Canada Immigration - The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

There are 6 main different routes you can take to immigrate to Canada.

Each route brings a different set of requirements, processing time, and costs.
The main routes are:

1. Express Entry

2. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

3. Quebec immigration selection system

4. Other Federal Immigration Programs

5. Working in Canada

6. Studying in Canada

As we will see here, if you are able to identify as soon as possible which route is more suitable for you, the process will become much more straightforward to follow.

ECA - Educational Credential Assessment

This is used to verify that your foreign degree, diploma, or certificate (or other proof of your credential) is valid and equal to a Canadian one. There are different types of ECAs.

IRCC will only accept ECAs from designated organizations

• World Education Services

• Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

• International Credential Assessment Service of Canada

• International Qualifications Assessment Service

• International Credential Evaluation Service

• Medical Council of Canada (the professional body for Doctors)

• Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (the professional body for Pharmacists)

IMPORTANT NOTES for your Report
Your report must be issued for immigration purposes by an organization or professional body designated by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

Be issued on or after the date we designated the organization or professional body.
Not be more than 5 years old on the date you:

• submit your Express Entry profile

• apply for permanent residence

Don’t ask the designated organization or the professional body to send the report directly to the IRCC.
Once you get your report:

• Enter the results and the reference number into your Express Entry profile

• Keep your original documents

• Be ready to upload copies if we invite you to apply for permanent residence

The National Occupational Classification (NOC)

It is Canada’s national system for describing occupations or, in a simpler way, jobs profiles, and it is the national reference that categorizes the entire range of occupational activity in Canada.

The NOC system assigns a four-digit code and job description to every occupation in the Canadian labour market.

CLB - Canadian Language Benchmarks: describe 12 levels of ability in each of four different language skills – Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

Along with the educational level and professional experience, the level of proficiency in English and French is one of the most relevant aspects of an applicant profile.

Express Entry

It is an electronic system used to manage the applications of skilled workers willing to become permanent residents of Canada.

Candidates considered as ‘Eligible’ are accepted into the ‘Express Entry Pool’ and are ranked according to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

A profile in the Express Entry can be valid for up to one year.

The CRS - Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)

It is a points-based system used by the Government to assess and rank candidates in the Express Entry Pool.

The CRS score is calculated based on:

*Candidate’s Age *Education *Work Experience *Language Skills

*As well as other factors

Another route a candidate can follow is to make his or her application though one of the other Canadian Federal Immigration Programs. They are:

• Atlantic Provinces

• Rural and northern communities

• Working as a Caregiver

• Working in the Agri-food sector

• Starting a Business or being Self-employed

The number of international students studying in Canada is over 640,000.

In addition, Canada allows you to work in the country during and after your studies so you can support yourself financially and gain professional work experience.

Canada also offers over 100 immigration (PR) pathways to international students who complete their studies and wish to remain in Canada permanently.

International students who complete post-secondary education in Canada have many opportunities to extend their stay and ultimately transition to permanent residence.

After completing your education in Canada, you can gain Canadian work experience by obtaining a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) which, depending on your Canadian academic program, may enable you to work in Canada for up to three years.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

It is the second major way that Canada receives skilled workers.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) allows Canadian provinces and territories to choose applicants who wish to immigrate to Canada and who are interested in settling in a specific province.

The only exceptions are the Northern Canada territory of Nunavut and Quebec.

The best and simpler way is to first choose a province and then check which PNPs are available.
In general:

• Address a specific need of a province

  • students, business people, skilled workers, and so on

• Have different demands

• Can be linked with the Entry express program

• Can demand or not an existent job offer

Provincial Nominations issued under these Express Entry-aligned streams are known as 'Enhanced nominations' and when it is not aligned, it is called as 'Base Provincial Nomination'

Quebec's Provincial Nominee Program is an immigration selection system for Skilled Workers is designed to identify immigration candidates who have higher chances to become successfully economically established in this province.

