Moving to Canada: A First-Steps Guide for Expats

Canada does something almost no other country does: it tells you, in advance and in public, exactly how it will assess you. You can sit down with the points grid, score yourself on age, education, language ability and work experience, compare that against recent draw cutoffs, and form a realistic view of your chances before spending anything.

After the opacity of most immigration systems, this is genuinely refreshing. It is also why Canada attracts so many people who find the US route closed to them.

The honest counterweight is housing, which has become a serious problem in the major cities, and a healthcare system that is publicly funded but under real strain.

Express Entry and the points logic

Express Entry is the online system managing Canada’s main economic immigration programmes. You create a profile, are assigned a Comprehensive Ranking System score, and enter a pool. Periodically the government holds draws and invites candidates above a cutoff to apply for permanent residence - not a temporary work permit, but permanent residence directly.

Your score is built from age, education, official language ability in English or French, work experience, and combinations of those factors, plus additional points for things like a provincial nomination, Canadian work or study experience, French ability, or a qualifying job offer.

Two implications worth internalising. You do not necessarily need an employer - this is the crucial difference from the US, and it is why Canada is attainable for people the US system has no route for. And the levers are known: improving your language test result, adding a qualification, or securing a provincial nomination will each move your score by a predictable amount.

Recent policy has shifted towards category-based draws targeting particular occupations, French speakers and specific experience, so the picture is more nuanced than a single cutoff. Check the current approach rather than one from a couple of years ago.

Provincial Nominee Programs are the other main path. Individual provinces nominate candidates matching their labour market needs, and a nomination adds a decisive number of points. Requirements differ substantially between provinces, and a profile that is uncompetitive federally may be attractive to a specific province. Quebec runs its own immigration system separately, with French ability central.

Current routes are in the Canada visa section, and the general architecture in visas and residence permits explained. If your qualifications are from outside Canada you will generally need an Educational Credential Assessment, which is a specific process worth starting early - the general version is getting your qualifications recognized.

Note also that Canada has been adjusting its overall immigration levels and its temporary resident programmes, so both targets and rules have moved recently.

Arriving: SIN, health card, credit

Your first errand is a Social Insurance Number, required to work and to be paid properly.

Then your provincial health card, which is what actually gives you healthcare access - and here is the item people miss: some provinces impose a waiting period of up to three months for new arrivals before public coverage begins. During that gap you need private cover. Check your specific province before assuming you are covered on landing, and see health insurance for new arrivals.

Then a bank account and, importantly, credit history. Canada, like the US, runs on credit scores for renting, phone contracts and borrowing, and your history does not travel. Start with a secured card immediately - building credit history abroad.

Healthcare, honestly

Publicly funded, provincially administered, and covering medically necessary hospital and physician services with no charge at point of use. That is the good part and it is genuinely good.

The honest caveats: finding a family doctor accepting new patients is difficult in much of the country, and many people rely on walk-in clinics. Waiting times for specialists, diagnostics and elective surgery have been a persistent and well-documented problem. And prescription drugs, dental care and vision care are largely outside the public system for working-age adults - most people rely on employer benefit plans for these, which makes the benefits package a significant part of a job offer.

Details in the Canada healthcare section, and the dental gap in dental and vision care abroad.

Money and tax

Federal income tax plus provincial income tax, with rates varying meaningfully between provinces. Sales taxes are added at the till and differ by province. Canada taxes residents on worldwide income.

Tax-advantaged accounts - the registered retirement and tax-free savings vehicles - are a significant part of personal financial planning here and worth understanding early rather than in year five.

If you retain assets or income abroad, foreign property reporting obligations apply above thresholds, and they are strict. Get an accountant familiar with cross-border matters. Structure is in the Canada tax section, and the residence principle in tax residency explained.

Housing, which is the real problem

Toronto and Vancouver have among the least affordable housing of any major cities relative to local incomes, and the pressure has spread to Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Halifax and the commuter regions. Rental vacancy rates in the big cities are low and competition is intense.

Practical responses: budget far more than you expect; arrive with temporary accommodation arranged; consider cities beyond Toronto and Vancouver, because Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax and the Prairie cities offer real employment at dramatically lower housing cost; and be prepared for landlords to ask for credit checks and references you cannot yet provide.

Also be alert to rental fraud, which flourishes in tight markets - rental scams and how to avoid them.

Language, climate and settling in

English across most of the country, French in Quebec where it is the language of work, education and public life, and official bilingualism federally. French ability is worth real points in the immigration system and opens Quebec and francophone communities elsewhere.

The winter is not a joke, and it differs enormously: Vancouver is mild and wet, Toronto and Montreal are properly cold, and the Prairies and the North are severe. Buildings are heated to a standard that makes indoor life comfortable, which is more than can be said for Mediterranean Europe.

Canadian social culture is welcoming and genuinely used to immigrants - roughly a quarter of the population was born abroad, which changes the experience of arriving. Established community networks exist for most origins, and integration is comparatively straightforward.

What catches people out

Provincial health coverage waiting periods. The difficulty of finding a family doctor. Housing costs in Toronto and Vancouver relative to salaries. Credential recognition timelines for regulated professions. And underestimating how much the province you choose changes the whole experience.

For comparisons, moving to the United States is the neighbour with a much harder immigration system, moving to Mexico completes the North American picture with a far more accessible residence process, and moving to Australia and moving to New Zealand run comparable points-based systems with better weather and their own housing problems.

Provincial detail, current draw information and cost breakdowns are in the Canada country guide and the cost of living section. For current Express Entry draw experiences, the visa and immigration forum is where candidates compare notes.