Spousal sponsorship is a process that allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign spouse or common-law partner to come and live in Canada as permanent residents. The following are the basic requirements for a spousal sponsorship application for Canadian immigration:

1. Eligibility of the Sponsor: The sponsor must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who is at least 18 years old and able to provide for the basic needs of the sponsored spouse/partner.
2. Relationship: The sponsor must have a genuine relationship with the foreign spouse/partner, and the relationship must meet the legal definition of marriage or common-law partnership.
3. Supporting Documents: The sponsor must provide supporting documents, including a marriage certificate or proof of common-law partnership, along with evidence of the genuineness of the relationship.
4. Financial Support: The sponsor must demonstrate that they can financially support the sponsored spouse/partner and any dependents for a period of three to ten years, depending on the specific situation.
5. Medical and Criminal Checks: Both the sponsor and the sponsored spouse/partner must undergo medical and criminal checks, which are mandatory as part of the immigration process.
6. Application Fees: There are fees associated with the spousal sponsorship application, including the processing fee and the right of permanent residence fee

A few specific issues applicants for sponsorship may encounter during the process include:

1. Incomplete or Inaccurate Documentation: One of the most common issues that applicants face is submitting incomplete or inaccurate documentation. This can result in delays or even rejection of the application.
2. Ineligibility of the Sponsor: If the sponsor is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or if they do not meet the other eligibility requirements, the application will be rejected.
3. Insufficient Financial Support: The sponsor must demonstrate that they have sufficient financial means to support the sponsored spouse/partner and any dependents. If they cannot provide this evidence, the application may be rejected.
4. Relationship Issues: If the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored spouse/partner is not genuine, or if there are legal issues related to the relationship (such as bigamy), the application may be rejected.
5. Medical or Criminal Issues: If either the sponsor or the sponsored spouse/partner has medical or criminal issues, the application may be rejected or delayed.
6. Language Requirements: If the sponsored spouse/partner does not meet the language requirements for Canadian permanent residence, they may be required to take language classes or provide evidence of language proficiency, which can cause delays in the application process.

Requirement 4 can be quite difficult in some situations. Examples of evidence include:

1. Marriage certificate or proof of common-law partnership: The applicant should submit a marriage certificate or proof of common-law partnership to show that they have a legal relationship with the sponsor.
2. Joint bank accounts or financial statements: The sponsor and the partner should provide evidence of joint financial activities, such as joint bank accounts, shared credit cards, and tax returns filed jointly.
3. Joint assets: The couple may provide proof of joint ownership of property, investments, or other assets, such as a joint mortgage or lease.
4. Correspondence and communication: The couple should provide evidence of their communication, such as letters, emails, or text messages, to show that they maintain regular contact.
5. Photographs: The couple can submit photographs of themselves together, with family and friends, or at significant events, to show that they have spent time together.
6. Affidavits: The sponsor and the partner can provide sworn affidavits from family, friends, or other third parties who can confirm the genuine nature of their relationship.
7. Travel history: The couple can provide evidence of their travel history, such as flight tickets or hotel reservations, to show that they have spent time together in different locations.
   

Overall, it is important to provide as much evidence as possible to show that the relationship between the sponsor and partner is genuine and meets the legal requirements for Canadian immigration.
The Spousal sponsorship application process can be complex and time-consuming. Potential applicants should seek the advice of an immigration lawyer to ensure that all the requirements are met and the application is drafted and submitted correctly.

On April 19, 2023, many IRCC employees began a strike, as part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada's labour dispute with the Canadian government. This is having some effect on immigration applications, particularly those for permanent residents. New applications can still be submitted as usual, both online and by mail, but non-urgent applications will be delayed for the duration of the strike. Extensions of a stay in Canada can still be submitted, and maintained status remains as usual for those with applications still in processing. For more information, please see this link www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/labour-disruptions.html

New permanent residents of Canada sometimes did not include dependent children on their original application. Thankfully, permanent residents (and citizens) can sponsor a child and reunite their families through the child sponsorship path if they were excluded for whatever reason.
As with all sponsorships, the parent/guardian seeking to be sponsor must satisfy certain criteria. Among other factors, the sponsor must be at least 18 years old, currently live in Canada, not be receiving social assistance from public funds (with some exceptions), and undertake (i.e. binding promise) to provide for the financial, medical, and other assistance to the applicant for a prescribed period. This undertaking is unconditional, regardless of sudden changes in the sponsor’s martial status, finances, or other major change in life, so it is not to be taken lightly.
The definition of ‘dependent child’ for immigration purposes is either:

• Under 22 years old, and they do not have a spouse or common law partner.

