canadavisa13 said:leothelion123,
when did your colleagues applied?
did you know if they have included any other supporting documents maybe that you don't have?
yes reference letter is a big deal to the visa officers and its the CORE to cec applications without it the chances of getting approved are less then 5% unfortunatley.
just an advise for you,anytime you do not have a document that is required by CIC include a cover letter and explain why,otherwise the officer will assume that you just did not include it for any other reason that is not clear to them.
My colleagues have been applying since 2009 - the last one applied last month. No other supporting documents were included - the only extra was the cover letter.
Thanks