Do CEC applicants need proof of funds?

IRCC generally does not require proof of settlement funds for Canadian Experience Class if you are authorized to work in Canada and have a valid job offer — confirm the current rule on the official proof-of-funds page for your situation. Federal Skilled Worker applicants usually do need funds.

What should a CEC employment letter include?

Company letterhead with job title, a duties list that matches the NOC you claimed, hours per week, salary, start and end dates, and a contact who can confirm the role. Pay stubs, T4s, and Notices of Assessment should back up the same hours.

When should I gather CEC documents?

Before the ITA. After an invitation you typically have 60 days. Police certificates and employment letters often take longer than that if you start from zero.

Guide

CEC document checklist — gather this before the ITA

Canadian Experience Class lives or dies on proof of skilled Canadian work. The 60-day ITA window is for uploading a file you already built — not for discovering that a former employer takes six weeks to issue a letter.

Track documents in a free profile

1,560

Hours you must be able to prove

Days after an ITA

Start documents earlier

2 yrs

Language test window

This is the CEC-focused list. After you are invited, use the 60-day ITA checklist for the federal upload order. IRCC’s own Express Entry document checklist is still the authority if anything here disagrees.

Canadian work evidence (the CEC-specific pile)

This is the file that decides whether your 1,560 hours survive a review. Titles alone are not enough.

Employment reference letters on company letterhead: title, duties matching your NOC/TEER, hours per week, wage, and exact dates
Pay stubs or payroll summaries that cover the same periods you logged
T4s and Notices of Assessment for the years that contain those hours
Work permit, implied-status proof, or other authorization covering every week you counted

Language and education

CEC language minimums follow the TEER of the job you are using, not a single CLB for everyone.

IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General, PTE Core, TEF Canada, or TCF Canada — still valid on the day you submit PR
CLB / NCLC 7 for TEER 0–1 work, CLB / NCLC 5 for TEER 2–3
ECA if you claimed points for a foreign credential (valid five years)
Canadian transcripts or completion letters if you claimed a Canadian credential

Identity and status in Canada

CEC is built for people who already worked here. Officers will look at the status story as closely as the hours.

Passport bio page for you and every accompanying family member
Current work permit and any previous permits that cover the experience period
Study permit history if you were a student — remember most student work does not count as CEC hours
Digital photos that meet IRCC permanent resident specifications

Admissibility

Same police and medical rules as the rest of Express Entry. Start these before the invitation if you can.

Police certificates for every country where you lived six or more consecutive months since age 18
Upfront medical from an IRCC panel physician when you are ready to apply, plus the eMedical sheet
Extra certificates take weeks in some countries — do not leave them until day 50 of the ITA window

Proof of funds — usually different from FSW

Do not copy a Federal Skilled Worker funds checklist onto a CEC file without reading the current IRCC rule.

CEC applicants who are authorized to work in Canada and have a valid job offer are generally not asked for settlement funds
If your situation is mixed (leaving a job, accompanying family, or you also qualify under FSW), confirm the official table
If funds are required, IRCC wants official bank letters — not screenshots — showing available, transferable money

What not to put in the hours file

Self-employment, most work done while you were a full-time student (including many co-op terms), unpaid internships, and TEER 4 or 5 jobs do not count toward CEC. Including those letters as if they were qualifying experience creates a mismatch between the profile and the documents. Keep them out of the 1,560-hour story. The hours-counting guide and NOC / TEER explainer are the two pages to read before you ask an employer to write anything.

If you held two jobs in the same week, the 30-hour cap still applies across both. Letters that each claim 20 hours in the same calendar week need to be added with that cap in mind, or the spreadsheet will not match what IRCC will count.

Checklist on your dashboard: 10 CEC items

Create a free profile to mark each document ready, store copies in your own Google Drive, and keep the hours log next to the letters that prove them.

Start a free profile

Official sources

Figures and rules in this guide are checked against IRCC program pages. If anything conflicts, trust the government page.

Log the hours the letters will support

A complete document folder is only useful if the hour total matches. Track pay periods first, then request letters that use the same dates and NOC.

Open hours calculator

Canadian PRLedger is a free tracking and calculator tool — not a law firm, not an RCIC practice, and not affiliated with IRCC. These guides summarize public program rules for planning purposes only. For case-specific advice, speak with a licensed immigration consultant or lawyer.