Working & Living in Canada - A Complete Guide

No matter whether you are considering living or working in Canada but the high quality of life in Canada is just proverbial. Canada has always been ranked in the top 10 by the United Nations Human Development Index. It’s not only you but majority of people in Canada are born abroad. No doubt, there are huge benefits of being a permanent resident or citizen of Canada.

Canada has come up with different immigration programs allowing people to live and work in Canada but the permits are issued only to those who are skillful, educated and with professional experience. Those who intend to work and live in Canada need to be fluent in English and for Quebec you should be fluent in French language as well.

1. If you wish to apply for the immigration programs, plan accordingly because the whole process might take upto two years.
2. Prepare a checklist for the list of documents you need to provide during the process as well as after you arrive in Canada.
3. You need to provide sufficient funds required to cover the whole living expense during your stay in Canada for the initial six months.
4. Check what all things you can carry with you or else you might have a pay duty for it. If you are shipping your belongings then you must be present in Customs to clear your belongings or else it will be take in bond by the custom officials.
5. Identify a right place to live in Canada based on your lifestyle, requirements and budget.
6. If you wish to work in Canada, find out whether you require a work permit for your occupation or not.
7. If you wish to work in Canada, then you should have a job offer with an LMIA. This indeed is a lengthy process. To make it easier you can opt for intercompany transfer for which no LMIA is required.
8. After couple of years of working, you wish to settle down in Canada, and then you can opt for federal skilled workers program or Canadian experience class program which will enable you to secure a permanent resident status.
9. If you wish to make investment into a Canadian business or run your own business, you can also opt for Canada investor visa or business visa program, which enables you to move to Canada along with your family within very short period of time i.e. six months.

Be it an express entry program, federal skilled workers program, or investor/business visa, candidates are assessed based on certain criteria’s such as education, age, professional experience, language ability etc.

Choosing between Toronto and Ottawa when Moving to Canada

When you plan to immigrate to Canada, you probably choose which city or province is suitable for you to live in based on several factors. It might be that you choose a province or a city because you already have a relative or any of the family members in that particular province or city and it might also happen that you have researched and studied about the city and based on the employment opportunities, education system and amenities of the city, you choose to settle.

Canada is a large and diverse country with different provinces to explore in. When it comes to choosing between Toronto and Ottawa, it might be a difficult task for each one of you.

1. Ottawa is the capital city of Canada while Toronto is one of the top selected destinations by the newcomers coming to settle in Canada.
2. Both Ottawa and Toronto have a strong economy. Ottawa provides unlimited job opportunities while Toronto creates business opportunities for its people. Toronto is majorly dealing into business sector. Establishing a business in Toronto will an efficient an inexpensive process.
3. Ottawa is a bilingual city with English and French as the official languages whereas Toronto is a multicultural city where majority of population are immigrants.
4. Toronto has marked its place in the top 10 World’s most economically powerful cities while the unemployment rate of Ottawa is slightly lower than the Canadian average of 6.8%.
5. The key industries in Ottawa are technologies, life science, professional services, public service and tourism while the key industries of Toronto are finance, health care, industries and services sector.
6. Ottawa is having one of the most highly educated workforces in Canada with two main universities namely University of Ottawa and Carleton University. In Toronto, University of Toronto is considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious post-secondary institutions.
7. When it comes to accommodation, there is wide range of options both in Toronto and Ottawa but finding a home in Toronto would be bit costly when compared to Ottawa.
8. Toronto is known for its high standard of health care and medical services provided to its people. Residents in Ottawa and Toronto are eligible for provincial public health program “Ontario Health Insurance Plan” but as soon as you arrive in Canada your first task would be to apply for the health program as it takes 3 months to get the health card.
9. Talking about cleanliness, the major drawback of Toronto is the pollution and it’s not considered as a cleanest city while Ottawa is considered to be the clean city among other locations in Canada.

Choosing between Toronto and Ottawa is based on the overall quality of life which also includes employment opportunities, educational systems, culture, cleanliness etc. Basically choosing where to move in Canada is all about what are your preferences while choosing a city or province.

How to Legally Move to Canada

There seems many options inorder to migrate to Canada. It can be through express entry, family sponsorship, provincial nomination or even through business visa. Moving to a different location or a country itself is exciting but it comes with lots of preparations and complications like know about the country in which you are moving, its different laws, how will you finance your migration etc. 

 

Before planning about moving to Canada, you need to assess whether you are qualifying for the migration process or not. To qualify you need to score the minimum required English or French language proficiency, get all your documents assessed and so on. If you qualify then your file will be submitted and all this takes all most one year to complete the whole processing. And even if you move to Canada successfully, what about the employment opportunities, you might have to search for a new job which might take a month or two. It would be a different situation if you move to Canada with a genuine job offer.

To make it easier for the immigrants to settle in Canada, Canadian government has launched a business visa program, wherein the applicants who wish to start up your own business in Canada or invest in a business which is already established in Canada. This program is basically for those who don’t want to work under an employer and wants to work independently as per his/her own rules. To invest in Canada, you should have a minimum net worth of $300,000 CAD along with required amount to survive in the country till your business is developing. The major benefit of this program is that within very less processing time of around six months, you alongwith your family will move to Canada as a permanent resident enjoying all the benefits. Not even a single immigration program provides permanent residency status to its applicants in such less time.