On December 30, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) published Operational Bulletin 368 (“OB 368″).  According to OB 368, all Canadian Experience Class (“CEC“) applications must now be submitted to the Centralized Intake Office (“CIO“) in Sydney, Nova Scotia.  This change became effective on January 1, 2012.

Upon receipt, the CIO will assess each CEC application for completeness.  An application must include all of the forms and documents listed in the Generic Document Checklist for CEC applicants to be considered complete by the CIO.

If the application is incomplete, the CIO will return the entire application package (including fee payment) to the applicant. For complete applications, the CIO will enter the application information into the Global Case Management System and recover the processing fee.  CIO will then send complete applications to an appropriate office for processing.  Offices will process applications according to existing procedures and processing priorities.

Until January 31, 2012, all visa offices will continue to accept any CEC application submitted directly to their office.  Missions should forward any CEC application received directly to the CIO.  After January 31, 2012, applications will be returned to the applicant advising them that they must submit their application to the CIO.