Has anybody heard of employers supporting CEC application by boosting job duties and title?

[palaa10]

My friend is on a PGWP and works in a grocery store in an NOC C role (customer service/cashier). He is friends with his supervisor and has approached him regarding his application for PR under the CEC class and his supervisor told him that he will support him by providing a letter saying that he has a "lead/supervisor" role at the store, although that isn't 100% true.

I believe that my friend has been partly given some "front-end supervisor" duties by his supervisor who is supporting him. However, he hasn't been given a new contract or offer letter from the head office outlining this "promotion" and his salary has not changed at all. So in other words, he didn't get an official promotion and it's just his supervisor trying to give him support without any proof on paper.

I'm trying to convince my friend that this is a bad idea, as not only him but also the employer would be committing fraud/cheating the system but he insists that he his supervisor has told him he can provide him with an employment letter saying that he was a supervisor no problems at all.

Has anybody heard of employers doing this?

I'm worried for him as there are so many ways that the IRCC can find out. To begin with, he is making minimum wage so how can this be explained as a reflection of his title as a supervisor? I feel like this is one easy way where he can get caught. Given that he works for a chain grocery store, I'm not even sure if when giving an employment letter for PR application, whether head office will have to approve or if the supervisors can simply sign off and provide an official letter on behalf of the company.

 

[palaa10]

In this case, "your friend" is actually you, right? I am sure many people cheat like this but it all depends what you are comfortable with morally and ethically at the end.

I am fortunately working in a skilled NOC B job which I was able to get right after graduated so I'm not too worried about myself not being eligible but we are both planning to apply for CEC around the same time and I'm curious if this is a common thing that certain employers do for their staff in exchange for not being able to promote them and provide them with a pay raise accordingly

 

[scylla]

My friend is on a PGWP and works in a grocery store in an NOC C role (customer service/cashier). He is friends with his supervisor and has approached him regarding his application for PR under the CEC class and his supervisor told him that he will support him by providing a letter saying that he has a "lead/supervisor" role at the store, although that isn't 100% true.

I believe that my friend has been partly given some "front-end supervisor" duties by his supervisor who is supporting him. However, he hasn't been given a new contract or offer letter from the head office outlining this "promotion" and his salary has not changed at all. So in other words, he didn't get an official promotion and it's just his supervisor trying to give him support without any proof on paper.

I'm trying to convince my friend that this is a bad idea, as not only him but also the employer would be committing fraud/cheating the system but he insists that he his supervisor has told him he can provide him with an employment letter saying that he was a supervisor no problems at all.

Has anybody heard of employers doing this?

I'm worried for him as there are so many ways that the IRCC can find out. To begin with, he is making minimum wage so how can this be explained as a reflection of his title as a supervisor? I feel like this is one easy way where he can get caught. Given that he works for a chain grocery store, I'm not even sure if when giving an employment letter for PR application, whether head office will have to approve or if the supervisors can simply sign off and provide an official letter on behalf of the company.

Sure - employers sometimes do this.

The danger here is that we have seen a number of cases on this forum where IRCC has questioned if the applicant was really doing a supervisory role when they were only being paid minimum wage - and this has resulted in the application being refused since IRCC has determined they don't have a year of qualifying work experience. The risk I see with your friend is that he is basically considering falsifying information to make it look like he has a skilled role. If IRCC checks with his employer, they won't support this. So your friend is not only risking refusal but also a five year ban from Canada for misrepresentation.

I'm not sure why he's even considering doing this given the new pathway for graduates. That seems like a better option for him.

Anyway - it's his life. If he's not going to listen to you, that's his problem and not yours.