Q: What is required for immigration as a business immigrant?
A: There are several different programs. The federal investor program requires a net worth of at least $800,000 and two years of business experience. Other provincial and federal programs have lower net worth and investment thresholds.

Q: If I am accepted, how long does it take to become a Canadian?
A: Business class immigration

Q: I am a professional, how do I immigrate to Canada?
A: There are federal and provincial worker classes. The federal worker classes were changed in 2008 to include only workers on a designated list of professions (currently there are 38 professions), have work or study experience in Canada or have guaranteed employment from a Canadian company. The provincial programs generally require an employer in the specific province to actively sponsor the foreign worker into Canada.

Q: I am a tradesperson, how do I immigrate?
A: Most tradesperson continue to qualify for immigration under both provincial and federal guidelines. Plumbers, electricians, welders and many other tradespersons may qualify under the federal worker and provincial classes.

Q: I am not on the list of designated professions or have not worked in Canada, how do I immigrate?
A: If you do not qualify under the programs listed above, you may qualify as a sponsored worker. You will need to locate a company who is willing to sponsor you through the provincial or federal programs.

Q: I have a company that can sponsor me for permanent immigration, what are the requirements?
A: The federal program requires the company to have at least one (or more) full-time workers and at least one year of business. The company will be required to prove it has complied with Canadian tax laws for employees (paid payroll taxes) and that it will offer you fair wages for your position.

Q: What are the basic requirements for sponsoring my spouse?
A: You must prove you are in a valid relationship (example: legal marriage, or 12 months of cohabitation) and that your relationship is genuine (that you and your partner are a family and are not misrepresenting your circumstances). In addition, the sponsor must provide evidence they reside in Canada (if a permanent resident) and the immigrant must establish they are not criminally or medically inadmissible.

Q: What is a common-law partner?
A: The definition of common-law partner is two persons who have “cohabited together continuously for a period of at least 12 months in a conjugal relationship”. Simply put, you must have lived together more or less continuosly for 12 months in an exclusive, monogomous, family-like relationship.

Q: What is a conjugal partner?
A: Conjugal parnters are defined as two persons who have “been together continuously for a period of at least 12 months in a conjugal relationship”. Although conjugal partners are not required to cohabit for the entire period, care should be taken in using this class as mere “boyfriend-girlfriend” relationships may not be recognized by immigration authorities as sufficient for sponsorship.

Q: What are the financial requirements for sponsorship?
A: The sponsor is not required to have a minimum level of income. However, the sponsor cannot be receiving welfare or be an undischarged bankrup. Receipt of dissability assistance (in most cases) is not a bar to sponsorship of a spouse.

Q: What is a refugee?
A: Refugee law is complex, the simplest way a refugee can be described is as “someone who is at risk of persecution of harm in their country from agents of the state or from other individuals”. In addition, the refugee should be able to establish, to a certain degree, that state authorities cannot protect them and that relocation to another part of their own country will not render them relatively safe.

Q: I have been attacked in my country by gangs or state authorities and can prove the attacks. Am I a refugee?
A: The most common misconception that refugees hold is that they believe if their story is accepted as true, they will be refugees. However, many refused refugee claimants have proven tehy were harmed (including scars, bullet wounds and other circumstances) and failed to qualify because of the nature of the threat to them (localized to one part of the country) or because of the police should have helped them (they failed to approach police or otherwise).

Q: I am from a country where human rights are abused (China, Iran etc.), do I qualify for refugee status?
A: Not all refugee claimants from politically oppressive regimes are accepted as refugees in Canada. You must still establish that you will personally be targeted and that you will suffer what amounts to persecution, torture or harm.

More information can be found at the Canada Council for Refugee website and the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website.