POL

This title is a bit misleading. It should be called Occupations in High Demand.

CIC intends to issue a Priority Occupation List (POL) every June 26th. Each year it will change, reflecting Canada’s labor market needs.

The POL for 2010 consist of 29 National Occupational Category (NOC) occupations. The 29 occupations are as follows:

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3111 Specialist Physicians
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3142 Physiotherapists
3152 Registered Nurses
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Worker
6241 Chefs
6242 Cooks
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
7242 Industrial Electricians
7251 Plumbers
7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
7371 Crane Operators
7372 Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

Please note that these NOC occupations are in fact contain dozens of different occupations and job titles.

Applicants who think they qualify in the POL group need to remember they must also score 67 points and must write either an English test or French test, if they are not native speakers of those languages.

Applicants for POL Federal Skilled Worker must file at the new superoffice opened November 29, 2008, in Canada (in Sydney, Nova Scotia). Visa offices abroad will not accept POL applications. They will send them back and tell the applicant to file in Sydney.

POL cases accepted by CIC Sydney will forward the files to the appropriate visa office and that office will contact the client and tell them the case is in process. A decision on visa issuance will be made in six to twelve months.

An individual who filed their Federal Skilled Worker application before February 27th, 2008 and who now finds he/she has experience on the POL list should immediately file a new application with the Sydney office. The applicant will then be able to ensure that their application is given priority or “fast-track” processing.

Once their new application is accepted for processing, they may withdraw their pre-February 27th application and receive a refund of the processing fees for that application.