Regulation 77 provides that a foreign national is a member of the Federal Skilled Trades class if they have at least two years of full-time work experience (or the equivalent in part-time experience) in an eligible skilled trade within the five years preceding their application, meet the applicable language requirements, and either have a valid job offer or a certificate of qualification in their skilled trade issued by a Canadian authority.
Eligible skilled trades are in NOC major groups 72, 73, 82, 83, 92, and minor group 632 and 633.
Practical effect
The FSTC was introduced in 2013 to address labour shortages in skilled trades. The requirement for either a valid job offer or a provincial trades certificate creates a chicken-and-egg problem for applicants without Canadian experience. The designated trades requirement means applicants in non-eligible NOC groups are excluded. Language requirements for FSTC are lower than for FSW, reflecting the linguistic demands of trade work. FSTC candidates are subject to the same Express Entry CRS-based selection as FSW and CEC candidates.