Canada has established a new immigration strategy in 2017, which will raise the level of new immigrants arriving in Canada over the next three years to more than 300,000 per year. More than 60% of these new immigrants will be economic migrants, and the rest will be admitted under family reunification programs or as refugees. If you are interested in immigrating to Canada, this is a great time to take action and be one of the more than one million new Canadians over the next few years!

However, Canada's immigration system is rather complex. We are here to help you navigate through the system, find the program most suitable for your circumstances, and avoid making mistakes that can cost you the opportunity to immigrate to Canada. We will work with you closely to ensure that we understand your situation fully and choose the right immigration program for you. We will then take you through the entire process, from the initial application, to collecting and submitting all required documentation, and finally to receiving your permanent residence visa (PR).

We support clients with immigration under Canada's economic immigration, family sponsorship, and those seeking refugee status in Canada. We also work with clients on temporary visas including students and work visas. Please review the following pages to get an overview of the types of available programs for immigration to Canada.

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Economic immigration programs are targeted to those who plan to come to Canada to participate and stimulate Canada's economy by bringing key skills to Canada's workforce, or by starting businesses or investing in Canadian companies. Immigrants under these programs must meet certain criteria to qualify. These criteria are to ensure that these new immigrants will be able to succeed in Canada's economy.

The following are the main programs available, however, the number of immigrants admitted and the length of time it takes to successfully obtain a permanent residence visa (PR) varies greatly. Please get in touch with us to discuss your specific situation and to find the right program for you!

• Express Entry: Express Entry is actually an online system for applying to immigrate to Canada. Not all programs can be accessed through express entry. The main programs under Express Entry are:
  • Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP): Targeted to university educated applicants with work experience.
  • Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP): Targeted to skilled trades workers in specific trades with work experience.
  • Canadian Experience Class (CEC): Targeted to those who have gained Canadian work experience either through having worked in Canada after graduating from university here or through a work permit.
• Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs): Canada's provinces also have programs to encourage immigration to their specific provinces to fill key skills or to stimulate investment. There are many provincial programs and the requirements and application procedures vary and are constantly changing. However, those who are successful in receiving a provincial nomination are highly likely to succeed in getting a permanent residence (PR) visa, since these programs are highly targeted and less competitive that the federal programs.
• Self-Employed: Targeted to those with specialized skills that would allow them to become self-employed in Canada.
• Start-Up Visa: Targeted to entrepreneurs who are launching a startup in Canada and have received backing from approved Canadian Venture Capital (VC) or Startup Accelerator programs.

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One of the wonderful things about Canada is the recognition of the Canadian government of the importance of family reunification. To achieve these goals, Canada has a number of programs to enable Canadians to sponsor family members and bring them to Canada permanently to join them and gain permanent residence, and eventually Canadian citizenship. The following are the key family programs:

• Sponsorship of a Spouse, Partner or Dependent Children: These programs are targeted to allow Canadians to sponsor their spouse, common law partner, conjugal partner or dependent child who is a foreign national.
• Sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents: Targeted to allow Canadians to sponsor their parents and grandparents and bring them permanently to Canada.
• Sponsorship of Other Relatives: There are also programs to allow Canadians to sponsor other relatives under specific circumstances.

For more details, see our page on Canada's family sponsorship immigration programs.

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As you may already be able to tell, Canada's immigration system is welcoming and open for new immigrants, but can be confusing to those who are new to it. You can spend many hours reading documents and trying to understand the details of the immigration system, how to apply, what documents to include, what deadlines you must meet and how to avoid mistakes that can cost you the opportunity to immigrate to Canada.

So why not hire our team to help? Our team includes a Registered Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) authorized to represent potential new immigrants and help them through the immigration process. As a team, we have more than 20 years of experience helping clients immigrate and settle in Canada. Contact us to get started today!