Moving to Canada can be exciting as much as it can be overwhelming. There are many categories available to immigrate to Canada depending on one’s situation.  Most people interested to immigrate to Canada would like to obtain the Permanent Resident status in order to settle permanently.  Permanent Residents also have the option to take the Canadian Citizenship once they have already met the requirements to do so.

The immigration categories that are geared for permanent residency are:

•  Skilled Worker
  Professionals and skilled people are assessed through different factors in a point system to determine the likelihood of becoming economically established in Canada.  The applicant must at least have 1 year of continuous paid work experience in the past 10 years.  This position may be full-time or part-time equivalent. This “skilled work experience” must be under skill level 0, A or B in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2006 matrix.


• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
  CEC is for people who have gained work experience in Canada under skill level 0, A or B.  This category is particularly for foreign workers who had minimum of 24 months work experience within the last 3 years and students who had a minimum of 12 months of work experience within the last 2 years and have graduated from a post secondary institution in Canada.
  
  For students who have graduated from a 1 year graduate program (e.g Masters or Doctorate) they must have studied in Canada for at least 16 months. For students, only work experience gained after graduation will be credited.  Also, this work experience must be gained within 2 years of applying.


• Business Class
  The Business Class category intends to attract experienced business people to invest or develop a business in Canada.


• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
  The province chooses or nominates an individual who would contribute in the province’s economic development by residing in their province. Most provinces have the same programs as the federal government do with the provinces’ own selection criteria and procedures like the Skilled Worker, Business Class, International Student and other programs.


• Family Sponsorship
  For Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada who want to sponsor a close family member.  Canada supports family reunification.  In this category, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident may sponsor his/her spouse/common-law partner/conjugal partner, dependent child or other eligible family members.