PERMANENT RESIDENT
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada facilitates the entry of permanent residents in a way that maximizes their economic, social, and cultural contribution to Canada while at the same time protecting the health, safety, and security of Canadians.
Permanent Resident Program includes both Economic, and Non-economic Classes of which are classified and detailed below.
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is designed to enable provinces and territories to support the immigration of people who
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have expressed an interest in settling in their province or territory
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the province or territory believes will be able to contribute to the economic development and prosperity of that province or territory and Canada
Entrepreneurs and self-employed persons
The Self-employed Persons Program allows people to immigrate to Canada permanently as a self-employed person.
If you’re interested in this program, you must:
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have relevant experience in cultural activities or athletics and
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be willing and able to make a significant contribution to the cultural or athletic life of Canada
Canadian experience class
The Canadian Experience Class is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience and want to become permanent residents.
Federal skilled trades class
The Federal Skilled Trades Program is for skilled workers who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade.
Investors
The federal Immigrant Investor Program is closed. IRCC is no longer accepting applications for this program.
On June 19, 2014, Bill C-31 became law – archived, terminating applications still in the backlog of the federal Immigrant Investor Program and Entrepreneur Program.
Start-up Visa Program
Canada’s Start-up Visa Program targets immigrant entrepreneurs with the skills and potential to build businesses in Canada that:
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are innovative
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can create jobs for Canadians
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can compete on a global scale
Do you have an innovative business idea? If you can get support for your idea from one of the designated organizations, you may be able to immigrate to Canada.
Home Child-Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot
As of June 18, 2019, there are 2 pilots to let you hire a foreign in-home caregiver:
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Home Child Care Provider pilot
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National Occupational Classification 4411, excluding foster parents
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Home Support Worker pilot
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National Occupational Classification 4412, excluding housekeepers
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The Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots provide in-home caregivers with the opportunity to become a permanent resident once they have 2 years of eligible work experience in Canada. It also lets their family members come to Canada to work or study while they get work experience.
Caring for children and caring for people with high medical needs classes
The caring for children and caring for people with high medical needs classes are closed to new applications as of June 18, 2019. Applications received before June 18, 2019, are being processed. Applications received on or after June 18, 2019, will be returned.
The caring for children class and caring for people with high medical needs classes are two economic pilot programs targeted to foreign nationals with at least two years of full-time Canadian work experience in an eligible caregiver occupation, and who meet minimum education and language proficiency requirements.
Interim Pathway for Caregivers
The Interim Pathway for Caregivers ended on October 8, 2019. If you submitted an application before or on October 8, IRCC will continue to process it.
If you need to send your language test results or educational credential assessment, follow the instructions in the guide.
The Interim Pathway for Caregivers is a limited time pathway to permanent residence for qualifying in-home caregivers and their families. If you have work experience in Canada as a home child care provider or home support worker, you may be able to apply for permanent residence.
Live-in Caregiver Program
The Live-in Caregiver Program is closed to new applicants. You can only hire a caregiver through the program if you have:
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found a caregiver who already has a work permit in the Live-in Caregiver Program and who is looking for a new employer, and
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been approved for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) that shows the caregiver has agreed to live in your home
Immigrant Investor Venture Capital class
As of January 29, 2021, the Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) class pilot program is closed. Applications stopped being accepted on December 30, 2015. The IIVC program information in our instructions will be removed as the last applications that were being processed have now been finalized.
Atlantic Immigration Pilot Programs
The pilot, launched in 2017, helps employers in Atlantic Canada hire foreign skilled workers who want to immigrate to Atlantic Canada and international graduates who want to stay in Atlantic Canada after they graduate.
Due to its success, the government has committed to making this pilot a permanent program. It will continue to be a flagship regional economic immigration program, complementing the provincial nominee programs in each Atlantic province.
Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is a community-driven program. It’s designed to spread the benefits of economic immigration to smaller communities by creating a path to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers who want to work and live in one of the participating communities.
Participating communities:
Community | Community website
North Bay, ON | https://northbayrnip.ca/
Sudbury, ON | https://investsudbury.ca/why-sudbury/move-to-sudbury/rnip/
Timmins, ON | www.timminsedc.com
Sault Ste. Marie, ON | www.welcometossm.com
Thunder Bay, ON | https://gotothunderbay.ca/
Brandon, MB | www.economicdevelopmentbrandon.com
Altona/Rhineland, MB | www.seedrgpa.com
Moose Jaw, SK | https://www.moosejawrnip.ca/
Claresholm, AB | www.claresholm.ca
Vernon, BC | https://rnip-vernon-northok.ca/
West Kootenay (Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Nelson), BC | https://wk-rnip.ca/
Non-economic classes
Members of the family class
Family class requirements
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada can sponsor the following members of their family: spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner (opposite or same-sex), dependent children, parents, grandparents, children adopted from abroad, and under specific circumstances, other relatives.
Members of the family class must meet all of the following requirements:
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they must have an eligible relative, or spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner who meets the requirements to be a sponsor
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they must prove their identity, age, and relationship to their sponsor
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the applicant and their dependent family members must not be inadmissible
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they must have valid and subsisting passports or travel documents
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they must be coming to Canada to establish permanent residence
Spouse or common-law partner in Canada class
If you’re eligible, you can sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent children to become permanent residents of Canada.
