Annalena is a business analyst from Liechtenstein. She holds a bachelor’s degree. Annalena has worked for a business consulting firm for the past 10 years. She is 32 years old. Annalena speaks German, English, and French fluently.  Her net worth is $600,000. Annalena is wondering if she could move to Canada permanently. She has heard about economic immigration to Canada but has no idea what this phrase means.

You may like to know that Canada offers three routes for immigration, namely:

• Family reunification for people whose family members sponsor them to Canada (practitioners see subsection 12(1) of IRPA)
• Economic immigration for applicants who may economically establish themselves in Canada without the use of the social assistance program (practitioners see subsection 12(2) of IRPA)
• Refugees for convention refugees and those who need protection (practitioners see subsection 12(3) of IRPA)

The majority of immigrants move to Canada under economic immigration programs. We may divide these immigrants into the following major groups.

• Federal Economic Immigrants
• Quebec-selected Skilled Workers and Business
• Provincial/Territorial Nominees

Federal Economic Immigrants

Federal options are for those who intend to settle anywhere in Canada but Quebec. The subcategories of federal economic immigration methods include:

• Express Entry – This is an online system of applying for immigration to Canada that covers three streams of immigration:
  • Federal Skilled Worker Program – An immigration option for those who apply based on their education, work experience, knowledge of English or French, age, job opportunities in Canada, and adaptability to our country.
  • Canadian Experience Class – If you have recently worked in Canada, you could qualify for this option. This is the most popular Express Entry option for those who have already entered Canada with a valid work permit or, in some cases, a study permit.
  • Federal Skilled Trades Program – This method encourages skilled tradespeople to immigrate to Canada. There is a limited list of acceptable jobs.
• Federal Self-employed Class – Despite its generic name, this method is limited to self-employed people under the following categories only.
  • Traditionally, self-employed people in cultural activities include performing artists, visual artists, authors, experts in fine arts, etc.
  • Self-employed people in athletics – This option is for professional athletes, internationally acclaimed athletes, and coaches.
• Start-up Visa – If you have an innovative idea and receive support from certain organizations in Canada, you may immigrate to Canada under this program.
• Atlantic Immigration Pilot – If you receive a valid job offer from an employer located in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador, you may immigrate to Canada. Since this is a pilot program, the government may stop it at any time.
• Caregivers – If you have worked as a caregiver for minor children or people with high medical needs, you may later apply for permanent residency under this program. The applicants usually work for two years or more with a valid work permit and eventually file for permanent residency.

You may like to know that IRCC regularly reviews these options and may add more, remove some, or change existing ones.

Quebec-selected Skilled Workers and Business

Quebec has a broad agreement with the federal government of Canada. Under this agreement, also known as the Canada–Québec Accord, Quebec’s government has a high degree of freedom in immigration policy for its province. Quebec is mostly interested in the immigration of Francophone (French-speaking) individuals.

Provincial/Territorial Nominees

Under section 95 of the Canadian Constitution Act 1867, provinces may enact and implement laws to control the influx of immigrants into their provinces. All Canadian provinces and territories except Nunavut have special immigration programs for their provinces. A typical Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) consists of two stages.

• Selection by the province or territory and receiving a Certificate of Nomination
• Approval by the federal government and securing permanent residency

The federal government looks into two significant areas before issuing permanent residency: the applicant’s ability to establish themselves economically in Canada and their admissibility to our country.  If you want to know more about PNP programs, read the following article:

• Immigration under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to Canada

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