THE PRIORITY OCCUPATION LIST FOR CANADA

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

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

The POL for 2009 consist of 38 National Occupational Category (NOC) occupations. The 38 occupations are as follows:

1. Financial Managers
2. Computer and Information Systems Managers
3. Managers in Health Care
4. Restaurant and Food Service Managers
5. Accommodation Service Managers
6. Construction Managers
7. Financial Auditors and Accountants
8. Geologists, Geochemists and Geophysicists
9. Mining Engineers
10. Geological Engineers
11. Petroleum Engineers
12. Specialist Physicians
13. General Practitioners and Family Physicians
14. Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists
15. Occupational Therapists
16. Physiotherapists
17. Head Nurses and Supervisors
18. Registered Nurses
19. Medical Radiation Technologists
20. Licensed Practical Nurses
21. University Professors
22. College and Other Vocational Instructors
23. Chefs
24. Cooks
25. Contractors and Supervisors, Pipefitting Trades
26. Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
27. Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Construction Equipment Crews
28. Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System)
29. Industrial Electricians
30. Plumbers
31. Steamfitters, Pipefitters and Sprinkler System Installers
32. Welders and Related Machine Operators
33. Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
34. Crane Operators
35. Drillers and Blasters Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction
36. Supervisors, Mining and Quarrying
37. Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service
38. Supervisors, Petroleum, Gas and Chemical Processing and Utilities

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.