OR

• Over 22 years old and not financially independent due to a mental/physical condition, and have depended on financial support from parents/guardians since before 22

 
If the application is submitted before they turn 22, their age is ‘locked-in’, no matter how long it takes to process the application to make a decision. However, it is always better to begin working on the application sooner rather than later, in case gathering some documents is more difficult than others.
They must be either the biological children of the sponsor or sponsor’s spouse or adopted by the sponsor or their spouse to be sponsored. More distantly related children such as nieces and nephews cannot be sponsored unless in very specific situations, such as being orphans with no other relatives in the country of origin.
Much of the IRCC processing of these applications involves verifying the relationship between children and the sponsoring parent/guardian, to prevent fraud and trafficking.
Unless the sponsor is already the sole legal guardian of the children, another parent, or guardian will have to sign a permission form confirming that they can leave the country to live with the sponsor in Canada. If there are custody arrangements in Canada or the country of origin, those must be included in the application as well. The other parent/guardian must give permission, if they are not accompanying the child to Canada, and the sponsor must show that they have a relationship with the child or children. The burden of proof is on the sponsor to prove these facts to IRCC’s satisfaction.  Proof of the relationship can include, but is not limited to, the birth certificate showing the name of the sponsor, or, if the child was adopted, an adoption certificate. Unlike common-law and spousal sponsorships, this is often much easier to obtain, since adult relationships made for the sake of immigration fraud logically involve much less effort than a child does.
An experienced representative, like Luka Vukelic, can greatly strengthen the chances of a positive decision on what can often be a complex application process.

As the most populous province, Ontario’s immigration nominee program (OINP) is one of the most used.
It accepts applications from those who the OINP determines fulfill its needs for work skills, experience, and education to improve its economy. The province partners with the federal government to nominate candidates, which assists them in their permanent residency application by increasing their points in the federal Express Entry system, virtually guaranteeing an Invitation to Apply for permanent residency. There are currently six nomination streams. Requirements can change over time, and streams can be opened or closed without warning by the province. This post will discuss each stream and their requirements.
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream
This is a stream for foreign workers both inside and outside Canada who have a job offer in Ontario and prior work experience in the province. It lets those with job offers in high demand occupations in Ontario apply for permanent residency. The work must be full-time and permanent, in a specific eligible occupation, at or above the median wage in the job market, and also be necessary for the employer’s business.
The full list of eligible occupations includes, for example, truck drivers, construction trades, and farm workers. The stream requires you have at least nine months full-time experience working in Ontario in that occupation. At least 30 hours of paid work per week in those nine months is required. The applicant must show their experience is in the National Occupation Classification (NOC) that is being sought, in terms of duties performed.
An applicant must also have a minimum of language skills at Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB 4), education of at least high school (or a foreign equivalent), and enough money to settle in Ontario, which can be shown either with the job offer and its compensation or through financial documents.
The employer must also follow regulations, including minimum yearly revenue, operating history and number of employees. These vary on whether the job is in the Greater Toronto Area or outside it.
PhD Graduate Stream
This stream is geared towards international students who obtained a PhD in Ontario in the previous two years. It must have been from an eligible university in Ontario, with at least two years of studies. Before applying, the graduate must have lived for at least one of the last two years in Ontario, and shown their intent to remain in the province, which they show through their ties to the province. These can include, for example: property ownership/lease, work (both current and past), family in the province, among others.
As with the job-offer stream, they must show there is enough money for them and any family to settle in Ontario.
Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream
This stream is for skilled works that are bilingual in Canada’s official languages, with CLB levels of 7 and 6 for French and English respectively.
In this stream, an applicant must first create an Express Entry profile with IRCC and be accepted into the Express Entry pool’s minimum. The two federal programs the applicant can meet are the FSWP (Federal Skilled Worker Program) and CEC (Canadian Experience Class).
The OINP will send a Notification of Interest if they find a candidate in this program in the pool of candidates and give a certain amount of time to apply. This must include, in addition to the proof of bilingual skills, education, and work experience requirements, an intention to live in Ontario, and the money to do so.
Human Capital Priorities Stream
This stream is an Express Entry pool-linked stream for skilled workers, with the same minimum requirements for work experience and education, but unlike French-language skills stream, the HCP seeks those with experience in specific positions. These vary depending on each draw the province makes, and the province lists them after each draw is completed, along with the Express Entry scores that foreign and Canadian work experience applicants had.
Skilled Trades Stream
This stream is another Express Entry-linked stream, but for the federal category of Skilled Trades. See the blog posts on Express Entry for more information.
Entrepreneur Stream
The entrepreneur stream is for experienced business owners and managers who wish to start a new business or buy an existing one in Ontario. The applicant must file an Expression of Interest with the province which includes a business concept and information about their experience, net worth, and personal investments. After being scored by OINP, they may be issued an Invitation to Apply.

