Permanent residence is a type of immigration status in Canada. It refers to foreign citizens who have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently, including the right to work, study, and access social services. Permanent residents have most of the rights of Canadian citizens, except that they cannot vote in political elections and they cannot obtain a Canadian passport. Instead of a passport, permanent residents are issued a permanent residence card that can be used in combination with their existing passport in order to travel to Canada. Permanent residence can be lost if the immigrant does not comply with the residency requirement of living in Canada for at least two years out of five, or is convicted of a serious crime or misrepresentation.
Permanent residence can be obtained through various immigration programs offered by the Canadian government.
Express Entry
The Express Entry (EE) system is a three stage active immigration process whereby interested applicants will first submit an EE form online. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) assesses these potential applicants against specific eligibility criteria. Candidates whose profiles align with the identified needs of the government, as well as, that of certain Canadian employers, will be issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
The Express Entry System is used to manage the following programs:
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Federal Skilled Trades Program
Canadian Experience Class
A portion of the Provincial Nominee Program
Federal Skilled Worker Program
Skilled Workers are selected as permanent residents based on their ability to become economically established in Canada.
Basic eligibility – To qualify for the Federal Skilled Workers Program, candidates must:
Have 1 year of continuous full time (or an equal amount of continuous part-time) qualifying skilled work experience in the last 10 year.
Have a valid offer of arranged employment or alternatively, an international student who is enrolled in an PhD program in Canada (or graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months).
Achieve the Canadian minimum language threshold on an official language test.
Have a Canadian secondary or post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree or an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report indicating their foreign education is equivalent to a Canadian one.
Obtain a pass mark of 67 out of 100 on the selection grid.
When IRCC assess an application of FSWP, a grid of 100 points is used to assess how well an applicant can adapt to Canada’s labour market. The six selection factors are as follows:
English and/or French skills
Education
Work experience
Age
Arranged employment, and
Adaptability
Federal Skilled Trade Program
The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for individuals who are interested in becoming a permanent resident based on qualifications in a skilled trade. The Federal Skilled Trades Program is designed to facilitate the entry of overseas skilled trades-persons into the Canadian workforce.
In order to be eligible to apply as a Skilled Trades Worker, applicants will need to:
Have an offer of employment in Canada or a certificate of qualification from a province or territory to ensure that the applicant is “job ready” upon arrival;
Meet a basic language requirement;
Have a minimum of 2 years of full time (or an equal amount of part-time) work experience as a skilled tradesperson within the 5 years before you apply.
Have the skills and experience that match those set out in the National Occupational Classification (NOC B) system, showing that they have performed the essential duties of the occupation.
Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
Temporary foreign workers and/or foreign students who graduated in Canada can often make the successful transition to permanent residence; their familiarity with Canadian society and the ability to contribute to the Canadian economy makes this easier. Knowledge of English or French and qualifying work experience is a requirement.
To meet the minimum requirements to apply for permanent residence under the Canadian Experience Class, applicants must:
Plan to live outside the province of Quebec
Have 1 year of full time (or part-time equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada in the 3 years before application.
Have gained your experience in Canada with the proper work authorization.
Apply while working in Canada – or – within 1 year of leaving job in Canada.
Include the results of Language Test with your application.
According to the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC), skilled work experience means:
Skill level O (managerial occupations), or
Skill type A (professional occupations), or
Skill type B (technical occupations and skilled trades).
Application will be assessed on two requirements if applying as a temporary foreign worker:
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