Frequently Asked Questions

Within any five (5) year period, a permanent resident must be:

• • physically present in Canada for at least 730 days (two (2) years) in that five (5) year period

Or

• • outside of Canada, accompanying a Canadian citizen, who is his or her spouse or common-law partner or a child accompanying a parent

Or

• • outside of Canada, employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business

Or

• an accompanying spouse, common-law partner, or child of a permanent resident, who is outside Canada and is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business.

To be eligible to immigrate to Canada, one must meet the requirements of one of the many categories of Canadian Immigration:

• Federal Skilled Worker Class
• Federal Skilled Trades Class
• Canadian Experience Class
• Business Class
• Family Class

and apply for Permanent Residence in Canada through a designated Case Processing Centre/Centralized Intake Office.

Only after having resided in Canada for three (3) out of four (4) years as a permanent resident/landed immigrant of Canada, is one eligible to apply for Citizenship.

Pursuant to the provisions of Canada’s constitutional laws, the holder of a Canadian permanent resident visa and his/her accompanying dependants are permitted to permanently reside in Canada and earn a livelihood in any one of the ten provinces or three territories within Canada. In addition, individuals with Canadian permanent residence may attend primary and secondary education institutions in the various provincially administered public school systems, tuition exempt. Permanent residents also qualify for provincially administered universal health care coverage.

Skilled worker class, Quebec skilled worker class, provincial nominee class, entrepreneur class, investor class, self-employed persons class, Canada experience class.

The application for permanent residence generally includes the applicant, spouse or common-law partner or conjugal partner 16 years of age or older and any unmarried children under the age of 19 years. Children over the age of 19 may in prescribed circumstances, be included as accompanying family members.

Applications for Canadian permanent residence under the Skilled Workers Class are initially filed inside Canada through the Centralized Intake Office – Case Processing Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Once approved, the application will undergo further processing with an appropriate immigration office outside of Canada that serves the country where the applicant is legally residing or the immigration office that serves the applicant’s country of nationality.

The applicant need not visit Canada as part of the immigration process. However in some cases, familiarity with the Canadian landscape and particularly with the area of intended destination can impact positively on the assessment.

Applicants applying under the Investor or the Entrepreneur class are encouraged to undertake exploratory visits to Canada and participate in information sessions sponsored by the provinces. For Entrepreneur Class applicants, such efforts may relate to an indication of an applicant’s ability to meet the universal terms and conditions of admission.

The first step is to assess whether you fulfill the Express Entry eligibility requirements that involve evaluation of your age, language skills, educational qualifications, professional experience, presence of family members and/or relatives in Canada, and job offer(s) from Canadian employer(s).

If you are eligible, the next step is to create your Express Entry profile. Upon submission, your profile will be evaluated by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and you will be included in the Express Entry pool of candidates and assigned points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

Track Express Entry draws and compare your score with the cut-off score of each draw. If your score exceeds the CRS cut-off, then you become eligible to receive an Invitation to Apply. You can then submit your application under your preferred skilled worker immigration program and, upon approval, obtain permanent residence in Canada.

No. While having a job offer can help you score additional CRS points, absence of job offer does not disqualify your Express Entry profile. However, you won’t be eligible for certain Skilled Worker programs that require successful applicants to have a job offer from a Canadian employer.

Your Express Entry profile will be valid for a period of one year (12 months). After this, you will have to fulfill applicable eligibility requirements and apply into the Express Entry pool again.

The principal applicant receives five points for adaptability if they or their accompanying spouse or common-law partner, have a close relative in Canada such as a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, spouse, common-law partner, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and is physically residing in Canada.

The applicant and spouse (where applicable), will generally be required to travel to the processing immigration office and attend a selection interview. In many cases, the requirement for a spouse to attend the selection interview can be waived.

As well, certain posts require that accompanying dependent children over the age of 22 years attend the immigration selection interview.

Generally, an interview would be conducted to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in the documentation submitted; to clarify issues relating to the applicant’s background; to confirm an applicant possesses the necessary means to settle in Canada; to verify the absence of security inadmissibility’s; to ensure the applicant is intending to enter the Canadian labour market; to verify whether there are sufficient grounds to exercise positive discretion; etc. The interview cannot be conducted to verify an applicant’s language abilities.

