Canadian immigration glossary

The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program is that province nominee program, with worker streams aligned to Express Entry, dedicated streams for tourism and hospitality, rural renewal and law enforcement, and entrepreneur streams. Alberta publishes its own eligibility criteria, intake status and invitation results. Streams pause and reopen, so the province published notice governs at any given moment.

An Authorization to Return to Canada is the written permission a person needs before returning if a removal order was enforced against them and the order type requires it. It is a discretionary decision, assessed on published factors, and it is separate from any visa, permit, or eTA the trip also requires. Whether an ARC is needed at all depends on which form of removal order was issued.

A base nomination comes from a provincial stream that runs outside Express Entry, and the nominee then files a paper-based permanent residence application with IRCC. An enhanced nomination comes from a stream aligned with Express Entry, which requires the candidate to already meet one of the three federal programs, and it carries 600 additional points in the Comprehensive Ranking System. The difference is which application route follows the nomination, not how binding the nomination is.

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program is that province nominee program, with Skills Immigration streams built on a job offer from a BC employer, an Express Entry aligned route, and entrepreneur streams. Skills Immigration uses a registration pool with a published points system and periodic invitation rounds, some of them targeted at specific occupation groups. Registration is not an application, and criteria are published by the province.

Category-based selection is the practice of limiting some rounds of invitations to candidates already in the Express Entry pool who also meet a published category, such as French-language ability or a named group of occupations. Categories are set by ministerial instruction and are re-issued periodically, so the list in force at the time governs. A category round changes who is invited from the pool; it does not change the underlying program requirements.

A CBSA officer is a Canada Border Services Agency officer at a port of entry, and the person who decides whether someone is actually admitted to Canada. Every person seeking to enter must appear for examination, and an approved visa, eTA or permit is authorization to travel rather than a guarantee of entry. The officer can also allow entry, refuse it, or issue a removal order.

The Canadian Experience Class is the Express Entry program for people who have already worked in Canada with authorization. It has no separate points grid of its own and no settlement funds requirement, and it is aimed at people intending to live outside Quebec. Self-employment and work performed while studying full time do not count toward its experience requirement.

The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants is the federal regulator for immigration and citizenship consultants in Canada. It licenses consultants, sets their professional standards, keeps a public register, and handles complaints and discipline. It does not regulate lawyers, who answer to their own provincial law society instead.

The citizenship test is the knowledge test that applicants in the published age range must pass, covering Canadian history, geography, government, laws, symbols, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. It is drawn from the official study guide, and applicants outside the age range are not required to take it. A missed attempt is normally followed by a second opportunity before any other step.

The Canadian Language Benchmarks are the national scale used to describe English ability for immigration purposes, running from CLB 1 to CLB 12 across four separate abilities: listening, speaking, reading and writing. IRCC publishes conversion tables that turn approved test results into CLB levels, and program minimums are always stated as a CLB level rather than a raw test score. The lowest of the four abilities usually governs.

The Confirmation of Permanent Residence is the document issued when an application for permanent residence is approved. It is presented at a port of entry or at a landing appointment, where an officer confirms identity and admissibility and the person formally becomes a permanent resident. The COPR records that landing; the PR card issued afterwards is what proves the status for travel.

Criminal rehabilitation is the application-based route by which the Minister can find that a person is rehabilitated, ending the criminal inadmissibility permanently. It becomes available only once the published time has passed since the end of the sentence, and it is decided on the file rather than automatically. Unlike a temporary resident permit, an approval resolves the inadmissibility instead of setting it aside for one trip.

Criminality is the lower tier of criminal inadmissibility in IRPA, covering indictable equivalents below the serious criminality threshold, certain combinations of summary offences, and some offences committed on entering Canada. It applies to foreign nationals, not to permanent residents. Which tier an offence falls into is decided by its Canadian equivalent, so the same conviction can sit in different tiers depending on the equivalency.

The Comprehensive Ranking System is the published points grid that ranks candidates inside the Express Entry pool. Points come from core human capital factors such as age, education, language and work experience, from spouse factors, from skill transferability combinations, and from additional factors including a provincial nomination. Because the grid is published, a score can be worked out from the published rules, but the cut-off in any given round is set by that round.

Deemed rehabilitation is the route by which enough time since the end of a sentence can make a person no longer inadmissible for criminality, without any application being filed. It is available only in the published circumstances, it is generally unavailable where there is more than one conviction, and it never applies to serious criminality. Because it is automatic on the published conditions, an officer at a port of entry can assess it there.

A dependent child is a child who meets the published definition used across immigration applications, which turns on age at the lock-in date and on marital status. A child at or above the age limit can still qualify if they have depended substantially on a parent for financial support since before that age because of a physical or mental condition. The lock-in date freezes the age, so the age on the day the application is received is what matters.

