Tips to get settled in Canada!

Are you planning to settle in Canada? Here are some tips and things to consider.

Whether you’re just looking into which countries you might want to immigrate to or have your heart set on moving to Canada, you have questions about what’s involved in the process of getting settled.

What are the immigration requirements? What are the best cities to live in? How much will it cost to live in certain popular cities or provinces?

Immigration requirements

The first thing that you’re likely wondering is what Canada’s immigration, study or work permit requirements are and whether you fit them. There are a number of ways you can get approval to move to Canada. Here are some of the most popular ways:

Express Entry

Express Entry is the main pathway for skilled immigrants who want to become citizens or permanent residents of Canada. First, you need to be eligible for one of the three programs managed under Express Entry. Then, you submit your profile and are scored based on a variety of factors such as your age, English or French skills, education, and your work experience. Approximately every two weeks, the Canadian government invites successful candidates to apply for permanent residence.

The Canadian government aims to process permanent residence applications in six months or less. The cost to go through the Express Entry process varies based on how many people are in your family and how much various requirements cost, like language tests, educational credential assessments, medical examination fees, and police clearance certificates. Permanent residence application fees alone cost $1,325 per adult and $225 per child. Hence, you should have a total budget of several thousand dollars.

Provincial Nominee Programs

Canada allows provinces and territories to manage their own Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) in order to help people who have the skills, education, and work experience needed in that particular jurisdiction to immigrate to Canada. Most provinces have different streams that have different immigration requirements for groups of students, businesspeople, skilled workers, and semi-skilled workers. Make sure to research each province’s immigration requirements, wait times and fees.

Family sponsorship

The Family Sponsorship program is one way to apply for permanent residence in Canada if you already have close relatives who live in Canada who are willing to sponsor you. Anyone who is a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, and at least 18 years old can sponsor a relative. Depending on your relationship to the person you’re sponsoring, the application time and fees will vary. For example, the application process takes up to 12 months when you sponsor a partner or a spouse but takes up to 20 to 24 months when you sponsor a grandparent. Also, it costs $1,050 to sponsor a spouse but only costs $150 to sponsor a child.

What about work permits?

Work permits can be given out for temporary workers in areas where Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) show there is a lack of workers in that area in Canada, for business people, for students, for caregivers, and agricultural workers. How to get a work permit and how much it will cost will depend on the work program you’re applying through. In addition, Canada offers dozens of work permit pathways that do not require an LMIA. These are commonly facilitated through free trade agreements between Canada and other countries. Such agreements, for example, allow youth, and business people from such countries to gain Canadian work permits.

The cost of settling and living in Canada

The cost of settling in Canada can be significant.

Once you have been approved to immigrate to Canada, there are the added costs of travel and moving costs – making the expenses you’ll incur to settle in Canada vary from the thousands of dollars to the tens of thousands of dollars.

Once you arrive in Canada – living here will also be expensive. According to Numbeo, a database that compares cost of living around the world, as of March 2021, the average monthly cost of living in Canada for a family of four without rent is around $3,674 whereas the average cost of living for a single person without rent is around $1,109 per month.

Rent can vary significantly in Canada based on where you live and what kind of rental property you live in but most Canadians spend around 35% to 50% of their income on a combination of utilities and housing and the Government of Canada estimates that immigrants will likely pay at least $350 per month to rent a room and at least $2,000 per month to rent a large apartment or house.

Things to consider while deciding the province or city to settle in

When it comes to where to settle in Canada – there are a number of factors to consider before making a choice.

You’ll want to consider things like the cost-of-living, average salaries in the area, weather, lifestyle, the cost of rent, the cost of real estate, and other factors. Here is an overview of cost of living across Canada:

Atlantic Canada

Many people move to Atlantic Canada – which includes Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island – to take advantage of its less expensive real estate and natural beauty. Average rents tend to be much lower than elsewhere in Canada with rent for a two bedroom in Moncton, New Brunswick costing an average of just $1,165 per month and rent in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island costing just $1,401 per month. The average salaries of Atlantic Canada provinces are $55,508 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $45,912 in Prince Edward Island, $48,470 in Nova Scotia, and $49,511 in New Brunswick.

Quebec

Quebec is a popular choice for French speaking immigrants. It prioritizes French speaking immigrants through its provincially run immigration programs and real estate prices tend to be lower than other provinces – even in its urban centres. Quebec has an average provincial salary of $49,511.

Ontario

Ontario is the most popular province to immigrate to because it is the site of Toronto, Canada’s most populous city and a place where there are vibrant communities of immigrants for you to connect with. While living in Toronto is particularly expensive with home prices an average of around $850,000 and rent costing an average of $2,300 per month for a two bedroom apartment, there are places in Ontario that come in among the cheapest to live in Canada to live, such as Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario where it costs just $1,000 for a 2 bedroom apartment. Ontario has an average provincial salary of $55,524.

The Prairies

Many immigrants decide to move to the prairies for the economic opportunity of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Average rents are more expensive in major Alberta cities with rent for a two bedroom in Edmonton costing an average of $1,250 per month and rent in Calgary costing an average of $2,300 per month. Average rent for a two bedroom in Winnipeg, Manitoba is $1,223 per month and average rent for a two bedroom in Regina, Saskatchewan is $1,222 per month. The average salaries of prairie provinces are $61,865 in Alberta, $49,661 in Manitoba and $54,371 in Saskatchewan.

British Columbia

British Columbia is another popular immigration destination as it is the home of Vancouver, a beautiful city surrounded by water and mountain views whose lifestyle and moderate temperature allow you to ski and golf in the same day. Vancouver and its surrounding areas are particularly expensive with home prices an average of $1.3 million and rent prices an average of $2,793 for a two bedroom apartment. However, there are places in BC that come in much more affordable in terms of rent and real estate. British Columbia has an average provincial salary of $53,416.

What to do once you move to Canada?

Once you get settled in Canada, it’s important to take care of all the essentials like finding a place to live, getting your health insurance, getting your Social Insurance Number, connecting with your consulate and community organizations that help immigrants or connect you with other immigrants, obtaining your drivers’ license, and getting a Canadian bank account.

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