Step 2: check yourself against the hard requirements

Step 2 of 5 · updated 2026-08-16 · compiled from GSDC's own pages

In one line: experience, language, education and funds all have to clear, and RCIP and FCIP do not measure language the same way.

With the offer in hand, do not file yet. Four requirements have to clear first:

Work experience: one year (1,560 hours) minimum

• At least one year of full-time (or equivalent part-time) related experience within the last three years, backed by reference or employment letters.
• The experience's TEER has to match the offer: a TEER 0/1 offer accepts TEER 0–3 experience; TEER 2/3 accepts TEER 1–4; TEER 4 accepts TEER 2–4; TEER 5 needs the same five-digit NOC.
• Graduate exemption: qualifying graduates of an institution inside the recommending community can skip this requirement (IRCC's conditions govern), and GSDC's grid gives them their own line.
• Length is banded on the grid: 10 points for one year, 15 for two, 20 for three, 25 for four or more, with everything above one year required to be directly relevant to the offer.

Language: two pilots, two yardsticks

• RCIP bands by the offer's TEER: CLB 6 for TEER 0/1, CLB 5 for TEER 2/3, CLB 4 for TEER 4/5, across all four abilities.
• Language is where the grid separates people: 10 points at the floor, 5 more per band, up to 25. It is usually the cheapest points to buy.
• FCIP assesses French only, on IRCC's own FCIP bands. An English score does not substitute.
• Any IRCC-approved test counts, and the result has to be inside its two-year validity when IRCC receives it.

Education, funds and status

• Education: secondary school or higher; foreign credentials need an ECA (WES and similar), which takes weeks. The grid pays 10 for secondary, 15 for a post-secondary credential, 20 for a bachelor's, 25 for a master's or PhD.
• Settlement funds: scaled by family size and adjusted annually, per IRCC's current table; applicants already working legally in the community are exempt.
• Status: if you are in Canada, mind how your remaining work-permit validity lines up with submission, since the community sets its own requirement here. GSDC's current notice governs.
• Statement of intent to reside: mandatory, a flat 10 points on the grid, and it has to set out why you plan to live in Sudbury long-term convincingly.

All clear? Then score yourself. The calculator implements GSDC's grid line by line, so you can see which category is worth improving. RCIP scoring calculator →

Compiled by the lakebbs editorial desk from GSDC's (Invest Sudbury) RCIP / FCIP and candidate pages. It is navigation, not immigration advice; the rules for any given intake are whatever GSDC's notice for that window says, and policy changes.