Dual criminality is the principle that conduct abroad matters for Canadian immigration only if the same conduct would also be an offence under Canadian law. It is the reason a foreign conviction for something that is not an offence in Canada does not create criminal inadmissibility on its own. It is the first half of the equivalency question; the second half is which Canadian offence it maps to.

An Educational Credential Assessment is a report from an IRCC-designated organization stating what a credential earned outside Canada is equal to in Canadian terms. It is required before foreign education can earn points or satisfy an education requirement in the federal economic programs. An ECA speaks to the credential only: it is not a licence to practise a regulated profession, which is a separate provincial process.

An Expression of Interest is the short profile a candidate registers with a province or territory to be considered for one of its nominee streams. Registering is not an application: the province scores or filters the pool it holds and then invites selected candidates to apply. Each jurisdiction publishes its own EOI scoring grid, intake windows, and invitation results.

Equivalency is the exercise of matching a foreign offence to its closest Canadian counterpart so that IRPA can be applied to it. The comparison is made on the essential elements of the offence and on the maximum penalty the Canadian equivalent carries, not on the foreign sentence or the foreign name of the charge. The resulting Canadian maximum is what decides which tier of criminal inadmissibility applies.

An eTA is an electronic authorization linked to a passport that visa-exempt foreign nationals normally need before boarding a flight to Canada. It is a screening step rather than a visa, and it does not guarantee entry: a border services officer still decides admissibility on arrival. Whether a given passport needs an eTA, a visitor visa, or neither depends on nationality and on how the person is travelling.

Express Entry is the electronic system IRCC uses to manage applications under three federal economic programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. Candidates who meet a program minimum enter a pool, are ranked against each other by the Comprehensive Ranking System, and may apply only if invited in a round of invitations. Express Entry is a process, not a program in its own right.

The Federal Skilled Trades Program is the Express Entry stream built around qualification in a skilled trade rather than around formal education. Its published route requires experience in an eligible trade group plus either a Canadian certificate of qualification or a qualifying job offer. Its language thresholds are lower than the other two programs, and reading and writing are assessed separately from speaking and listening.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is the Express Entry program built around skilled work experience gained anywhere in the world. It is the only one of the three with a separate selection grid of its own, applied before a candidate reaches the pool, and it also carries a settlement funds requirement unless an exemption applies. Meeting the program minimums places a candidate in the pool; it does not by itself produce an invitation.

An immigration lawyer is a lawyer in good standing with a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, or a Quebec notary, and is therefore among the people IRPA authorizes to represent or advise for a fee. Lawyers can also act in the court and tribunal work that follows a refusal, such as an appeal or an application for judicial review. Standing can be verified through the relevant law society directory.

Implied status, which IRCC now calls maintained status, describes a temporary resident who applied to extend or change status before the current status expired. While the new application is pending, the person may generally keep working or studying on the same conditions as the expired document, and only while remaining in Canada. Leaving Canada ends it.

Inadmissibility is the legal finding that a person is not allowed to enter or remain in Canada. IRPA lists the grounds in one place, covering security, human rights violations, criminality, organized criminality, health, financial reasons, misrepresentation, non-compliance with the Act, and having an inadmissible family member. A ground is a category in the law, and the finding itself is always made by an officer on the facts of a file.

IRCC is the federal department that runs immigration, refugee and citizenship programs: it publishes the criteria, receives applications, and decides them. It is distinct from the Canada Border Services Agency, which handles entry at the border, and from the Immigration and Refugee Board, which is the independent tribunal that hears certain cases. Most published requirements referenced across this site are IRCC policy applying IRPA and IRPR.

IRPA is the federal statute that governs immigration and refugee protection in Canada. It sets out the objectives, the classes of people who may come, the grounds of inadmissibility, the powers of officers, and the appeal and review routes. It states the rules at the level of principle; the detailed mechanics live in the Regulations made under it.

IRPR is the regulation made under IRPA, and it carries the operating detail: definitions, class requirements, points grids, permit conditions, sponsorship rules, and removal mechanics. Where IRPA says a class exists, IRPR usually says who belongs to it and on what evidence. Regulations are amended far more often than the Act, which is why a regulation number is worth reading in its current form.

An Invitation to Apply is the notice issued to a candidate selected in a round of invitations from the Express Entry pool. It opens a limited window to submit the complete permanent residence application with supporting documents. Nothing claimed in the pool profile is verified until the application that follows the invitation is assessed.

