Welcome to Canada. Know Your Rights.
Canada received 395,000 permanent residents in 2024 and over 2.9M temporary residents. This hub gives you real information on rights, services, credential recognition, and what everything actually costs.
Permanent residents (2024)
395,000
new PRs landed
Study permit holders
1.0M
active study permits
Employment rate (10yr)
87.3%
newcomers employed at 10 yrs
Refugee claimants (2024)
152,000
inland claims
Avg Express Entry processing
6 mo
Federal Skilled Worker
Income gap vs. born in Canada
22%
at 5 years (12% at 10 yrs)
Citizenship applications (2024)
265,000
applications submitted
Refugee inland wait
24 mo
avg for IRB hearing
Select your immigration status to see your rights and first steps in Canada.
🟢 Permanent Resident (PR)
You have the right to live and work anywhere in Canada indefinitely. You are NOT a Canadian citizen but have most of the same rights.
✅ Your Rights
- •Work for any employer in any province
- •Access public healthcare (provincial OHIP/MSP etc.)
- •Access most federal social programs (EI, CPP, OAS after qualifying)
- •Sponsor eligible family members
- •Study at domestic tuition rates
- •Apply for Canadian citizenship after 3 of 5 years in Canada
- •Protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
⚠️ Restrictions
- •Cannot vote in federal, provincial, or most municipal elections
- •Cannot hold certain government security clearance positions
- •Cannot get a Canadian passport
- •PR status can be lost if you don't meet residency obligations (730 days/5 years)
📋 Key Documents You Need
- PR Card (valid 5 years)
- COPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence)
- SIN (Social Insurance Number)
🚀 First Steps After Arriving
- 1Apply for SIN at Service Canada within the first week
- 2Register for provincial health insurance (wait period varies — Ontario has no wait since 2020)
- 3Open a Canadian bank account (most banks have newcomer programs with no fees)
- 4Register children for school with the local school board
- 5Get your foreign driver's licence assessed for exchange
Who Is Accountable?
The settlement gaps, refugee backlogs, and housing crises faced by newcomers are the result of decisions made by identifiable public servants.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
- →IRCC processing times for PR applications have reached 18–24 months in some categories — far exceeding targets
- →Study permit approvals fell sharply in 2024 as government imposed caps after years of unchecked growth
- →1M+ study permits issued 2023 without corresponding housing or support infrastructure
- →Refugee inland claims backlog exceeds 250,000 — average wait for IRB hearing now over 2 years
- →PGWP (Post-Graduation Work Permit) cap changes affected hundreds of thousands of students mid-study
Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
- →Ontario Works ($733/month) has not kept pace with housing costs — leaves refugees unable to afford rent
- →Credential recognition backlogs at regulatory colleges (nursing, medicine, engineering) delay integration
- →OINP (Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program) processing times exceed 24 months
- →Lack of dedicated mental health services for newcomers and refugees
Sources
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration 2024.
• IRCC. Settlement Program Data 2023-24.
• Statistics Canada. Immigrant Labour Force Analysis Series, 2024.
• Statistics Canada. Portrait of Canada's Newcomers, Census 2021.
• Government of Ontario. Settlement and Integration Services Directory, 2025.
• Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials (CICIC), 2025.
• Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) / IRCC Language Training Report, 2024.