With the right information, you can easily relocate to Canada without breaking any law. Relocating is an age-long practice and part of human nature. As you may have noticed, people don’t just relocate. They do so based on certain reasons. And chief among them are:
1- To escape violence: People whose lives are endangered because of war or conflict are usually motivated to find a peaceful existence elsewhere. If you live in the terrorized part of Northern-Nigeria, you would easily relate to this.
2- To escape poverty: This is the most popular emigration reason in Nigeria. Every year, Nigerians relocate to Canada in thousands and do this because of high unemployment and poverty levels in the country. Indeed, Nigerians are relocating to countries that offers better financial reward for hardwork and Canada is a favorite.
3- To access a better healthcare: Imagine living in a country where no one trusts the healthcare system due to poor medical facilities and personnel.
4- To obtain quality education: Education in Canada, USA and many European countries are one of the best and cannot be compared to what is obtainable in Nigeria. Obtaining quality education has inspired people with the financial means to travel abroad.
Other reasons for relocating are: for marriage, for family reunion, and for business opportunities.
If you are still reading this article, only you know your reasons for wanting to relocate to Canada. But whatever the reasons are, below are the legal ways to relocate:
Study in Canada and Get Permanent Residency
Getting a stay, as people usually say, is quite easy when you travel to Canada as an international student. ‘Getting a stay’ in this case translates to getting a permanent residency and, consequently, citizenship in Canada.
Unlike the other legal means of relocating to Canada, migrating as an international student doesn’t require that you get a job offer from a Canada-based institution.
There are various programs which allow international students to apply for residency upon completing their studies. The pathways from student visa holder to Canadian permanent residency status are:
1- Get a study program of your choice and use the admission letter to secure a student visa.
2- Work up to 20 hours a week during academic session and work full time when on break (you have the right as a student).
3- Bring in your spouse through a Canadian government program called open full-time work permit. Your spouse may work full time, without restriction.
4- Get your post-graduate work permit after graduation. You’re entitled to a permit for the number of your years of study in Canada. What this means is, if you study a three years’ course, you’re entitled to a three years work permit to enable you work in Canada and gather what is called the “Canadian experience.” You will then use this to apply for residency.
5- Get your residency through the Canadian experience class (CEC). The Canadian work experience you have gained through the post-graduate work program entitles you to this.
Relocate to Canada through Federal Skilled Worker
Another way to legally migrate to Canada is through a program called federal skilled worker.
Federal skilled worker is an immigration program, established by the Canadian government to welcome foreigners into Canada as a permanent resident. The applicants are selected based on their age, their education, their work experience, their test of English mark, their adaptability and the job offers in Canada.
If you score 67 points after the assessments, you can qualify through the program. The beauty of the program is that you can evaluate yourself to be sure you will score the pass mark before investing on the application process.
Apply for a Canadian Work Permit from Nigeria
You can relocate to Canada if you can secure a job offer from a Canadian company. According to canadavisa.com, over 300,000 foreign workers come to Canada yearly on temporary work permit.
Work permit is the easiest type of visa to secure as you would not be subjected to the scrutiny that a normal visitor or tourist visa applicant undergoes. It is almost guaranteed, you only need to have an employment letter from a company in Canada.
Although getting an employment offer from Canada is not easy, it is entirely possible. It just requires sending your resume to as many companies as possible in Canada. If you get lucky, one of them would give you an appointment for a skype-based interview where you will have the opportunity to sell yourself.
After a successful interview, an employment contract would be sent to you for your work permit application. Below is the pathway to securing a temporary work permit to Canada from Nigeria;
1- Secure a job by applying for jobs to Canadian companies through LinkedIn, indeed, CanadaJobs and so on.
2- Employer applies for Labour market impact assessment. If successful then;
3- Employer sends an employment letter.
4- You apply for a temporary work permit at the Canadian embassy in Nigeria.
5- Work permit is issued.
Conclusion
So far, we have looked into the best ways to migrate legally Canada. But we would like to stress that we don’t encourage migrating to Canada illegally. Such as overstaying a visitor’s visa or making false asylum claims.
Engaging in such practices makes visa application process more and more difficult for other Nigerians who also have the intention of moving to Canada or just visiting for tourism or business.