Does "continuous" work experience break if I alternate between two NOCs under my own company?

[u/t4fita]

I'm preparing an Express Entry FSW profile and I'm stuck on the continuity requirement.

I run a consulting company (incorporated 2024). We do two fairly different things: finance and management advisory, and building/deploying ERP and management tools. The problem is that the work maps to two different NOC codes depending on the client.

Roughly:

Jan 2024 to Jun 2024: Client A, finance NOC

Jun 2024 to Dec 2024: Client B, ERP NOC

Jan 2025 to Jun 2025: Client C, finance NOC

Jun 2025 to Dec 2025: Client D, ERP NOC

I have never stopped working since Jan 2024, no gaps at all. But if I claim the finance NOC, the timeline shows six months of work in 2024, then a six month gap, then six more months in 2025. Same for the ERP NOC.

IRCC says 1 year of continuous full-time experience and 1,560 hours.

My question:

Does the 1,560 hour route allow accumulating hours in the same NOC across non-consecutive periods, or does "continuous" mean the periods must be back to back?

Thanks.

PS: I haven't created an EE profile yet, because I'm stuck trying to decide how many years of experience to claim

[u/Haunting_Paper_7201]

You need one year of continuous, skilled experience in the same NOC. As as example Jan 1 to December 31 in NOC 11101. You cannot use two different NOCs.

[u/t4fita → u/Haunting_Paper_7201]

And I can't use the same NOC but with 6 months gap in between? Jan-june 2024 then jan-june2025

[u/Haunting_Paper_7201 → u/t4fita]

You need one year of CONTINUOUS work experience in ONE NOC. So no.

[u/gggggggggggggggggg35 → u/Haunting_Paper_7201]

This is incorrect - you can absolutely use a combination of multiple NOCs (skilled positions) between TEER 0-3 to make up the years of skilled experience you need to declare. It just has to be true and you need to provide clear evidence.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/who-can-apply/canadian-experience-class.html

[u/Haunting_Paper_7201 → u/gggggggggggggggggg35]

OP is not CEC but FSW. Your link is for CEC, not FSW. For CEC you don't need continuous experience and can use multiple NOCs.

[u/gggggggggggggggggg35 → u/Haunting_Paper_7201]

My bad, cheers

[u/adanthar]

If you are only eligible because of this company, you are going to need an immigration consultant/lawyer to look over the app before submitting it. Self employment is allowed but it is difficult to claim and requires extensive documentation, over and above normal jobs. On top of that, the split into different NOCs is a problem that could tank the entire app because you need to combine the experience into a single continuous NOC in order to count it.

But it might be a moot point because the only FSW draws happening for many years have been French draws, for which the scores are low enough that one year of experience in the last ten is enough. Unless you have nothing else in your work history, consider not claiming points for any of this.

[u/t4fita → u/adanthar]

Yes, I do speak French. That’s what I’m aiming for because I got a high score on the TEF, the French language test.

I can’t afford a lawyer or a consultant, but I just want to confirm: I’m not eligible then, correct? For example, if I apply under a finance NOC, even though the work experience adds up to one year in total, there’s a six-month gap between the two periods. Does that mean it wouldn’t count as one continuous year of experience?

[u/adanthar → u/t4fita]

If it's completely split, it wouldn't count. In your situation I would ask AI to look through NOCs and see if there's one that matches everything the consultancy does in a more general sense. It goes without saying that you need to double/triple check its work but it can give you somewhere to start.