An applicant accepted a CEC ITA, then realized that 5 of their 12 months with a Canadian employer were worked remotely from India during the pandemic. The thread's guidance was unambiguous:
- CEC experience requires physical presence in Canada. Even on a valid work permit with a Canadian employer, months worked from outside Canada do not count toward the 1-year CEC requirement or the Canadian-work-experience CRS points.
- If you're short, decline the ITA — don't massage the work history. Splitting the same job into in-Canada and outside-Canada rows to make it look eligible risks a misrepresentation finding, which carries a multi-year ban. The applicant ultimately decided to abandon the application rather than submit it.
- You do not need to delete your profile or create a new one. Declining the ITA returns your profile to the pool. Wait until you complete 12 eligible in-Canada months, update the profile, and get invited again.
- Mind your sunk costs but don't let them decide. The applicant had already done upfront medicals and obtained a PCC. Both may still be valid (or not) months later — check validity dates, but never submit an ineligible application just because you've paid for medicals.
The remote-work confusion was a pandemic-era phenomenon, but the underlying rule — CEC counts only work performed while physically in Canada on authorized status — is standing policy; verify current IRCC wording.