Under the Business Class (Investor, Entrepreneur, Self-Employed), applicants are interviewed to ensure conformance with the statutory definitions and to review the general parameters of the business proposal in Canada.

Applicants are advised to bring to the interview, all original documentation supporting the application; certificates of non-criminal conviction; evidence of settlement funds.

Certain factors may justify the waiving of a selection interview. This is a highly discretionary aspect of the Regulations and is largely a function of the immigration office in question, the habitual residence of the applicant and the documentation in support of the applicant’s qualifications.

All Federal Skilled Workers applications must contain in prescribed format, the name, birth date, and address, nationality and immigration status of the applicant and all family members of the applicant and the class of visa being requested. The application must also contain the four-digit codes from the National Occupational Classification that corresponds to each of the occupations engaged in by the applicant and that constitutes the skilled worker’s work experience. Supporting documentation includes copies of passports, birth and marriage certificates, proof of language proficiency, evidence of past work experience, official evaluation of education credentials, evidence of sufficient settlement funds, photos and the required processing fees.

There is no requirement for an applicant to become employed in Canada in an occupation that is consistent with past employment experience.

There are a number of occupations in Canada requiring registration and/or licensing, as a condition of employment, a process that varies from province to province. However, the employment requirements including occupational licensing is not a requirement that must be met as a condition of immigration approval.

No. Under current rules, an applicant can qualify for admission under the Federal Skilled Workers program without an approved offer of employment on the basis of possessing at least one year of applicable full-time experience in one of 50 major high demand occupations.

However, applicants who do not meet the above requirement must obtain a suitable offer of employment which must be approved by Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”). This is referred to as “arranged employment”. This will also provide a prospective applicant with an additional 15 units of assessment.

The current selection rules favour applicants with government approved job offers in Canada.

Under the skilled worker class, applicants must provide evidence of sufficient funds for the family to travel and settle in Canada as measured against the current annual Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) published by Statistics Canada.

A sum of approximately $22,000 would satisfy the requirements for a family comprising of the applicant, spouse and two children. Such evidence may be furnished immediately prior to visa issuance.

Exempt from this financial requirement would be applicants who have received an approved job offer in Canada.

A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document that an employer in Canada must usually get before hiring a foreign worker.

It’s a two-step process to obtain a Canada work permit. First, the Canadian employer must submit a qualifying LMIA application to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). It is incumbent on the Canadian employer to also submit a detailed list of Canadians who applied for the position; the number of Canadians interviewed for the position, and detailed explanation for why the Canadian candidates considered were not hired. Canadian employers may be subject to inspection for compliance once a work permit has been issued.

A positive LMIA will show that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job and that no Canadian worker can do the job. A positive LMIA is sometimes called a Confirmation letter. The Canadian government employer reviewing an application must determine that hiring of a foreign worker will have a positive or neutral effect on the Canadian labour market.

If you need an LMIA, your employer must send an application to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

When assessing the merits of the applicant ESDC will consider:

• Are there Canadians in the region available and willing to fill the job on offer?
• Has the employer made sufficient efforts to fill the position with a Canadian worker?
• Will hiring a foreign national help create or retain jobs in Canada?
• Is the employer offering a wage or salary that is consistent with the regional average for the position at hand?
• Are the working conditions acceptable by Canadian labour standards?
• Is the employer or the industry in which the job sits engaged in ongoing labour disputes?

If ESDC is satisfied that a given region and industry are healthy enough to sustain foreign labour, a positive LMIA will be issued.

As per targeted employee being classified as “high wage” or “low wage” LMIA process becomes different. Temporary foreign workers being paid under the provincial/territorial median wage are considered low-wage earners, while those being paid at or above are considered high-wage earners.

LMIA processing times can be somewhat unpredictable, ranging from a couple of weeks, to a few months. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has pledged to process certain LMIA applications within 10 business days. The following categories will now be processed with a 10-business-day service standard:

• All LMIA applications for the highest-demand occupations (skilled trades), or
• Highest-paid (top 10%) occupations, or
• Short-duration work periods (120 days or less).

LMIAs are specific to employers, the position being offered, and the region in which the job is located. Obtaining a positive LMIA does not allow you to change your job or employer, or move to another Canadian region after acquiring a work permit. In any of those instances you are required to seek a new LMIA.