Immigration series: All about moving to Canada

Canada has always been a hot favourite for Indians as a relocation destination. Even so, of late, there has been a surge in demand from professionals and entrepreneurs who wish to start a new innings by buying or establishing a business in Canada using their expertise.

To meet its target of welcoming 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, as of May 6, 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has begun accepting applications under the following three streams:

• 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care
• 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations
• 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian educational institution

“Federal Business/Economic Immigration programs are the most favoured amongst the age group of 35 to 60 years. The preferred programs have been Intra Company Transferee work permits; Entrepreneurial LMIAs (Labour Market Impact Assessment document to hire a foreign worker in Canada), C11 work permit and startup visa programs. We have received innumerable enquiries from people (particularly from the northern and western part of India) who are keen to invest anything ranging from USD 50,000 to USD 2 million,” said Lovedeep Arora, managing director and co-founder, Ace Luxury Immigration Solutions.

“Canada doesn’t have a program that offers residency by investing in real estate. Yet there are avenues where a foreigner can invest in businesses/corporations related to realty like development, renovations, construction, agriculture, warehousing, etc., that may assist him to immigrate. For instance, if you buy a piece of land and not make a move, it will be purposeless. But if you buy a piece of land, cultivate it, hire local workforce, run it as an agricultural business, then that may help fulfil your immigration dream along with the investment,” Arora added.

Canada has already welcomed more than 48,000 new permanent residents this year. By way of comparison, Canada welcomed 50,600 new immigrants in the first two months of last year (Source: www.cicnews.com).

Know the country

• Official name: Canada
• Capital: Ottawa
• Area: 3,855,102 sq. miles
• Population: 36.29 million
• Official languages: English and French
• Currency: Canadian Dollar (CAD) 1 CAD = 58.14 INR
• 5 largest cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton
• International dialling code: +1
• Internet domain: .ca
• Passport Power: Rank: 5. Visa-free entry to 92 countries, Visa on Arrival: 43 countries, ETA: 3 countries
• Safety Index: Toronto was ranked No. 2 by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU 2021 ranking)
• Global Peace Index: Ranked No. 6

Key benefits

• Canada is ranked as the second-best country in the world to live and work.
• Most Canadian permanent resident (PR) status cards are valid for five years, although some are valid for only one year. There is no prescribed limit as to how many times you can extend your visa.
• The government of Canada ensures free education up to Grade 12 for all children (up to 18 years) of PRs. University education tuition fees are dramatically reduced for PRs.
• Social benefits include retirement payments, disability benefits and survivors’ benefits for deceased workers.
• You can move outside, inside or remain in Canada (multiple times) with the Canada PR card.
• Once you get your PR and if you have physically lived in the country for 1,095 days (three years) out of the five, you become eligible for Canadian citizenship.

Canadian permanent residence programs

C11 work permit: This is an LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) exempt program. That means you don’t have to go through the local labour market to justify hiring of a worker. This program is for candidates willing to establish a business dealing in products, goods or services, and demonstrate that the intended business would generate economic, social or cultural benefits to permanent residents or citizens of Canada. The business or its owner must be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient capital to start operations ($150,000 or more). The process can take 4-6 months.

Entrepreneurial LMIA: This is applicable for candidates who buy or establish a new business in Canada. This in turn helps them secure an LMIA-approved job offer, leading to a work permit or PR, depending upon their NOC code (job position) and CRS Score. The entire process can take anywhere from 6-8 months.

Intra Company Transferee Work Permit: This program is designed for corporations, subsidiaries, partnerships and other firms to apply for a Canadian Work Permit that allows international workforce to arrive in Canada as Intra Company Transferees. The key feature of this program is that no LMIA is essential. Yet the transferee should be qualified, skilled or an expert in his/her field to be able to contribute significantly to the Canadian labour market and the company’s growth and success.

Startup visa program: This program facilitates entrepreneurs/innovators who have a qualifying business that is eligible for the startup visa program in Canada. They should each own more than 10% equity in the startup. The business/idea must be able to obtain a letter of support or a commitment certificate from a designated angel investor, incubator or venture capitalist. Based on a letter of support, the founders can apply for a short-term work permit or permanent residency (whichever is applicable) in Canada.

Family covered: In all the above mentioned programs, the spouse of the applicant and dependent children can also join the main applicant on open work permits, dependent visas or even as permanent residents, where applicable. Under normal circumstances, dependent children include unmarried children under the age of 22. If a child whose age is 22 years or above and is financially dependent due to a physical or mental condition, then s/he may still be considered a dependent child.

You can check your immigration eligibility instantly here.

More in the Immigration Series: All About moving to Australia, and Portugal