Permanent Residency in different province than my province of study

[aammaadmi]

Hi,

I am an international student in Montreal, Quebec. After completing my studies, can I apply for PR in say Ontario? I am a graduate student doing 2 years masters program. Will my 2 years of stay in Quebec, count in Ontario PR process?

 

[Leon]

If you want to apply for PR under a provincial nominee program, you will have to look at the PNP website where you might want to apply and see if you meet their requirements. Each PNP is different. Many have a class for people who graduated in Canada but they each may have different rules on which study programs are accepted, which educational institutions, length of studies, job offer needed in your new province, hours worked in your new province before you can apply etc. etc.

If you look at the Ontario PNP website for Masters graduates here: http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/pnp/OI_PNPSTUDENTS_MASTERS.html you will see that they mention "graduating from a Masters program from one of Ontario’s publicly funded universities" so coming from Quebec, you would not qualify.

There is another immigration class under Ontario PNP which is for international students with a job offer and that one does not specify that you must have graduated from an Ontario university, see here. http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/OI/en/pnp/OI_PNPSTUDENTS_JOB.html but you would need a skilled job offer in Ontario though.

 

[aammaadmi]

Thanks for your detailed reply.

What about Post Graduation Work Permit? It allows me to work anywhere in Canada for 3 years. I think PGWP is under Canada and not under Quebec so should I apply for it directly or there are steps to go through Quebec?

 

[Leon]

Thanks for your detailed reply.

What about Post Graduation Work Permit? It allows me to work anywhere in Canada for 3 years. I think PGWP is under Canada and not under Quebec so should I apply for it directly or there are steps to go through Quebec?

As far as I know a PGWP is completely open and you can work in any province. As a worker, it is possible that you will qualify under some immigration program in another province. Currently, you would also be able to apply under Canadian experience class after a year of skilled work.