Immigrate to Canada as a Professional

Professional Newcomers are well settled in Canada

At Moirai Reach Immigration Consulting we understand that the immigration applications, as well as the whole process may become a daunting undertaking for applicants. It is also a very risky process, whereas even seemingly meaningless mistakes and omissions may result in misrepresentation, resulting in applicant refusals or worse ban of applicants from entering Canada for 5 years. Our Registered Canadian Immigration Consultants are trained to thoroughly analyze your background and present the profiles in the most efficient and detailed manner.

Whether you want us to fully represent your case with an immigration office as your authorized representatives, or to help you in representing you, our flexible services are designed to meet your needs. Contact us today to ensure you have a perfect application.

What is Express Entry and Economic Class Immigration

Economic class immigrants are selected based on their ability to economically   settle in Canada soon after they arrive. Their ability to become economically established is evaluated based on factors, such as work experience, education, language proficiency, age and business experience, to name the few.

There are a number of immigration programs in Canada under the economics class. One such program is the Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP), which is widely known as Express Entry. However, Express Entry itself is not an immigration program, and rather is an electronic system that hosts several programs including FSWP. The Express Entry system is designed to facilitate the processing of applications by introducing the electronic submission of the permanent resident applications, also known as eAPR, as well as expression of interest

applications, also known as EOI. As such, the Express Entry system hosts the Federal Skilled Workers Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, as well as the Canadian Experience Class immigration programs. Also, all permanent resident applications (hereafter, PR applications) that follow upon successful nomination by the Canadian Provinces (Provincial Nominee Programs) must also be submitted through the Express Entry System.

Provincial Nominee Programs

Management of the most immigration programs under the economic class immigration is delegated to the Canadian provinces. Each province is responsible for determining its priority of occupations, also known as in-demand occupations, and nominate candidates for permanent residence according to determined priorities. Needless to say, that the in-demand occupations list changes constantly for each province. Saskatchewan, for example, runs the International Skilled Worker Application – SINP, along with many other provincial immigration programs, which is similar to the Federal Skilled Workers Program.

How does point-based immigration work?

The Canadian Government was the first government in the world to introduce a point-based immigration system in 1967. The newly established immigration system in 2015 has been recognized as the most merit-based system that ever existed.

The first step in almost all Canadian immigration programs, including in the provincial immigration programs, is to express you interest to immigrate to Canada. This part of the application is called an expression of interest application. It is at this point that you score points based on your background and skills. Although various provinces have various points assigned to each skill, the gist of the system is the same throughout programs and provinces. You are assigned points for each of the following skills:

1. Knowledge of English Language and/ or knowledge of French Language
2. Years of experience in various professional occupations
3. Level of your education (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate)
4. Age (this factor is part of the assessment because it has been proven that the younger the candidates, the easier they integrate to their new home and culture)
5. Other optional factors, such as a job offer, close relative living in Canada, or the Canadian Education and Canadian experience.

Since this is a point-based system, you can compensate your scores by scoring high with other factors. For example, if you do not have a job offer, you can compensate the points through your higher education level, your proficiency of either French or English, or even both. Most of those who landed with Federal skilled workers programs do not have job offers before they arrive to Canada.

Once your expression of interest application is submitted and your scores are calculated, you are officially in the pool. While in the Express Entry pool, your profile competes with other applicants for a limited number of invitations that federal and provincial governments send out. Not all provinces use express entry pool to invite applicants. Some provinces have their pools and points-based systems. While in the express entry pool, all candidates are ranked by their scores from highest to lowest. If the Federal Government decides that in a particular round of invitations, it will invite 3000 candidates to apply for permanent residence, then the top 3000 applicants with the highest scores in the express entry pool will be invited to apply. The cut-off scores therefore will correspond with the score of the last invited applicant’s score.

Invitation to apply for permanent residence

You have received an invitation to apply to the Canadian permanent residence, Congratulations! You are ready for the second stage of the process. At this stage, the applicant must prepare a perfect application and transmit it to the federal government. It is at this point that the government checks your background. Some third-party partners help IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) to conduct background checks. Every single bit of information you have transmitted to the federal government will be scrutinized, before IRCC proceeds to issue you a confirmation of permanent residence (COPR), and sending your case to the Embassy of Canada that is responsible for your region. Based on the COPR the embassy will issue you an immigrant visa. Generally, Immigrant visas are issued for a duration of 3 to 6 months. This is the period within which an applicant must enter the country and receive their permanent residence cards.’

The applicant will be able to apply for social insurance number, once he or she lands in Canada as a permanent resident.

Permanent residence requirements

You have received your permanent residence. Now what?

Once you become a permanent residence, you will receive a permanent resident card of Canada. The PR card will allow you to live in Canada for upcoming five years.

To keep your permanent residence, you must have an intention to reside in Canada permanently. Within the given  five years, you must have lived in Canada for 730 days, which is two years. This does not mean that the applicant must live in the country for two years in a row. However, the intention to reside in Canada permanently will be checked by CBSA officers every time you leave and enter Canada. If the officer determines that you do not have an intention to reside in Canada permanently, your permanent residence may be revoked.

To qualify for citizenship, your residence during the five years before you applicant date will be assessed. In this period you must have been present in Canada for 1095 days.

Support System for the new immigrant

Many provinces and big cities have a variety of programs to help newcomers to settle in their new home, integrate into Canadian society and help to enter the workforce. As an example, the government of Ontario established a bursary of up to $5000 for internationally trained professionals to cover their participation (tuition fee, books, equipment purchases). As a result, many institutions, universities, and non-government organizations created bridging programs designed specifically for professional newcomers.

Some NGO’s introduced mentorship programs for immigrant professionals. These programs match a working professional who is willing to mentor newcomers with a new immigrant who is looking for mentorship.  During several weeks the mentors help new immigrants to apply for jobs and build up connections in their respective industries.

According to statistics, professional skilled newcomers, who resided in Canada for at least 5 years, exceeded Canadian average earnings by 6%. These Immigrants were 15-24% more likely to be working than Canadian-born residents.