It is often said that there is a Nigerian in every country of the world. Moreso, recently, Nigeria is known to be one of the countries with a high rate of emigrants especially to North America and in particular, Canada as Canada is known for its diversity and welcoming nature. Canada has revealed plans to welcome over a million foreign nationals into its workforce within the next three years to address critical labour market shortages that its aging population has created, thus creating a lot of opportunities for young professionals.

The main pathways to migrate to Canada are through Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, and Sponsorship for which you need to meet specific requirements for each and choose the right program for your background.

1. Express Entry System

The Canadian Express Entry system was created to fast-track the federal government’s three main programs, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class. The processing period of the Express Entry System could be as little as six months. In this system, an online profile is cretaed stating which program they are applying for through the Express Entry system. If they meet the criteria, candidates are given points according to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) which measures profiles according to the categories below. The highest-scoring candidates are drawn from the Express Entry pool every two weeks and issued with Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence.
CRS Criteria Awards Points For:

• Age
• CLB Language proficiency (English and French)
• Level of Education (In and outside Canada)
• Work Experience (In and outside Canada)
• Arranged employment
• Provincial Nomination achieved
• Siblings living in Canada as permanent residents/citizens
• Your spouse’s profile (if married)

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2. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

This program is offered by certain provinces and territories in Canada to address sectors of the local economies that are lacking specific skills. They usually target skilled workers, graduates, and unskilled/trades workers. 

Family Sponsorship Class

The Family Sponsorship Class allows candidates with a family member (who is a permanent resident or citizen in Canada) to be sponsored for permanent residence in the country. This is for sponsoring parents, siblings, and spouses (same-sex included) only.

The requirements for Spousal Sponsorship include;

The Sponsor Must:

• Be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada aged at least 18 years.
• Reside in Canada, if they are a permanent resident. Canadian citizens can sponsor a family member even when living outside the country. However, he or she must reside in Canada when the sponsored family member becomes a permanent resident of Canada.
• Have adequate resources to provide financial support to the sponsored person for the mandated duration.

The Sponsored Person Must:

• Be at least 16 years old
• Not be too closely related to the sponsor of the spouse