Guide
Federal Skilled Trades Program, explained
FST is Express Entry's third federal program — built for tradespeople, not office jobs. It looks like CEC's hour-tracking rules on the surface, but the trade NOC groups, the job-offer-or-certificate requirement, and the language minimums are all different. Here's what actually applies.
3,120
Hours required
30 / wk
Weekly cap
5 yrs
Lookback window
The core rule
You need 3,120 hours — 2 years of full-time work — in a qualifying skilled trade, earned within the last 5 years, all in the same NOC. That's the same hour total as CEC's 1,560-hour rule doubled, and it uses the identical 30-hour weekly cap: work more in a week and IRCC still only counts 30 of those hours toward your total.
The catch is which jobs qualify. Unlike CEC's broad "any TEER 0–3 occupation" rule, FST only counts specific trade NOC groups: Major Groups 72 (excluding Sub-Major Group 726), 73, 82, 83, 92, and 93 (excluding Sub-Major Group 932), plus Minor Group 6320 and Unit Group 62200. A TEER 2 or 3 job outside those groups does not qualify for FST, even though it might still count toward CEC.
The 30-hour weekly cap
Same rule as CEC: IRCC only counts up to 30 hours per week toward your total, no matter how many hours you actually worked or how many jobs you combined that week.
Counts toward your hours
- Paid work in one of the eligible trade NOC groups (Major Groups 72, 73, 82, 83, 92, 93, plus a few specific minor/unit groups)
- Full-time or part-time hours, combined across multiple jobs if needed
- Work you were legally qualified to practice where you did it
- Up to 30 hours per week, per person — same weekly cap as CEC
Doesn't count
- Hours worked beyond 30/week (the cap applies, it doesn't carry over)
- Work outside the eligible trade NOC groups — even skilled TEER 2/3 work in a different field
- Work done while you were a full-time student
- Unpaid work, volunteering, or internships without pay
- Work you weren't legally qualified to perform where you did it
You need one of two things
On top of the hours, FST requires either a valid job offer or a trade certificate — the hours alone are not enough.
A full-time job offer
A valid offer of full-time employment in your trade, for a total period of at least 1 year.
A certificate of qualification
Issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial, or federal authority for your specific trade. If your destination province doesn't issue one for your trade, you'll need the job offer instead.
Language minimums are lower than CEC
FST has its own language bar, split by ability rather than one flat CLB level. It's lower than what CEC requires for the same TEER 2/3 occupations — worth knowing if you're comparing which program to pursue.
Speaking
CLB 5
Listening
CLB 5
Reading
CLB 4
Writing
CLB 4
French equivalents: NCLC 5 for speaking/listening, NCLC 4 for reading/writing. No education requirement applies to FST — foreign or Canadian credentials only add CRS points later, they aren't a qualifying requirement here.
Track it without the spreadsheet math
Canadian PRLedger's hours tracker applies the 30-hour weekly cap automatically for FST, the same way it does for CEC — the number you see is the number IRCC would count. 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.