Do hours spent in your own incorporated business count towards 1560 hours?

[asd1985]

Hi guys,

I had a few basic questions regarding Express Entry and i called Immigration Canada to get some answers, only to find out that they can only help you with it once you have filled your application online! The agent told me to contact immigration advisors for answers as he isn't allowed to answer questions wrt EE over the phone. So here i am.

I intend to apply for Express Entry but I'm in a conundrum. I graduated in Oct. 2015 from Montreal (masters) and worked in Montreal from Oct 2015 to April 2016 Full-time (35 hours/week). My work ended on 30th of April. Since June 2nd, I have been working in my own incorporated business. Now EE says "self employed" will not be considered as experience. I'm not sure if owning an incorporated business counts as "self-employed" or not. It shouldn't (just my opinion) but i can't get an answer from them. My plan is to move out of Montreal, QC as soon as i get the required 1560 hours under my belt and apply under Express Entry.

Question 1) If I show myself as employee (or owner/ manager?) of my own inc. company, will it count towards my experience or not?
Question 2) Assuming I have the required hours and they count, do I need to move out of Quebec immediately following my application or do I need to wait for an official statement or something?

Thank you!

 

[zardoz]

Hi guys,

I had a few basic questions regarding Express Entry and i called Immigration Canada to get some answers, only to find out that they can only help you with it once you have filled your application online! The agent told me to contact immigration advisors for answers as he isn't allowed to answer questions wrt EE over the phone. So here i am.

I intend to apply for Express Entry but I'm in a conundrum. I graduated in Oct. 2015 from Montreal (masters) and worked in Montreal from Oct 2015 to April 2016 Full-time (35 hours/week). My work ended on 30th of April. Since June 2nd, I have been working in my own incorporated business. Now EE says "self employed" will not be considered as experience. I'm not sure if owning an incorporated business counts as "self-employed" or not. It shouldn't (just my opinion) but i can't get an answer from them. My plan is to move out of Montreal, QC as soon as i get the required 1560 hours under my belt and apply under Express Entry.

Question 1) If I show myself as employee (or owner/ manager?) of my own inc. company, will it count towards my experience or not?
Question 2) Assuming I have the required hours and they count, do I need to move out of Quebec immediately following my application or do I need to wait for an official statement or something?

Thank you!

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/information/self_employed.shtml#Are

Are you self-employed?

You are self-employed and are considered working a full working week if:

you work alone as an independent worker or contractor,
you operate a business, also applies to farming, on your own account,
you control your own hours of work,
you are in a partnership or are a co-adventurer.

If you are self-employed, you are not being employed by someone else under a contract of service and having an employer-employee relationship. When there is an employer-employee relationship, a verbal or written agreement exists by which an employee agrees to work, full time or part time, for an employer for a specified or indefinite period of time, in return for salary or wages. The employer decides where, when and how the work will be done, meaning there is a contract of service.

Based on the definition and principles above, you are probably "self employed".

 

[asd1985]

Hi Zardor,
Thanks for the reply and the digging you had to do! One thing that cropped up via the link you posted was

"If you are not sure of your status as a self-employed person or if you need more information, you should contact your Service Canada Centre or the CRA."

So i'm gonna do that and they can't deny me an answer this time, since i wont mention EE. So the post has served it's purpose! Thanks!