“Move to Canada from USA”

That search term – “move to Canada from USA” – hit Google like the plague a few days ago as hundreds of millions of Americans hit the ballots to vote for their next President. And though the results came as surprising to many, the time has come: Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States.

Wow.

So to help all of our American friends, we’ve compiled this fairly exhaustive resource of how to move to Canada in case you feel the need to flee.

Moving to Canada from USA Method 1: Get a family member to sponsor you (Family Class Immigrant)

There are three categories of people eligible to be sponsored into Canadian residency.

Group 1: Parents, grandparents, adopted children and other relatives

One thing to keep in mind if you plan on going through this process in 2016: as per this press release, the government of Canada has already hit their cap and has stopped accepting applications for parents and grandparents in 2016. That happened just one week into 2016, so if you do plan on applying in 2017, be sure to do it in the first day or two to ensure your application gets through!

Group 2: Spouses, common-law or conjugal partners, or dependent children living outside of Canada

Group 3: Spouses, common-law partners and dependent children living inside Canada

Who is a spouse or common-law partner? Both must:

• Live with you in Canada;
• Have a valid passport or travel document;
• Be 18 years old or older; and
• Be your spouse or common-law partner for genuine reasons and not primarily for the purpose of getting permanent residence in Canada.
• Can be opposite sex or same-sex

As we said in Group 2 above, a dependent child must:

• Be under the age of 19 and not a spouse or common-law partner; or
• Have depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since before the age of 19 and unable to provide for themselves due to a medical condition.

That said, once you’ve identified that you fit into one of the above classifications, look back to Group 2 to see the criteria your sponsor needs to meet.

Two Important Notes:

• Since March 2, 2012, if you enter Canada as a sponsored spouse or partner you are not eligible to sponsor a new spouse or partner for a period of 5 years from the date you land in Canada. Contact the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100 for more information.
• Since October 25, 2012, if you apply to come to Canada as a sponsored spouse or partner, you may be subject to a 2-year conditional permanent resident status, with some exceptions. Contact the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100 for more information.

By the way, we’ve mentioned above that you must sign an undertaking promising to provide financially for the well-being of the person being sponsored. Here’s a handy chart showing when that responsibility ends:

Moving to Canada from USA Method 2: Get a Skilled Worker Visa

The skilled worker class is considered by many to be the most effective way to gain Canadian residency. When applying through this class, officials will consider your age, work experience, education, and the field in which you will be working. You’ll need to match one of the 347 eligible occupations below. Immigration.ca has a free assessment tool for determining your chances of being granted a work visa under the skilled worker program. Do the assessment here and you’ll have your results back in 1-2 business days.

You also need to meet these 6 criteria:

1. Possess one-year of continuous full-time paid work experience or the equivalent in part-time continuous employment within the previous 10 years in one of 347 eligible occupations listed under the applicable National Occupational Classification system (below); AND
2. The work experience must be classified within Skill Type 0 (Managerial Occupations), Skill Level A (Professional Occupations), or Skill Level B (Technical Occupations and Skilled Trades) within the meaning of the National Occupational Classification system; AND
3. Score sufficient points under the skilled worker point grid comprising of six selection factors. The current pass mark is 67 points;
4. Undergo language testing from a recognized third party and demonstrate intermediate level language skills in English or French corresponding to the Canadian Language Benchmark of 7)
5. Possess suitable settlement funding;
6. Undergo a successful security background and medical examination.

Here’s the full list of eligible occupations, with their associated 4-digit NOC code:

Moving to Canada from USA Method 3: Get a Business Visa

There are 3 types of business visas available to prospective immigrants to Canada: the Entrepreneur Program, the Self-Employed Program, and the Investor Program. They all require that applicants earn sufficient points in the selection factors to meet the pass mark, of which the selection factors include points awarded for education, proficiency in Canadian official languages, work experience, age, and adaptability factors to life in Canada.

Here are the program-specific eligibility criteria for each of the three:

There are other ways to get into Canada –provincial immigration and Quebec-selected immigration, for example – but we’re not going to talk about them here.

Why? For a number of reasons, the most prominent being that if you aren’t eligible for any of the three methods above, then there’s a very, very slim chance that you’re going to be eligible for another method. Do yourself a favour and go deep on one or several of the first three before looking at other options.

Let us know if you have experience trying any of these methods! It’s never easy moving to a new country, but we’re here to help you along the way 🙂