Many countries have permanent resident paths based on investment in the local economy. These are set up as policies to boost economic growth through local hiring, building facilities, and selling products and services. Canada used to have several passive investment programs that allowed for investors to be rewarded with permanent residency, but these have almost all been deprecated. Quebec alone runs one, but it is now on pause as well.
Investment in Canada must now be active, with either a start-up, or buying an existing Canadian business from someone else, and actual running it. In addition to the federal Start-Up Visa program, different provinces have different ways to invest in their economies. For example, the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have farm investment streams (all of which require active management), while other provinces have a variety of other types of businesses foreigners can invest in.
Because running a business is a major endeavour, applicants must show they have some language skills, available funds, and experience as business owners or managers in the past. Commitments to hire certain numbers of Canadians, and expectations of profit, are also important. Prior business trips to Canada are also important, not just for their benefit, but because some programs give additional points for doing them.
Since these immigration paths are overwhelmingly economy-focused, applicants are rewarded for investing in rural or otherwise neglected areas that do not receive much immigration or new employment opportunities. Incentives include lower net-worth or minimum investment requirements. These investment streams all require preparation, even more than employment streams do. Applicants should be prepared to have their business plans closely evaluated, along with market research, profit expectations, and other pertinent details.
Once a business is running for some time, it is evaluated by the provincial or federal government to ensure it has or will meet the promised goals.
Because of the great complexity of entrepreneur immigration programs, it is not recommended to apply without a great deal of planning. Speaking to an experienced immigration lawyer is the best way to minimize risk, in the absence of any passive investment path in the future.

Open Work permits are some of the most desirable work permits, as they avoid the time and expense of an LMIA while allowing the holder flexibility to work in almost any type of employment in Canada. The previous post discussed one kind of open work permit for those who graduate from a Canadian college or university, but a number of others exist. IRCC provides them for several different situations. Some permits will be limited depending on another persons status, while others can be long term and repeatedly renewed.
In a spousal sponsorship, the Canadian citizen or permanent resident spouse (or common-law partner) often desires their partner to work in Canada before the application is finished processing. For both inland applications, the sponsored person can submit an open work permit application that will allow them to work in Canada while the main application is processing. As open work permits are processed much more quickly than PR, often in a few months or even less, this is a strongly desirable option, and the majority of sponsors have no issue applying for both at once. It makes sense in policy terms that partners should be able to work (and thus pay taxes), rather than waiting idly for the year or more that processing will take.
A study or work permit holder’s partner can also apply for an open work permit, if they meet certain conditions, such as the work being of a certain skill level, and the main permit holder’s permit not expiring within the next 6 months. IRCC does not provide such short term work permits, so it is advisable to apply for the open work permit as soon as possible when he first work permit is approved.
The same holds for study permits; apply for the open work permit as soon as the partner’s classes start, to obtain the maximum period of time. They must be eligible for a PGWP (see prior post).
Both of these work permit applications will require other information, such as confirming the validity of the relationship, or the submission of the sponsorship application. The former can be difficult, as IRCC requests particular evidence of a relationship in their attempts to limit immigration fraud.
Open work permits can also be provided for refugees, refugee claimants, and other protected persons and their family. As the refugee and asylum processes can be quite long, this allows them to continue working while their claims are evaluated.
Because of the wide variety of options for obtaining an open work permit, it is recommended that you speak to an experienced immigration lawyer about them.
 

