Guide
How CEC hours are actually counted
The Canadian Experience Class requires 1,560 hours of skilled Canadian work experience — but "1,560 hours" hides a few rules that catch people off guard, especially the weekly cap. Here's how IRCC actually does the math.
1,560
Hours required
30 / wk
Weekly cap
3 yrs
Lookback window
The core rule
You need 1,560 hours of skilled work experience (NOC TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3) in Canada, earned within the last 3 years, gained while you had valid authorization to work. That's the equivalent of one year of full-time work at 30 hours a week — but it doesn't have to come from one full-time job. IRCC explicitly allows combining part-time work, including from multiple jobs at once, as long as the math adds up to 1,560 hours.
Two common ways to reach it: one job at 30 hours/week for 12 months, or one job at 15 hours/week for 24 months. Any combination that totals 1,560 qualifying hours works.
The 30-hour weekly cap
This is the rule that trips up the most applicants. IRCC only counts up to 30 hours per week toward your total — even if you worked more. Work 45 hours in a week and only 30 of them count. Work two part-time jobs totalling 40 hours in the same week, and it's still capped at 30 — the cap applies to your combined hours across every job that week, not per job.
Practically: extra hours don't speed up your eligibility date. A spreadsheet that just sums everything you logged will overstate your progress unless it applies this cap week by week.
Counts toward your hours
- Paid work in a NOC TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupation
- Full-time or part-time hours, combined across multiple jobs if needed
- Work completed while on valid authorization to work in Canada
- Up to 30 hours per week, per person — even if you worked more
Doesn't count
- Hours worked beyond 30/week (IRCC caps the count, it doesn't carry over)
- Self-employment or work as a business owner
- Work done while you were a full-time student, including co-op terms
- Unpaid work, volunteering, or internships without pay
- Work in a NOC TEER 4 or 5 occupation
Mistakes that throw off a self-tracked spreadsheet
Most people are told to "just track it in a spreadsheet." That works, but these are the errors that show up most often once someone actually gets to their eligibility date and the number doesn't match what IRCC counts.
Counting scheduled hours instead of worked hours
IRCC wants actual hours worked, not what your contract says you're scheduled for. Unpaid overtime, sick days, and no-shows all change the real number — track what you were paid for, not what the schedule said.
Adding two part-time jobs without applying the weekly cap
If you work 20 hours at one job and 20 at another in the same week, that's 40 hours worked — but IRCC still only counts 30 of them for that week. The cap applies per person, per week, across every job combined, not per job.
Starting the clock before the work permit did
Hours worked before your authorization to work in Canada started don't count, even if the job itself continued afterward. Only the portion covered by valid status counts.
Assuming any job title qualifies
Eligibility depends on the NOC/TEER code your duties actually match, not your job title. A generic title like "Associate" or "Coordinator" can map to very different TEER levels depending on what the role actually does.
Official sources
Figures and rules in this guide are checked against IRCC program pages. If anything conflicts, trust the government page.
Track it without the spreadsheet math
Canadian PRLedger's hours tracker applies the 30-hour weekly cap automatically, across every job you log, so the number you see is the number IRCC would count — not just a raw sum. Free, no account needed to try it.
Canadian PRLedger is an independent project, not affiliated with IRCC or the Government of Canada. This guide is informational only — not legal or immigration advice. If it disagrees with the official Express Entry system, the official system governs.