The 1,560-Hour Rule: How FSW Work Experience Is Actually Counted

Updated September 17, 2026 · 5 min read

"One year of skilled work experience" sounds simple until your career includes part-time stretches, two jobs at once, or work during your degree. IRCC's real unit isn't years — it's 1,560 hours, and the counting rules decide who qualifies.

Where 1,560 comes from

Thirty hours a week for twelve months = 1,560 hours = one year of full-time work. That's the minimum requirement for FSW, and every route to it is equally valid:

• One full-time job: 30 hours/week for 12 months.
• Part-time, stretched: 15 hours/week for 24 months — or any schedule that totals 1,560 hours. You can hold as many part-time jobs as needed.
• Multiple jobs at once: 30 hours/week across two or more jobs simultaneously counts the same as one job.

The 30-hour ceiling

The rule that catches overtimers: IRCC doesn't count hours above 30 per week. Sixty-hour weeks accumulate credit at exactly the same rate as thirty-hour weeks, so a punishing six-month schedule cannot compress the year. Twelve months is the floor, whatever your timesheets say.

Work during your studies counts

Paid, continuous work performed while studying counts toward the minimum requirement, provided it meets every other test — skilled TEER 0–3 duties, wages or commission, no employment gaps. The common failure is the "paid" test: internships and campus roles compensated with credit or stipends framed as awards don't qualify.

What never counts

• Volunteer work and unpaid internships — the requirement is wages or commission, no exceptions.
• TEER 4 and 5 occupations — hours in non-qualifying jobs are invisible however many you have.
• Experience older than ten years — it neither qualifies you nor scores points.
• Non-continuous hours toward the minimum — the qualifying 1,560 must come from continuous employment in your primary occupation; gaps restart nothing for points, but the minimum-requirement year itself must be unbroken.

Documenting the hours

Officers can't count what letters don't state. Each reference letter should give hours per week alongside dates, duties, salary and title — "full-time" without a number invites a request for more evidence, and for part-time stints the weekly hours are the whole calculation. Pay slips and contracts back the letters up when an employer no longer exists.

Minimum requirement vs grid points

Two separate calculations use the same history. The minimum requirement needs one continuous qualifying year. The grid's experience factor then scores your total — where work in Canada or abroad, during studies, and even self-employment all count — from 9 points at one year to 15 at six or more. Plenty of applicants pass the minimum on one job and score the grid on a whole career.