The Agri-Food Pilot is an economic class program aimed at providing a pathway to permanent residence for workers with full-time, non-seasonal in-Canada work experience in certain agricultural and agri-food industries.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for this program, you must meet the minimum requirements outlined below.

Work Experience

You must have the following work experience:

• within the last three years, you have accumulated at least one year (1,560 hours), full-time, non-seasonal work experience in Canada, under a valid work permit, in one or more eligible combinations of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS);
• your work experience must have been authorized on a work permit issued on the basis of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) with a duration of a least 12 months;
• you have performed the actions in the lead statement of the NOC;
• you have performed a substantial number of the main duties of the NOC, including all of the essential duties;
• your work experience must have been for paid work (volunteer work or unpaid internships do not count);
• Any periods of self-employment or unauthorized work will not be included when calculating the period of qualifying work experience.

Job offer

You must have a job offer that is:

• from an employer whose primary business activities are in an eligible industry (NAICS)
• for an eligible occupation (NOC)
• for an eligible occupation (NOC) and industry (NAICS) combination
• full time and non-seasonal
• indeterminate period (no end date)
• genuine
• for an employment location that must be outside of Quebec
• for a wage that is one of the following:
• at or above the prevailing wage (median) for the occupation in the province where you will be working (as identified on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank), unless a provincial wage is not available, then the national prevailing wage (median wage) applies
• determined for unionized workers as per the provisions of the collective agreement covering the occupation.

Temporary resident status

If you are in Canada, you must maintain your temporary resident status during the processing of your application for permanent residence.

Education

You must have a high-school diploma, post-secondary certificate or degree that is valid and equal to a Canadian equivalent.

Language requirements

You must meet the minimum language requirements in the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) for listening, speaking, reading and writing at level 4 (or above) across all language abilities.

Funds needed to settle in Canada

You must submit proof with your application to show that you have enough money to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada. Examples of documents you can submit are:

• current bank statements or certification letter
• proof of your savings balance
• deposit statements

Biometric (fingerprints and photo) requirements

You and your family members may need to appear in person to have fingerprints and a photograph (biometric information) taken at a biometric collection service point.

Contact us today to explore your pathways into Canada.