The Scenario
A foreign investor bought a Canadian company, successfully got the O/O LMIA approved, and currently working in Canada. Then after working for 1 year in Canada, can this experience account for Canadian experience and award the owner additional 200 points in Express Entry System or even be eligible for applying PNP?
Answer from IRCC
In cases where a candidate is the owner and employee of the business for which they have a qualifying job offer as per paragraph 29 (2) (a) of the Express Entry Ministerial Instructions (MIs), it is possible that the candidate may receive 200 additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for arranged employment in a NOC 00 or 50 points in NOC O, A or B.
However, work in Canada by the owner of the company may be considered “self-employed” work. Should the candidate be considered self-employed, it would not necessarily preclude them from claiming arranged employment in Express Entry, it will however disqualify them from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Pursuant to paragraph 15(7)(b) of the MIs and paragraph 87.1(3)(b) of the Regulations, periods of self-employment do not count for purposes of CRS points for “Canadian work experience” or meeting the work experience requirement under the CEC.
The candidate might, as per paragraph 75(2)(a) of the Regulations, qualify under Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program if the candidate has one year of continuous work as a self-employed person to meet the minimum requirements for FSW, but will not obtain any CRS points as no points are awarded for self-employment, as per paragraph 19(8)(b)of the MIs.
Simply put, how much can the applicant award is based on his/her occupation under the National Occupation Classification. And in general, most owners fall under NOC 00, which award them additional 200 points for sure. However, it doesn’t guarantee that the applicants can apply under Canadian Experience Class. They still need to meet the requirements from one of the Economic Immigrate Program.
Finally, there is one thing worth mentioning. Even though working as an owner is not qualifying under Canadian Experience Class. But if the owner meets the requirement under Ministerial Instructions, the owner still eligible to obtain the additional points under Express Entry System.
