Can Vacation Time Affect Your PR Under Canadian Experience Class?

Can I Take a Vacation While Gaining Canadian Work Experience for PR?

Planning a vacation while working in Canada? If you’re tracking your work experience for Canadian permanent residency (PR) through Express Entry’s Canadian Experience Class (CEC), it’s totally normal to wonder whether time off might affect your eligibility. The short answer is: in most cases, a reasonable vacation won’t hurt your chances—but there are a few key things to know.

Key Highlights

• Statutory holidays are counted towards Canadian work experience.
• Paid vacations of up to two weeks are generally accepted by IRCC.
• Longer vacations may still count—but come with more scrutiny.
• Unpaid leave and parental leave are not counted toward CEC work hour requirements.
• Remote work from outside Canada, even for a Canadian employer, doesn’t qualify as Canadian work experience.
• Always ensure your job meets the CEC skilled work experience criteria before applying.

Why Time Off Matters for Express Entry (CEC)

To qualify for PR under the Canadian Experience Class, you need to accumulate at least 1,560 hours of skilled work in Canada within the last three years before applying. That’s roughly 30 hours per week over 12 months.

Now here’s where it gets interesting—what happens if you take time off? Does a week at the beach or a month visiting family abroad count against your total? Let’s break it down by type of leave.

Statutory Holidays: You’re Covered

Good news—statutory holidays count toward your Canadian work experience, even if you weren’t physically working that day. These are legally recognized days off, often paid, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) includes them in your qualifying period.

Canada-wide statutory holidays include:

• New Year’s Day
• Good Friday
• Canada Day
• Labour Day
• Christmas Day

If you’re a federally regulated employee, you might also get:

• Truth and Reconciliation Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Remembrance Day
• Boxing Day
• Victoria Day or National Patriot’s Day
• Easter Monday

On top of that, each province and territory has its own holidays. For example, if you’re working in PEI, Islander Day is a recognized stat holiday, while Nunavut residents have Nunavut Day.

Taking a Vacation of Two Weeks or Less

IRCC policy generally allows for “reasonable vacation” time to be included in your total work experience. A standard example is a two-week paid vacation over a 12-month period. So if you take some well-deserved R&R—provided it’s paid—you’re still in the clear.

Whether you stay in Canada or travel abroad during this time doesn’t matter. As long as the vacation is *paid* and you’re still considered employed, those hours will typically count toward your 1,560-hour goal.

Unpaid vacations, however, are a different story. If you take leave without pay, that time usually won’t count toward your CEC hours.

What If Your Vacation Is Longer Than Two Weeks?

Planning a longer break—maybe three or even four weeks off? This gets a little trickier. While IRCC does acknowledge that longer vacations can be reasonable in some cases, these are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Again, your vacation must be paid in order to even be considered as part of your qualifying period. But even then, there’s no guarantee it will be approved as valid work experience. IRCC officers will assess your entire application and determine whether the time off still aligns with immigration rules.

Pro tip: If you know you’re going to be taking more than two weeks off, it’s smart to build in a buffer. That means working a few extra weeks beyond the 1,560-hour minimum so you’re not cutting things too close when it’s time to apply for PR.

Extended Leaves and Parental Leave

If you’re taking a longer break from work—like an unpaid leave, sabbatical, or maternity/parental leave—that time won’t be counted toward your 1,560-hour CEC requirement. Even if you technically remain “employed,” hours must be actively worked and paid.

In these cases, you’ll likely need additional calendar time after returning to work to reach the qualifying hours. It’s best to wait until you’ve clearly surpassed the minimum threshold before submitting your PR application.

Remote Work From Outside Canada: Does it Count?

This one surprises a lot of folks. If you’re working for a Canadian company but doing that work from outside Canada—for example, while travelling or living temporarily abroad—that time won’t count as Canadian work experience.

Why? Because to be considered Canadian work experience under Express Entry, you must be physically present in Canada and legally authorized to work here. IRCC defines it clearly: qualifying work experience means being part of the Canadian labour market. So, even if your job is remote but you’re outside the country, it doesn’t qualify.

Recap: What Counts as Skilled Work Experience for CEC?

To be eligible under the Canadian Experience Class, your work experience must meet these criteria:

• Fall under TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system
• Be completed in Canada while legally authorized to work
• Include most duties listed in the job’s NOC description
• Be paid work—wages or commission (volunteer work and unpaid internships don’t count)
• Total a minimum of 1,560 hours within three years of applying

Experience can span multiple NOC codes, as long as each role meets the CEC criteria and falls within the required TEER levels.

Final Thoughts

Taking time off while working in Canada doesn’t have to derail your path to permanent residency—as long as you understand how IRCC treats different types of leave. Paid statutory holidays and short vacations are generally safe, but longer leaves and working remotely from abroad can affect your eligibility.

To stay on track, keep a detailed record of your hours, confirm that your work meets the CEC skilled experience criteria, and when in doubt, aim to exceed the 1,560-hour minimum just to be safe.

Ready to check if you’re eligible? Use our Manitoba PNP calculator or explore your options with our Canada immigration eligibility tool.

Still have questions about your eligibility? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team or read more about the Canadian Experience Class requirements to make sure you’re on the right path.