Moving to Canada: start here
Every guide and tool on this page is genuinely about moving to Canada and settling in, in journey order, from arrival to citizenship. Business, trades, and money guides are left out.
You do not need a Canadian address, a Canadian employer, or any Canadian immigration status to create an Express Entry profile. Language tests, the educational credential assessment, and the profile itself can all be completed from your home country. Most applicants entering the pool from abroad apply through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which first requires clearing a 67-out-of-100 eligibility grid. After an Invitation to Apply, you have 60 days to submit the full application.
Source: Our Express Entry guide
The national map covers six professions through six national bodies, and the first step is finding out whether your occupation is regulated where you will work. An educational credential assessment, a qualification assessment, and a licence are three separate processes, and paying for one does not buy the others. The recognition process increasingly begins before arrival, so start the checks while you are still abroad.
Source: Our national credentials guide
You need at least 1,095 days physically present in Canada within the five years immediately before the date you sign your application, and you must meet the requirement the day before you sign. Each day in Canada as a permanent resident counts as one day. Each day in Canada as an authorized temporary resident or protected person before permanent residence counts as half a day, up to a maximum of 365 days of credit. With the maximum pre-residence credit, you still need at least 730 days after becoming a permanent resident.
Source: Our residency-days guide
TN status under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement is open to citizens of Canada or Mexico only. A permanent resident of Canada who is not a Canadian citizen does not qualify, no matter how long they have lived in Canada. Stays are granted for up to three years at a time, with extensions in increments of up to three years. The mirror test applies in the other direction: the Canadian CUSMA work permit requires United States citizenship, not United States residence.
Source: Our TN status guide
Count your days in Canada against the 1,095-day citizenship rule: enter your permanent residence date, your signing date, and your trips outside Canada. Free, no signup.
Try it → Free toolEight practice questions from Discover Canada, the official study guide, with an explanation for every answer. Free, no signup.
Try it →Everything below follows the newcomer journey, from arrival through credentials and work to citizenship. Guides for other journeys are left out.
The 2026 Express Entry path from outside Canada: the three programs (FSWP is the one for you), the 67/100 eligibility grid, language tests and the ECA, CRS scoring, the 2026 fee schedule ($990 processing + $600 RPRF per adult), and the proof-of-funds table — grounded in IRCC's own pages.
New to Canada and authorized to work? Your Social Insurance Number is the 9-digit number you need to work, get paid, and file taxes. This guide covers the primary and secondary documents for permanent and temporary residents, the online, mail, and in-person routes, and what to do when a temporary SIN expires.
Foreign credentials in Canada: the immigration assessment, the regulator's licence, and the national assessment body for your profession — doctor, lawyer, nurse, pharmacist, dentist, or engineer — province by province.
Internationally trained doctors: source verification through physiciansapply.ca, the MCCQE and NAC Examination, the CaRMS residency route, practice-ready assessment programs, and the provincial licence that actually lets you practise.
Already a lawyer abroad and want to practise in Canada? The route runs through the National Committee on Accreditation assessment, then a provincial law society's licensing process. This guide covers the application package for a licensed lawyer, what the assessment assigns, how Ontario and the PREP provinces differ, and one verified way to work in the meantime.
Already a nurse abroad and want to practise in Canada? The route runs through the National Nursing Assessment Service's Advisory Report, then the nursing regulator in the province where you will work — except in British Columbia, which assesses through Inspire, and Quebec, which runs its own process. This guide covers the Expedited Service documents, fee, and timeline, what Ontario and British Columbia each require after the report, and the exams at the end of the road.
Already a pharmacist abroad and want to practise in Canada? The route runs through Pharmacists' Gateway Canada, a PEBC Document Evaluation, and the two-part Qualifying Examination — then the pharmacy college in the province where you will work. From January 2027 the Evaluating Examination is gone, so a favourable Document Evaluation takes you straight to Part I. This guide covers the national steps, the Ontario and British Columbia routes in full, and the Quebec exception.
Already a dentist abroad and want to practise in Canada? If your program is not recognized by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada, the route runs through the NDEB Equivalency Process — the AFK, the ACJ, and the NDECC — then the Virtual OSCE and a provincial licence. This guide covers the three routes to certification, the Ontario and British Columbia licence steps in full, and the bridge-training alternative that can replace the NDECC.
Already an engineer abroad and want a P.Eng. licence in Canada? There is no national licence: the regulator in the province where you will work decides. This guide covers the Washington Accord shortcut, the academic assessment and technical exams, the competency-based experience assessment, the National Professional Practice Examination, and the Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Quebec routes in full.
