If you wish to apply for permanent resident, your first step is to determine your immigration classification for entry into Canada. This is what you will do to survive. Will you work, seek education, run a business, or be reunited with family members? You may be financially secure and not need to work, but that is not enough! You must fit into an existing immigration classification. It is also very important to note there are two distinct ways to start the immigration process; -the federal (CIC) route and the provincial (PNP) route. We will refer to these as pathways.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is a branch of the Government of Canada and is responsible for policies concerning admission into Canada. The focus of CIC is citizenship, selection, settlement and integration issues. CIC also offers Canada’s protection to those in need.

The province of British Columbia has an agreement with the Government of Canada that allows the province to select immigrants based on their ability to contribute to the provincial economy. If your application is accepted you are nominated by the province. A nominated person can apply for a permanent resident visa through CIC under the provincial nominee category.

Generally speaking, immigration under the BC PNP pathway is significantly faster than the federal pathway. The federal pathway has various immigration classifications such as skilled worker, family class, refugee, entrepreneur and others. The provincial pathway only has classifications for business people and strategic occupations that contribute to the fiscal health of the province.

Frequently highly skilled workers, investors and business people are not aware there are two immigration pathways and may find their application in the system for years instead of months. For these reasons we suggest first looking to see if you meet the PNP program requirements if you are a business person or a skilled professional with a Canadian job offer. The advantages of the PNP program are apparent when comparing the  processing time for a federal skilled worker against the  processing time for a PNP skilled worker. Those who do not meet the PNP requirements can pursue the federal CIC pathway.

 Becoming Canadian is a quick test to suggest classifications you may qualify for. It is NOT meant to provide guidance, only to make suggestions you may want to consider.

A Common Scenario

Many visitors from the USA return to the South Kootenay wishing to purchase a home. They are enticed by the beauty of the area and the low prices of real estate. They search for a home through the local real estate agents and consider selling their existing home. They feel the proceeds from the sale of their existing home combined with their life savings will be more than enough for them to survive. What they fail to take into consideration is their immigration pathway does not exist! They must choose an existing pathway.

The importance of finding your immigration pathway can not be overstated. Choosing the wrong pathway may cause delays or rejection. If the visitor in the scenario above had looked into immigration pathways first they may have decided to look into purchasing a local businesses instead of a home. There are existing immigration pathways for running a business, and many businesses in smaller communities also double as a family home.