The Low Income Cut-Off is a Statistics Canada income line, published by family size and community size, that several immigration programs borrow as a threshold. Express Entry settlement funds are set as a fraction of it, the super visa uses it directly, and the Parents and Grandparents Program uses it plus a published percentage. Statistics Canada updates the table each year, so the year attached to a figure matters as much as the figure itself.

A Labour Market Impact Assessment is the decision Employment and Social Development Canada issues on whether hiring a foreign worker would harm the Canadian labour market. The employer applies for it, not the worker, and a positive assessment is what most employer-specific work permits are built on. It is one step: the worker still applies separately to IRCC for the permit itself.

Medical inadmissibility is the health ground in IRPA, covering danger to public health, danger to public safety, and excessive demand on health or social services. The excessive demand branch is measured against a cost threshold that IRCC restates periodically, and several categories of applicant are exempt from it altogether. A medical examination by a panel physician is what puts the question in front of an officer.

Misrepresentation is the inadmissibility ground for directly or indirectly withholding material facts or making a material misstatement that could induce an error in the administration of IRPA. It does not require an intention to deceive, and it can arise from an omission as easily as from a false statement. A finding carries a published bar on returning, which is why the ground is treated as one of the most consequential in the Act.

Minimum necessary income is the income floor a sponsor must meet in the family class categories that require one, calculated for the total number of people the sponsor is responsible for. It is derived from the Low Income Cut-Off, with a published percentage added for the Parents and Grandparents Program, and it is tested over a set number of recent tax years. The figures are restated annually, so the current published table governs.

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program is that province nominee program, with streams for skilled workers already in Manitoba, skilled workers overseas, international education graduates, and business investors. Most streams run through an Expression of Interest pool scored on published factors including an established connection to the province. Manitoba publishes its own criteria and invitation results.

NCLC is the French-language counterpart of the Canadian Language Benchmarks, and it works the same way: levels 1 to 12 across listening, speaking, reading and writing. Results from IRCC-approved French tests are converted to an NCLC level before any program minimum or points value is applied. French-language categories and the additional Express Entry points for French are both expressed in NCLC levels.

The National Occupational Classification is the Canadian system that assigns every occupation a code and a description of its main duties. Immigration programs use the NOC to decide whether work experience counts and at what level, and the match is made on the duties actually performed rather than on the job title. The classification is revised periodically, so the version in force at the time of the application governs.

The oath of citizenship is the final step in becoming a Canadian citizen, taken at a citizenship ceremony held in person or online. Citizenship takes effect when the oath is taken, not when the application is approved, and applicants in the published age range must attend. The certificate of citizenship is issued at or after the ceremony as proof of the status.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program is that province nominee program, with employer job offer streams, Express Entry aligned streams including a French-speaking skilled worker stream, masters and PhD graduate streams, and entrepreneur streams. Most streams open in limited intake windows and issue invitations from a pool. Ontario publishes its stream criteria and invitation results separately from IRCC.

An open work permit lets the holder work for almost any employer in Canada, without a named employer and without a Labour Market Impact Assessment. It is not open to everyone: eligibility comes from a specific published category, such as certain spouses, certain graduates, or people in a defined stage of a permanent residence application. A small number of employers remain off limits even to open permit holders.

A provincial or territorial attestation letter is a document issued by a province or territory confirming that a study permit applicant counts against that jurisdiction share of the national allocation. Most study permit applications must include one, and IRCC returns applications that are missing it without processing. Published exemptions exist for certain applicants, and the exemption list is revised periodically.

The Post-Graduation Work Permit is an open work permit for graduates of eligible Canadian programs. Its length is tied to the length of the program studied, up to a published maximum, and it is normally issued only once in a lifetime. Eligibility also turns on field of study and language results for several categories of program, and that published list is revised periodically.

Physical presence is the count of days actually spent inside Canada, and it is the basis of the residence requirement for citizenship. Time spent in Canada before becoming a permanent resident can count at a reduced published rate, up to a published maximum, and the total must fall inside a fixed window ending on the day the application is signed. Physical presence is a different test from the permanent resident residency obligation, which uses its own rules.

The Provincial Nominee Program is the arrangement that lets provinces and territories nominate people for permanent residence against their own published criteria. Every province and territory except Quebec and Nunavut operates one, each with its own streams for workers, graduates, entrepreneurs and in-demand occupations. A nomination is a provincial decision; IRCC still assesses admissibility and issues the permanent residence.

The permanent resident card is the travel document that proves permanent resident status when returning to Canada by a commercial carrier. The card has an expiry date, but status does not expire with it: status is kept by meeting the residency obligation, and an expired card means a renewal is due rather than a loss of status. A permanent resident abroad without a valid card applies for a travel document instead.