Already a qualified teacher abroad and want to teach in a Canadian public school? There is no Canadian teaching licence: the province where you will teach certifies you. This guide covers the two starting points — Pathways to Teach Canada for nine provinces and territories, and direct application in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and Yukon — plus what Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec each require after the assessment.
Already a qualified accountant abroad and want the Canadian CPA designation? There is no national CPA licence: the provincial or territorial body where you will live and work grants it. This guide covers the three doors — an agreement with your home body, IFAC membership, or the full certification program after a transcript assessment — plus Quebec's separate equivalence process and why membership alone does not license you to practise public accounting.
A regulator asked for a police certificate, a criminal record check, or a vulnerable sector check — and they are not the same document. This guide matches the exact words in the request to the right issuer, covers fingerprints, the $25 federal fee, processing times, the British Columbia exception, and foreign police certificates.
A diploma or transcript in another language is not ready for a Canadian assessment body until it has the translation that body accepts. This guide covers the three different translation rules — the NCA, NNAS, and PEBC each define an acceptable translation differently — what a certified translator is in Canada, and the affidavit route when no certified translator is available.
There is no single easiest province for foreign credentials in Canada: the answer changes with the profession. This comparison works profession by profession, using only the verified facts in the eight profession guides, and names the province exceptions, shortcuts, and meanwhile doors each guide actually proves.
Waiting on a credential assessment does not have to mean waiting to earn. Some regulators let you practise under a restricted, temporary, provisional, or intern registration while the assessment runs, and bridging programs can turn the waiting period into counted training and Canadian experience. This guide maps those meanwhile doors profession by profession, states each door's exact conditions, and names what still does not count as permission to work.
New to Canada with a licence from another country? There is no national licence to exchange it for: each province runs its own exchange list, its own grace period, and its own tests. This guide covers Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta province by province — the reciprocal lists exactly as the licensing authorities publish them, the non-reciprocal route, and the documents and translations each province asks for.
Canada has no national health card. Each province runs its own plan, with its own wait period and document list. This guide covers Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec in detail, plus the check every other province requires before you travel.
New to Canada with no Canadian credit history? You still have the right to open a personal bank account with acceptable identification. This guide covers the documents that work, the low-cost and no-cost accounts newcomers can ask for, and what to do if a bank says no.
Your first Canadian tax return covers only part of the year, and residency for tax purposes is not the same as immigration status. This guide covers the date that starts your tax residency, the world-income rule for the resident part of the year, prorated credits, and how to file online or on paper.
No Canadian credit history and no Canadian landlord references yet? This guide covers the application pack that works without them, what a landlord may and may not require at signing in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta, and how to read the lease before you sign.
The newcomer arrival checklist for Canada: Social Insurance Number, provincial health coverage, first bank account, driver's licence exchange, credential recognition, first tax return, and first apartment, each with its official source and the order to do it in.
The first 30 days in Canada, day by day, in the order the newcomer guides prescribe: Social Insurance Number, health coverage, bank account, driver's licence exchange, credential recognition, first apartment, and first tax return preparation. Every day links to the guide that owns its steps.
Foreign credentials recognized in Ontario: the regulated vs non-regulated split, ECA costs and timelines (WES $264 in 2026), the Fairness Commissioner's rules, and your rights when a regulator says no.
Canadians in listed professions can work in the US under TN status: no lottery, no cap, decided at the border. The tests, documents, and review status.
Americans in listed professions can work in Canada under a CUSMA work permit: no LMIA, decided at the border. The tests, documents, and review status.
A grant of citizenship starts with 1,095 days in Canada, a tax record, and one complete package sent to Sydney, Nova Scotia. This guide walks through the eligibility checks, the documents, the $653 adult fee, and what happens after you apply.
Two checks decide most citizenship applications before the form is ever read: 1,095 days physically present in Canada in the five years before you sign, and one accepted proof of English or French at CLB level 4. This guide works through the counting rules and the full proof catalogue, step by step.
The citizenship test is 20 questions in 45 minutes, and you need 15 right to pass. Every question comes from one free study guide, Discover Canada. Start there, wait for your invitation, and know what happens if you fail.
The Parents and Grandparents Program is paused: no new interest-to-sponsor forms or invitations until further notice. How the invitation, income, and 20-year undertaking work when intake resumes, plus the other-relatives stream and the super visa.
Bill C-3 removed the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent in some situations. Two date branches decide whether you may already be a citizen, and a citizenship certificate application is how IRCC confirms it.