Immigration Programs

Clear, up-to-date guides to every major way to visit, study, work, settle or seek protection in Canada. Each page is checked against official sources and shows the date it was last reviewed.

• Open, rules changed November 3, 2026Express EntryExpress Entry is the online system Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses to manage permanent residence applications under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST) and part of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). You submit a profile, IRCC ranks it with the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and only candidates invited in a round can apply. Since November 3, 2026, the CRS gives new points for Canadian work experience and job offers in high-wage occupations, and a job offer no longer needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment.Read the guide →
• Open, many provincial streams changed in 2025 and 2026Provincial Nominee ProgramThe Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) lets 11 provinces and territories choose workers, graduates and business people they need, and nominate them to the federal government for permanent residence. You first get a nomination from a province, then apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which makes the final decision. Quebec and Nunavut do not run a PNP, and each province's streams, intake and rules change often.Read the guide →
• PSTQ open by invitation; PEQ intake closed October 31, 2026Immigrating to QuebecQuebec chooses its own economic immigrants under the Canada–Quebec Accord. You first apply to Quebec's immigration ministry for a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ), mainly through the Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) and its Arrima invitations, and then apply to IRCC, which checks admissibility and grants permanent residence. Federal programs such as Express Entry are only for people who intend to live outside Quebec.Read the guide →
• Open, several rules changed in 2025 and 2026Work PermitsA work permit lets a foreign national work in Canada temporarily, either for one named employer (employer-specific) or for almost any employer (open). Most employer-specific permits need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, while LMIA-exempt permits and most open permits fall under the International Mobility Program. In 2026 the government cut new worker arrival targets to 230,000, and rules for spouses, low-wage jobs and post-graduation permits are stricter than before.Read the guide →
• Open, capped, rules changed in 2026Study in CanadaMost international students need a study permit to study in Canada. To get one, you need an acceptance letter from a designated learning institution (DLI), in most cases a provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL/TAL), and proof that you can pay your tuition, living costs and travel without working in Canada. Since January 1, 2026, master's and doctoral students at public DLIs no longer need a PAL/TAL, and IRCC expects to issue up to 408,000 study permits in 2026.Read the guide →
• Spouses and children open; parents and grandparents pausedFamily SponsorshipFamily sponsorship lets a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or person registered under the Indian Act sponsor certain family members to become permanent residents of Canada. Spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, dependent children and some orphaned or other relatives can be sponsored now. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) paused new intake for the parents and grandparents program on July 15, 2026, but parents and grandparents can still visit for long stays on a super visa.Read the guide →
• Open, Super Visa income rules changed March 31, 2026Visiting CanadaTo visit Canada, most travellers need either a visitor visa (temporary resident visa) or an electronic travel authorization (eTA), depending on their passport and how they travel; US citizens need neither. Most visitors can stay up to 6 months, and the border services officer decides the length of stay at entry. Parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and registered Indians can apply for a Super Visa, which allows stays of up to 5 years at a time.Read the guide →
• Open, Bill C-3 descent rules in force since December 15, 2025CitizenshipPermanent residents can apply for a grant of Canadian citizenship once they have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days in the 5 years before they apply, have filed any required tax returns for 3 of those years, and are not under a prohibition. Applicants aged 18 to 54 must also show English or French at Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 4 and pass the citizenship test. People born outside Canada to a Canadian parent may already be citizens and apply for a citizenship certificate instead.Read the guide →
• Federal Start-Up Visa and Self-Employed paused; provincial and Quebec routes openBusiness immigrationCanada's two federal business programs for permanent residence, the Start-Up Visa and the Self-Employed Persons Program, are paused and closed to new applications, and there is no federal investor program. Today most entrepreneurs immigrate through a provincial entrepreneur stream or a Quebec business program, usually starting with a work permit to run a business in Canada. Business owner work permits also exist, but on their own they are temporary and do not lead to permanent residence.Read the guide →
• Open, claim process changed November 3, 2026Refugee protection and IRBYou can ask Canada for refugee protection (asylum) if you are in Canada or at a port of entry and it is unsafe to return to your country. An officer first decides whether your claim is eligible, and the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) then decides whether you are a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection. New eligibility rules from Bill C-12 apply to claims made on or after June 3, 2025, and a new online claim process with firmer deadlines started on November 3, 2026.Read the guide →
• Available, several rules updated in 2026Specialized Immigration NeedsThis page explains immigration requests and problems outside the usual application streams: getting your IRCC file notes, answering a procedural fairness letter, responding to a refusal, restoring lost status, overcoming inadmissibility, keeping permanent resident status and fixing documents. Each process has its own rules and short legal deadlines, such as 15 days to seek judicial review of a decision made in Canada and 90 days to restore lost temporary status.Read the guide →