Skilled Workers or International Graduates in Quebec may apply to immigrate to Quebec under the 'Regular Skilled Worker Program', also known as the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP), or the Quebec Experience Program — PEQ.

Foreign nationals interested in immigrating to Quebec under this Program have to initiate the process by submitting an expression of interest to the online portal, Arrima. (https://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/informations/arrima/index.html)

The process has specific steps:

1. Completion of an Expression of Interest profile through the Arrima Portal which will include the candidate into the ‘Expression of Interest’ bank of candidates.

2. Next step then is the submission of a complete application for a ‘Quebec Selection Certificate’ (Certificat de sélection du Québec, or CSQ)

In addition to the Quebec Skilled Worker Program there are other options as well:

• Programme de l’expérience québécoise (Quebec Experience Class, PEQ)

• Quebec Investor Program

• Quebec Entrepreneur Program

• Quebec Self-Employed Person Program

Fill out the ONLINE FORM

If you want to come to Canada as a skilled immigrant, your first step is to submit your profile to the Express Entry pool.

If you’re eligible, the IRCC will:

• place you in a pool with others who are also eligible

• give you a score and rank you using several factors

• invite you to apply to be a permanent resident of Canada (if you’re one of the top candidates)

Completing an online Express Entry profile or entering the pool doesn’t guarantee that the IRCC will invite you to apply for permanent residence.

The 5 fastest ways to improve your CRS Score!
Why should you care about your CRS Score?

If you are applying for your Canadian Permanent Residency via the Empress Entry System, you simply must know how the Empress Entry Pool works and the role of the Comprehensive Ranking System.

In a nutshell, who apply using the Express System has his/her profile analyzed under several different criteria (e.g. age, language proficiency, work experience, etc) and for each criteria, an amount of points is given, and the sum of these points is called Comprehensive Ranking System or CRS. All candidates are part of a pool and the positions in this pool are defined by the CRS ranking of each one. Every two week in average, the Canadian government select the top-ranked candidates in the Express Entry Pool, which means that higher is your CRS score, higher the chances to receive an ITA.

That said, a CRS Score is something that can be constantly managed. It is not because you made your application in the Express Entry that your CRS score should be ‘locked’. Any changes in your profile can be updated in your account and it will be automatically reflected in your CRS score.

To put that in perspective, let’s have a look at some numbers from 2020:

• In 2020, 107,950 Invitation to Apply were issued via the Express Entry System

• Were invited candidates with a CRS score between 415 and 478

• In January 2021, from the more than 141 thousand candidates in the candidates’ pool, 75,944 (53.7%) had a CRS Score between 300-399

  • From this group, only the ones that manage to increase their CRS score using one of the five steps described here were able to put themselves in a position where they could be selected to receive an ITA

And as you will see here, there are different forms to increase your CRS score depending on your overall situation. But the key point to be considered is that: this is something straightforward and completely doable.

So you can find which ones you can consider to improve your score and open up your route towards your Canadian Permanent Residency:

1 - Language Abilities

2 - Legal Partner/Spouse

3 - Additional Points - French language

4 - Additional points - Job Offer

5 - Province Nominee Program

What happens after receiving ITA Canada?

Candidates who were invited to apply through Express Entry before June 29, 2021, will still have 90 days to submit their application for permanent residence and after June 29, 2021, the (IRCC) will give Express Entry candidates who receive an invitation to apply 60 days to submit their application for permanent residence.

Attention with this deadline in mind, there very first thing you must check and double-check is the documentation.

When you finish uploading all requested documents, the system will take you to pages related to Declaration, Disclosure, and Electronic signature.

After you “Agree” to the Declaration, Disclosure, and Electronic signature you will see a summary of fees that you need to pay.

Surely you know by now that the whole process to get you permanent residency can be quite overwhelming.

This means that it is quite easy to lose focus and make mistakes….

And that, as we know, can cause unnecessary delays in your processing.

So, no reason whatsoever, to make any of these common mistakes.