Being a permanent resident grants you most of the same rights as Canadian citizens except the right to vote. There are over 60 programs that lead to permanent residence and the main ones are explained here.Being a permanent resident grants you most of the samerights as Canadian citizens except the right to vote. There are over 60 programs that lead to permanent residence and the main ones are explained here.

Visitor visa

If you want to visit Canada for less than six months, as a student, tourist, for business, or to visit friends or family, you will need a visitor visa if you are a citizen of one of these countries.

In most countries a visitor visa will take one week to process, however it is better to plan two or three months in advance as it may take more time to prepare your application.

The following amounts are the official fees that have to be transferred to the Canadian Government to process the applications. The fees are provided in Canadian Dollars and are subject to change without notice. They do not include the Martineau & Mindicanu service fees.

Under the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration, Quebec establishes its own immigration requirements and selects immigrants who will adapt well to living in Quebec. There are several differences between the Quebec Skilled Worker Program and the Federal one, regarding the system of points, financial requirements, language skills and other criteria. The following chart shows the major differences.

The Government of Canada established certain requirements for those who want to immigrate under the business class. These criteria apply for all provinces and territories, except the province of Quebec, that has own requirements and a special selection process.

The Canadian Education System is governed, funded and supervised by federal, provincial, and local governments, but it is the responsibility of the provincial (territorial) governments. Universities have their own administration, while the educational programs of the schools are administrated by the school boards.

The majority of the elementary and secondary schools are public, the education being free of charge and available for everyone. There are also religious (catholic, protestant, Jewish, Muslim, etc.) schools and private schools (about 8% of students are in private schools).

The Canadian health system is funded by the Government and is based on five principles: is accessible without any income barriers, is comprehensive in the services it covers, is publicly administered, universally available to citizens and permanent residents, and is portable within and outside the country.