Proof of funds is evidence that settlement money is available and free of debt, required by the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. The required amount is set at roughly half of the Low Income Cut-Off for the family size and is restated by IRCC each year, so the current published table governs rather than any figure quoted elsewhere. Canadian Experience Class candidates, and some candidates who already hold a valid job offer and authorization to work in Canada, are exempt.

A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant is a consultant licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants and therefore authorized to represent or advise on Canadian immigration matters for a fee. IRPA restricts paid representation to a short list of authorized people, and anyone outside it is acting unlawfully. A licence can be verified on the College public register before any money changes hands.

A record suspension is the Canadian order that sets a conviction apart from other criminal records held by the federal government. A Canadian record suspension removes the conviction from the criminal inadmissibility analysis, but a foreign pardon or expungement does not automatically have the same effect: IRPA looks at whether the foreign measure is equivalent to the Canadian one. That equivalence question is decided case by case.

A removal order is the order requiring a person to leave Canada, issued in three forms: departure order, exclusion order, and deportation order. Which form is issued depends on the ground, and the form decides what is needed to come back later, ranging from nothing to written authorization. A departure order that is not complied with within the published period becomes a deportation order.

A round of invitations is the periodic event in which IRCC issues Invitations to Apply to the highest-ranked candidates in the Express Entry pool. Each round publishes its date, the number of invitations, the program or category it covered, and the lowest score invited. That lowest score is a result of the round rather than a threshold announced in advance, which is why past rounds describe history rather than predict the next one.

Serious criminality is the higher tier of criminal inadmissibility in IRPA. It turns on the Canadian equivalent of the offence, not the foreign label or the sentence actually served, and the published tests reference an offence punishable by a maximum term of at least ten years or a sentence of more than six months imposed in Canada. It applies to permanent residents as well as foreign nationals, which the lower tier does not.

The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program is that province nominee program, with streams for in-demand occupations, Express Entry candidates, workers already in the province, and entrepreneurs. Several streams use an Expression of Interest pool with a published points grid and periodic invitation rounds. Occupation lists and intake status change, so the province own published notice governs.

Sponsorship is the family class route in which a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or registered Indian who meets the published sponsor requirements applies to bring a relative to Canada permanently. It is a two-sided application: the sponsor must be eligible and the sponsored person must be a member of the family class and admissible. The sponsor also signs an undertaking to support the person financially for a published period.

A study permit is the document that authorizes a foreign national to study in Canada, normally required for any program longer than six months. It is issued for a named institution and program, carries conditions on the permit itself, and is separate from the visa or eTA that allows travel to Canada. Intake has been subject to published national caps and to provincial attestation requirements since 2024, so the current published rules govern.

The super visa is a multiple-entry temporary resident visa for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, allowing far longer authorized stays per visit than an ordinary visitor visa. The published requirements include an invitation from the child or grandchild, proof that the host meets an income threshold, and private Canadian medical insurance. The income threshold is tied to the Low Income Cut-Off and is restated each year, so the current table governs.

TEER is the six-level structure introduced with the 2021 National Occupational Classification, running from TEER 0 to TEER 5, that replaced the older skill-level letters. Immigration programs now state their occupation requirements in TEER terms, for example experience in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. Which TEER an occupation falls into is fixed by the classification, not by the employer or the job title.

A temporary resident permit is the mechanism that lets an officer authorize an inadmissible person to enter or stay in Canada for a limited period despite the inadmissibility. It is discretionary, it is tied to a stated purpose and length, and it does not remove the underlying inadmissibility. When the permit expires or is cancelled, the inadmissibility is still there.

A temporary resident visa is the document placed in a passport that lets a foreign national from a visa-required country travel to a Canadian port of entry. It can be single entry or multiple entry, and it is permission to travel rather than permission to enter: the entry decision belongs to the officer at the port. People approved for a study permit or work permit from a visa-required country usually receive a visa alongside the permit.

An undertaking is the binding promise a sponsor signs to provide for the basic needs of the sponsored person for a published period, which differs by category and by the age of the person sponsored. It survives changes in the relationship: a separation, a divorce, or a move out of the country does not end it. If the sponsored person receives social assistance during the period, the sponsor is in default until it is repaid.

A visitor record is the document IRCC issues to a person already inside Canada whose visitor status is extended or changed. It is not a visa and it does not by itself allow re-entry after leaving: it sets out the new authorized period and any conditions. Applications to extend are normally filed before the current authorized stay expires.

A work permit is the document that authorizes a foreign national to work in Canada. Most permits are employer-specific, meaning they name the employer, the occupation and the location, and the holder cannot work outside those terms; open work permits are the exception. A permit is issued only once an officer is satisfied the applicant meets the published requirements and is not inadmissible.