Immigration Law FAQs

Permanent residence in Canada is a legal status that grants immigrants the right to live, work, and study in Canada indefinitely. It's a pathway towards Canadian citizenship and offers numerous benefits, including access to healthcare and social services. Once approved as a permanent resident, individuals receive a Permanent Resident card as proof of their status.​

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) defines skilled workers as “people who may become permanent residents because they are able to become economically established in Canada.”​

A Permanent Resident is required to spend a minimum of 2 years within Canada during a 5-year period. Alternatively, if outside Canada, they can fulfill the requirement by being employed full-time by a Canadian business. This also applies if they are accompanying a Permanent Resident's spouse, common-law partner, or child who is working full-time for a Canadian business outside Canada. The same condition applies if accompanying a Canadian citizen who is a spouse, common-law partner, or parent.​

Currently, most visitors to Canada may visit for up to six months when they first enter Canada. Those who wish to remain in Canada further must apply for an extension, and pay for a new visa. Those who are eligible parents or grandparents can apply for a Super Visa instead and can visit family in Canada for up to two years without the need to renew their status. The Super Visa is unique in that it is a multi-entry visa that provides multiple entries for a period of up to ten years. Another key difference is that the Super Visa allows an individual to stay for up to two years on initial entry into Canada; while a ten year multiple entry visa would only have a status period for each entry of six months only.

A Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document that an employer in Canada may need to obtain prior to hiring a foreign worker. Employers of some types of temporary workers need to get an LMIA before the foreign worker applies for a work permit. An LMIA is a document from Employment and Social Development Canada that gives the employer permission to hire a temporary foreign worker. A positive LMIA will show that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job. It will also show that no Canadian worker is available to do the job. A positive LMIA is sometimes called a confirmation letter. The purpose of the LMIA is to provide a view as to the impact the hiring of a foreign worker will have on the Canadian economy.

Those individuals who wish to apply for Canadian citizenship must have permanent resident status in Canada and have no unfulfilled conditions in relation to their permanent resident status. Regardless of age, an individual seeking to apply for Canadian citizenship must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1095 days during the five years preceding the submission of a citizenship application. In addition, applicants must show that they can speak, listen and write in one of Canada’s official languages, either English or French. In addition, a test must be taken to meet the knowledge requirement for citizenship; those under the age of 18 and over the age of 54 are not required to take the citizenship test nor meet the language requirements. An individual who has committed a crime in or outside of Canada may not be eligible to become a Canadian citizen for a period of time.

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) provides an alternate option for those who want to immigrate to Canada by obtaining a nomination from a Canadian province or territory. Those who want to immigrate to Canada through one of these programs must apply to the PNP in the province or territory in which the individual intends to settle. To qualify, you must have the skills, education and work experience you will need in Canada to support yourself and your family. The province or territory will assess if you are able to meet their economic or labor market needs and those of Canada. After the province or territory approves your application, the next step is to apply for permanent residence within the time period they set out. The province or territory will let you know whether to apply through the Express Entry system or through regular application process. The selection process and conditions to get a provincial nominee certificate may be different from one province or territory to the next. Please note, the province of Quebec chooses its own immigrants, and individuals who want to immigrate there must contact their Ministry of Immigration.

A Canadian citizen or permanent resident who resides in Canada and is 18 years or older may be eligible to sponsor their spouse, common-law partner or dependent child to immigrate to Canada as permanent residents. Only those members as defined as part of the family class are eligible to be sponsored to come to Canada as permanent residents, which will allow them to live, study and work in Canada. A dependent child is one who depends on their parent for financial and other support. Those who qualify as a dependent child are under the age of 22 and do not have a spouse or common-law partner.

The Express Entry system was introduced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 2015 and is the tool used to manage applications for permanent residence under three streams. The three streams are the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program and Canadian Experience Class. Candidates interested in this process should first create an online Express Entry profile from which candidates are assigned a score based on information they provide regarding skills, education, language ability, work experience and other details. Those individuals with acceptable scores are provided with an invitation to apply for permanent residence. Being given an invitation to apply alone does not guarantee that you will get permanent residence status.

This a permanent residence visa given to a person or group of persons who have applied to immigrate to Canada under the start-up business class and received a commitment from a designated angel investor group or venture capital fund, and who intend to operate a new business in Canada. Those who apply for this program will be assessed on a pass/fail basis to ensure if they have met the four requirements. Those applying to the Start-up Visa program must have a letter of support from a designated angel investor group, venture capital fund or business incubator, they must meet the ownership requirements for a qualifying business.

All those individuals wishing to enter Canada will require a visitor visa, with a few exceptions. Individuals may be issued a single entry visa or a multiple entry visa depending on the circumstances and that is also left up to the discretion of the visa officer assessing the application. Applicants do not choose which type of visa they receive this is based on each individual applicant’s situation and dependent on the decision made by the visa officer assessing the application. Visitors to Canada are allowed to remain for up to six months or until the date which is stamped into their passport by a border services agent. Individuals wanting to remain in Canada longer will need to reapply for an extension of their visitor visa.