The advantages of studying for a higher education in Canada are known worldwide. With one of the best education systems, welcoming culture, and growing economy, international students come in very large numbers to study here. A major advantage, apart from the value of the education itself, is the opportunity to work in Canada for longer periods. This is not just part-time off-campus work, or co-op terms as part of the conditions of a degree. The Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) is an open work permit that allows full-time employment by graduate students for up to 3 years in almost any occupation, which gives both flexibility and the opportunity to gain valuable Canadian work experience. It is a natural prior step towards applying for permanent residency through Express Entry (see the prior series of posts on that program for more details). A spouse or common-law partner may even qualify for their own open work permit, as well.
For students interested in this benefit (or even prior to being admitted to the school), certain details are very important.

• Is the school a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) Some colleges and universities are not accredited, and so studies at them are not recognized by IRCC. The list is publicly available from their website, and an admission letter will usually list the DLI number
  
• Maintain status as a student full-time (there are limited exceptions for going on leave)
• Studied for at least 8 months (short courses are not eligible, nor are ESL/FSL programs).
• Passport expiration: normally a PGWP is not valid past the validity of a graduate’s passport, so it is important for a student to make sure they get the maximum possible length of their PGWP.
• Proof the program was completed. Since there’s often a gap between the last day of classes and the awarding of a diploma, students have 180 days (6 months) to submit the PGWP application after graduation. Students can work, if the conditions on their study permit allow, in the interim period.

There are several other exceptions for the issuing of a PGWP; it is strongly recommended that you speak with an experienced immigration lawyer to ensure that you can apply for and obtain a work permit successfully the first time.
Normally, the work permit cannot be extended beyond the initial validity period, but in 2022 and 2023, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, IRCC made policy changes to allow extensions of 18 months, along with interim authorization. The normal 90 day limit on restoring status is also waived in order to allow those who left Canada when their permit expired to return and thus continue contributing to the Canadian economy.
It is self-evidently good policy to allow former students who obtained an education, often over several years in Canada, and then worked for perhaps just as long to be allowed to remain in Canada to prevent any gap in employment between the expiration of the work permit and the submission of an application for a bridging work permit as part of a PR application.
More information about bridging open work permits will be detailed in the next blog post.

 
The majority of foreign workers in Canada require a work permit; there are limited exceptions for special scenarios and types of work, usually situations where it would be impractical or impossible to go through the same process. For the rest, a work permit may either require an earlier step (Labour Market Impact Assessment, or LMIA) or not. This post will be a brief overview of the former.
The Temporary Foreign Worker program is designed to help employers with labour shortages in Canada that they cannot meet with recruitment from Canadian citizens (or permanent residents). To verify that this is the case, the employer must provide details of the position and the person/people being hired to a government agency (Employment and Social Development Canada).
ESDL will evaluate the position based on the provided details, to determine whether the effects of hiring them will have a positive, neutral, or negative effect on the Canadian labour market. In other words, they check if the hiring is truly necessary, or whether a Canadian or permanent resident could have filled the same role instead.
The types of applications are divided by whether the wage is at or above the median wage in the province/territory (high-wage stream), or below (low-wage stream). There are also separate categories, for agricultural workers, caregivers, or specialists with high skills in a particular industry.
Regardless of the subcategory, an employer needs to be verified as legitimate Canadian businesses, if making their first application. Regular LMIAs afterwards can then skip this step.
A major part of an LMIA application is the advertising requirements; employers must show they advertised the position in various locations with no success in finding a good candidate before they resorted to offering the job to a foreign worker. The application must also list details of the job offer, including wage/salary, benefits, specific duties, required skills/education, etc.
After ESDC receive an LMIA application, they will evaluate the work based on all these factors and the current status of the job market for the position, at which point they will issue either a positive or negative assessment (or neutral). A positive or neutral assessment allows the applicant to apply for a work permit (within a set amount of time).
With the work permit application, the LMIA number must be included, along with the details of the job offer/contract. Although LMIAs are usually valid for 1-2 years, it is always best to make sure the work permit is as strong as possible, to avoid wasting time and expense.
Due to the advertising requirement, LMIA processing times, and work permit processing times, it is not necessarily the fastest (or cheapest) way for someone to begin working in Canada. The next post will detail the various LMIA exemptions in more detail.