If you do, you must be able to:
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support them financially
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make sure they don’t need social assistance from the government
Humanitarian and compassionate consideration
Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) consideration, under A25 and A25.1 of the IRPA, provides the flexibility to grant permanent residence status or a permanent resident visa to certain foreign nationals who would otherwise not qualify in any class, in cases in which there are compelling H&C grounds. Applicants may make submissions on any facts affecting their personal circumstances that they believe are relevant to their request for H&C consideration.
Permanent residence pathways for Hong Kong residents
The Temporary public policy creating two pathways to permanent residence to facilitate the immigration of certain Hong Kong residents, created under the authority of section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, takes effect on June 1, 2021, and expires on August 31, 2026. The additional 3 months will allow applicants who graduate in June 2026 sufficient time to submit an application. This public policy includes 2 groups of potential applicants:
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Stream A: Graduation with a degree, diploma (2 years or longer), or graduate or post-graduate credential (1 year or longer) from a post-secondary learning institution in Canada in the last 3 years
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Stream B: Graduation with a degree, diploma (2 years or longer), or graduate or post-graduate credential (1 year or longer) from a post-secondary learning institution in Canada or abroad in the last 5 years, plus 1 year of in-Canada work experience within the last 3 years
This public policy is part of a number of facilitative measures put in place to support Hong Kong residents who are seeking alternatives to remaining in or returning to Hong Kong.
Temporary public policy to further facilitate access to permanent resident status for out-of-status construction workers in the Greater Toronto Area
This section is about the processing of both temporary and permanent residence applications for a group of 500 out-of-status construction workers, plus their families, in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Applicants can apply whether or not they have previously been granted authorization to work in the construction industry in the GTA.
Launched on January 2, 2020, this 2-year public policy has been revisited to be more facilitative and the deadline has been extended until January 2, 2023, or once 500 principal applicants (plus their family members) have been granted permanent residence.
The Temporary public policy to further facilitate access to permanent resident status for out-of-status construction workers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) recognizes the economic contribution of foreign national construction workers currently employed in the GTA who have fallen out of status and have been working without authorization. This public policy seeks to regularize individuals who have been contributing to the Canadian economy by filling a regional labour market need and is more facilitative than the previous public policy.
At the same time, this public policy addresses the vulnerable position of these workers due to their lack of immigration status. Many undocumented construction workers may be unaware of their employment rights or hesitant to exercise them. These workers may not be benefitting from workplace regulations, such as health and safety inspections.
Pathway to permanent residence: In-Canada families of Canadian victims of recent air disasters
In the last few years, there have been 2 airline disasters with significant implications for Canadians.
On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (ET302) crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752) was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile shortly after takeoff from Tehran, Iran.
As a result of each of these tragic events, all passengers and crew died, including many Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.
In order to support the families of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and victims who were in the process of applying for permanent residence, the Government of Canada has published a public policy to facilitate the granting of permanent residence to some of the members of their families who are currently in Canada.
Applicants can apply for permanent residence pursuant to this public policy between May 12, 2021, and May 11, 2022.
Health-care workers permanent residence pathway: COVID-19 program delivery
Two temporary public policies (one for applicants intending to reside in Quebec and one for applicants intending to reside in the rest of Canada) offer a pathway to permanent residence for refugee claimants working in Canada in the health care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic providing direct care to patients.
Applicants can apply to these public policies between December 14, 2020, and August 31, 2021.
If they are in Canada, spouses and common-law partners of deceased refugee claimants who worked in the health care sector and who contracted COVID-19 may also be granted permanent residence under one of the public policies.
Protected persons
The following may apply for permanent residence as a protected person:
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persons upon whom refugee protection has been conferred under paragraph 95(1)(b) or (c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
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members of the protected temporary residents class who have had their immigration medical examination
Temporary resident permit holders
Generally, individuals who do not meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), or who are inadmissible under the IRPA, may be
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refused a permanent resident visa (PRV) or temporary resident visa (TRV) abroad
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refused an electronic travel authorization (eTA)
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reported inadmissible under section A44(1)
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allowed to withdraw their application to enter Canada at a port of entry (POE)
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refused processing within Canada
In some cases, however, an officer may issue a TRP to allow a person who is inadmissible, or who does not meet the requirements of the IRPA, to become a temporary resident (that is, to enter or remain in Canada) if it is justified in the circumstances.
TRPs allow officers to balance the objectives of the IRPA to meet Canada’s social, humanitarian and economic commitments, while maintaining the health and security of Canadians. Learn more about the background and context of TRPs.
Economic classes
Federal skilled workers
This program is for skilled workers with foreign work experience who want to immigrate to Canada permanently.
This program has minimum requirements for:
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skilled work experience
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language ability
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education
You must meet all the minimum requirements to be eligible.
Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway
The temporary resident to permanent resident pathway is a limited-time pathway to permanent residence. It is for certain temporary residents who are currently working in Canada and their families.
You may be eligible for permanent residence if
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you have work experience in Canada in an essential occupation or the health or health services field
OR
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you recently graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution
Streams and application limits
There are 6 streams in this pathway:
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3 accept both English- and French-speaking applicants
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3 are specifically for French speakers
Agri-Food Immigration Pilot Program
The Agri-Food Pilot helps address the labour needs of the Canadian agri-food sector.
The pilot provides a pathway to permanent residence for experienced, non-seasonal workers in specific industries and occupations. It will run until May 2023.
Adoptions
The process to adopt a child internationally and bring them back to Canada.