What You Should Know About Canadian Immigration
What is a Permanent Resident?
Canadian permanent residents are citizens of other countries who have been granted permission to live permanently in Canada. When someone holds permanent resident status, they are entitled to live and work anywhere in the country. In Canada, permanent residents have access to a number of benefits, including access to healthcare and social services, the right to live, work, and study anywhere in the country, and legal protection. Permanent residents are also eligible to apply for citizenship after a certain period of time as permanent residents. The right to vote in Canadian elections is not available to Canadian permanent residents.
What is a Citizen?
Canadian citizens have many rights and privileges in Canada. Citizens have access to healthcare, social services, and support under the law. A citizen can live, work, and study, anywhere in Canada, and has the right to vote in Canadian elections. As well, citizenship cannot be revoked or removed. All people born in Canada automatically qualify for Canadian citizenship. As well, foreign nationals can become naturalized Canadian citizens by going through the proper application process with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Does Canada Allow Me to Work Anywhere?
Those who have permanent resident status in Canada are authorized to live and work anywhere in the country. Foreign nationals who do not have Canadian permanent residency status must have the proper authorization to work in Canada. A Canadian work permit is usually required to obtain this authorization.
Is it possible to bring my family to Canada?
Certain immigration programs allow foreign nationals to immigrate to Canada with their family members. However, the family members able to accompany a foreign national varies depending on the immigration program. For example, those immigrating through Canada’s Express Entry system are eligible to include their spouse and dependent children on the application, but not their parents. However, Canada has family sponsorship programs enabling Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner, dependent children, and parents/grandparents. In order to determine whether or not your family members may join you, first you must determine which immigration pathway you choose to pursue!
Why does Canada want immigrants?
Canadian cities and rural areas depend on newcomers to keep their populations growing and to support their labor markets. Canada also has an aging population, and without a robust system of immigration, Canada would be on a similar trajectory to that of Japan in the 1990s. But unlike Japan, Canada embraced immigration and that has allowed us to maintain a large proportion of the population of prime working age, between 25 and 54. This would not be possible without mass immigration to Canada.