Understanding the rounds of invitations for Express Entry is important for anyone who wishes to proceed in the program, and this blog will detail that process.
Periodically, IRCC, through a Ministerial Instruction, issues Invitations to Apply to candidates in the Express Entry pool. These instructions are somewhat technical, but they state exactly what the Immigration Minister sets for that round in terms of rankings (i.e. points in the profile), class (i.e. which of the 4 subprograms is selected), and the total number of invitations.
The timing of the ITAs varies due to internal and external events, and even immigration lawyers have limited insight into their internal processes. However, certain patterns are apparent from the public data. Draws generally occur, every two weeks, in order to align with IRCC’s capacity for processing.
The categories drawn are also affected by outside disruption; in March 2020, with the vast disruption of the pandemic to the world (and immigration in particular), IRCC began to focus on those who did not face entry barriers to Canada, by restricting invitations to the Canadian Experience Class and the Provincial Nominees. The former are already working in Canada, and so faced less disruption to their immigration for obtaining PR, while most of the latter were either already in Canada or had job offers, and so were economically important enough to be allowed to travel despite the pandemic border restrictions. Those in other categories were left out for lengthy periods of time in 2020, 2021 and the first half of 2022. Many profiles expired in the meantime, and candidates had to either recreate their information for another year, or in some cases, aged out of the Express Entry program completely.
Since then, as the pandemic restrictions were lifted, the ITAs have returned to the old biweekly pattern, with all classes being regularly included in draws. Periodically there will still be draws for PNP only, but these are now the exception. With the barriers of the pandemic gone, having a higher score is now important again, as they are the main way IRCC selects candidates.
Thankfully, IRCC posts the number of invitations and the lowest score selected with each draw on a public website at: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/submit-profile/rounds-invitations.html, so it is easy to see the ballpark range for an invitation, based on prior history. However, there will always be some uncertainty, and every once in a while they will do something unexpected in scoring, such as February 13, 2021, in which a very large number of invitations was sent out due to an unusually low cut-off score. Many who would otherwise never have qualified for an ITA were put on the road to PR. Such a draw has not has not recurred since, but the lesson is to expect the unexpected. IRCC has in the past, and will in the future, announce make changes due to new public policies and their own internal requirements, which even the most well-informed outsider cannot predict.

Provincial nominations can be both attractive for many applicants, due to the large number of points they provide in Express Entry, while also being difficult to acquire.  Some Provincial Nominees are both a subset of Express Entry, while also being separate from the program and applying for PR outside the process entirely. This blog post is about the former.
A nomination is awarded to applicants as an incentive for settlement or commitment to settle in specific provinces; unlike the other Express Entry categories, the province one will live in as a permanent resident isn’t particularly important for IRCC. A province, however, is attempting to attract educated and experienced people, and wants some guarantees that they will contribute to the local economy in exchange for being assisted in the PR process.
Part of the difficulty is the fundamental need to prove that one of Canada’s provinces is going to be an applicant’s place of settlement. Each province has its own programs and subcategories, with oftentimes different requirements from federal immigration (though the latter is still mandatory and IRCC will make the final decision on PR regardless of nomination).
As there are 9 provinces excluding Quebec, each with their own Provincial Nominee Program, an applicant will need to explore their options if they haven’t already settled on one in particular. Sometimes the choice is self-evident; someone working or studying in Canada is already in a province, and may meet the requirements of one of the PNP programs, such as work experience or recently graduating from a school in that province, or being skilled in a specific occupation that the province is trying to fill in its economy. The connection to the province will be the factor that gives the nomination, and the applicant can apply through the provincial system to receive the PNP Certificate.
This certificate is what gives the large number of Express Entry points; it is valid for a limited time, but usually an ITA is received very soon after a profile is updated. More important is ensuring that the conditions of the nomination are maintained; if a specific employer gave a job offer, the applicant should continue to work there, and they must especially continue to live in that province throughout the processing of their application. A province can otherwise withdraw a nomination, the applicant can lose the extra points from the profile, and their PR application will be refused.
If a person has never visited Canada before as a student or worker, many PNPs are out of reach, as they cannot easily prove they will be moving to a particular province. One exception is having a job offer from a Canadian employer; most provinces have subcategories for applicants in those situations. They still need to provide many details about the offer, such as the salary, duties, information about the employer (i.e. registered and actually running a business in the province), etc., in order to combat fraudulent job offers. There is still waiting time for the provincial agency to process the PNP application, but at the end, they are well-suited to receiving an ITA much faster.
Because PNP profiles have so many extra points, they are usually drawn in separate rounds of invitations by IRCC. However, this is still a far greater chance of being drawn than with a ‘regular’ score in one of the other categories. The point cut-offs, and the patterns in draws fluctuate constantly with IRCC’s processing capacity and their annual goals, so to have a better idea of whether PNP is right for you, you should speak with an experienced immigration lawyer.