💡 Tips for PR : IT Students - 🚀 Your Pathway to Permanent Residency in Canada

PR Options For IT Students:
There are two possible scenarios: either you have a 12th-grade background or a bachelor's degree in your home country. Let's take a look at how your points compare in each case.

Assumptions:
If you have 1 year of work experience in Canada in any IT job, have completed a 2-year diploma in Canada, are not married, aged between 20-30, and have IELTS scores of 8777.

There are two types of systems to obtain PR: Draw-based programs and Direct PR programs. Today, we will focus on Draw-based programs.

Draw based programs
Let’s check the latest draws for IT occupations. Here’s an example for NOC 21232: Software Developers and Programmers.

Express Entry

Ontario PNP

BC PNP: Lowest score:103 and Highest score:122

Saskatchewan PNP:

Scenario 1: For 12th Grade

Based on draws, getting PR after 12th grade is really tough. The cut-off scores in Express Entry, OINP Human Capital Streams, BC Skills Immigration, and SINP are relatively high, even with 2 years of experience in Canada. If you've studied in BC or Saskatchewan, it may give you some extra points and improve your chances of getting PR in PNP. However, the challenge with Saskatchewan and other provincial PNP programs is that they don’t have frequent draws, and the invitation caps are very limited.

Best Option 1: For draw-based programs, the OINP International Student Stream might be a good option if you’ve studied at one of the eligible colleges or universities in Canada and have an employer who is willing to support your application by providing the Employer Form. Want to know more about this? Click here. Want to check if your IT occupation has been invited in International Student Stream? Just click here.

Based on my personal experience, most IT companies do not support this process. However, if you secure a job in industries/companies like manufacturing, construction, healthcare, agriculture, or other sectors where they have a small IT staff and already support other occupations, such as skilled trades or construction workers, for PR, these companies may be more likely to provide you with a support for PR.

Best Option 2: If you're currently a student, adding a one-year program in a high-demand field (such as skilled trades or healthcare) may help you get PR faster than waiting for draws to lower or relying on an LMIA to boost points, which can cost between 20,000-50,000 CAD on the black market.

Scenario 2: For Bachelor's Degree

Getting PR may be easier if you have foreign work experience, as that would increase your score to 485. However, if you only have 2 years of experience in Canada and no foreign experience, your score would be 472, which might give you a chance with the OINP Human Capital Stream. In other provinces, like BC or SINP, if you have experience there, you also have a good chance. But with just 1 year of experience in Canada, it’s still tough to qualify.

Best Option: The OINP Express Entry Human Capital Stream is a strong option because you can apply from either within Canada or overseas. Click here to check the detailed requirements for this. You also have a good chance in SINP or BC PNP if you are working there. Want to check if your IT occupation has been invited in OINP Human Capital Stream? Just click here.

Alberta: They recently introduced a new points-based system, but no draws have been conducted yet.

Manitoba: They haven’t targeted any specific IT occupations except for one draw where they invited occupations starting with NOC 22, such as 22221 (User Support Technicians) and 22222 (Information Systems Testing Technicians).

If you want to see general draws or draws for your NOC, click here.

In this, We haven’t included PR Programs from Quebec, and any Atlantic Provinces.

“You should start thinking about PR as soon as you land in Canada as a student. Trust me, getting PR as a 12th-grade student is really tough, and landing a job in IT is even tougher. If you wait until after applying for a work permit, it might be too late, as you'll lose the option to take another course (such as an in-demand program) that could help you secure PR, since a PGWP is issued only once.”

That’s all for Today.
Good Luck.

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