Moving from Italy to Canada
What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.
ItalyCanadaShort stayItaly passport holders need an electronic travel authorisation before flying to Canada. It's an online form, usually approved quickly, and lighter than a full e-visa.
This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Canada — that needs a residence permit.
How you actually move to Canada
Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified July 2026Express Entry (Federal Skilled Worker, CEC, FST)
Skilled workers applying for permanent residence directly — no employer needed. Three programs feed one pool: Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades.
Express Entry (Federal Skilled Worker, CEC, FST)
Skilled workers applying for permanent residence directly — no employer needed. Three programs feed one pool: Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, and Federal Skilled Trades.
- An eligible profile in one of the three programs (skilled work experience, language, education)
- Language tests: IELTS/CELPIP for English, TEF/TCF for French
- Educational Credential Assessment for qualifications earned outside Canada
- A Comprehensive Ranking System score high enough to be invited in a draw
- Proof of settlement funds unless you have a valid job offer or Canadian work authorisation
- How long it lasts
- This is permanent residence from day one — a 5-year renewable PR card, not a temporary permit.
- Path to permanent residence
- It *is* the permanent route. Citizenship becomes available after 3 years of physical presence within a 5-year window.
- Cost
- CAD 1,590 per adult in federal fees from 30 April 2026 — a CAD 990 processing fee plus the CAD 600 Right of Permanent Residence Fee — on top of language tests, credential assessment and medicals. IRCC re-indexes these biennially, so check the schedule rather than any quoted total.
- Processing time
- IRCC's service standard for Express Entry is about 6 months from a complete application.
- Canada's permanent-residence target is 380,000 a year, held flat across 2026, 2027 and 2028 under the 2026–2028 Levels Plan — down from 485,000 in 2024 but no longer falling. Fewer places against steady demand has kept CRS cut-offs higher than applicants expect.
- Category-based draws — French language, healthcare, STEM, trades, education, and several Canadian-experience categories — clear at materially lower scores than general draws. Which category you fall into now matters more than your raw CRS.
- A provincial nomination adds 600 CRS points, which effectively guarantees an invitation. That makes the PNP the real strategy for anyone whose general score is short.
- Express Entry does NOT lead to Quebec. Quebec selects its own economic immigrants and issues a Certificat de sélection du Québec before Ottawa will process permanent residence, with its own points grid and a heavy French requirement through the Arrima portal. No other province works this way. If Montreal or Quebec City is the destination, this route is the wrong one and optimising a federal profile is wasted effort.
Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified July 2026Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
People willing to commit to a specific province. Every province except Quebec runs streams targeting its own labour shortages, and Quebec selects separately under its own system.
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
People willing to commit to a specific province. Every province except Quebec runs streams targeting its own labour shortages, and Quebec selects separately under its own system.
- Meet a specific provincial stream's criteria — these vary widely and change often
- Often a job offer or existing connection to the province (study, work, family)
- Intent to reside in the nominating province
- Then either an Express Entry-aligned nomination (+600 CRS) or a direct paper-based PR application
- How long it lasts
- Leads to permanent residence.
- Path to permanent residence
- It is a permanent-residence route; the same 3-year physical-presence clock to citizenship applies.
- Cost
- Provincial application fee on top of the federal PR fees; some provinces charge over CAD 1,000.
- Processing time
- Nomination can take several months, then federal processing on top.
- PNP allocations were halved for 2025 and then restored: the 2026–2028 Levels Plan gives provinces 91,500 nominations in 2026, rising to 92,500 in 2027 and 2028. The 2025 squeeze is what tightened streams and closed some intakes mid-year, and guidance written during it overstates how scarce nominations are now.
- The nomination carries an expectation that you actually settle in that province. It is not a formality.
- Quebec is outside this system entirely. It selects under its own two-step process — a provincial Certificat de sélection du Québec first, then a separate federal application — and is the only province with that arrangement. Everywhere else, a nomination feeds the federal route rather than replacing it.
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Work permit (LMIA-based or exempt)
People coming to work temporarily, often as a stepping stone to permanent residence via Canadian Experience Class.
Work permit (LMIA-based or exempt)
People coming to work temporarily, often as a stepping stone to permanent residence via Canadian Experience Class.
- Either a job offer supported by a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment, or an LMIA-exempt route: intra-company transfer, CUSMA/CETA professional, Global Talent Stream, or an International Mobility Program stream
- Qualifications for the role and, where applicable, provincial licensing
- Medical exam for some occupations
- How long it lasts
- Typically tied to the job offer, commonly 1–3 years, renewable.
- Path to permanent residence
- Indirect but well-trodden: one year of skilled Canadian work experience qualifies you for Canadian Experience Class, which competes in Express Entry with a strong CRS boost.
- Cost
- CAD 155 work permit fee plus, for employers, the CAD 1,000 LMIA fee where one is required.
- Processing time
- Highly variable — Global Talent Stream targets two weeks, while LMIA-based routes can take months.
- The Global Talent Stream is dramatically faster than a standard LMIA and is the route most tech hires actually use.
- Temporary-resident volumes have also been curtailed since 2024, tightening both study and work permit streams.
StudentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Study permit + Post-Graduation Work Permit
Students at a designated learning institution, and graduates staying on to build Canadian experience.
Study permit + Post-Graduation Work Permit
Students at a designated learning institution, and graduates staying on to build Canadian experience.
- Letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution
- A provincial or territorial attestation letter for most applicants, following the 2024 cap
- Proof of funds at the raised cost-of-living threshold
- For the PGWP afterwards, a qualifying program — and, for non-degree programs only, an eligible field of study
- How long it lasts
- Course length; the PGWP then runs up to 3 years depending on program length.
- Path to permanent residence
- The classic pipeline: study, then PGWP, then Canadian Experience Class via Express Entry. Study time itself confers no PR.
- Cost
- CAD 150 study permit fee plus international tuition and evidenced funds.
- Processing time
- Varies by country; apply months ahead of term.
- The study-permit cap and the attestation-letter requirement made this route significantly harder from 2024 onward — treat pre-2024 guidance as obsolete.
- The PGWP field-of-study restriction is narrower than most guides imply: bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree graduates are exempt from it entirely. It binds only on non-degree programs — college diplomas and certificates — where the study permit was applied for on or after 1 November 2024, and those must sit in an eligible CIP field. IRCC froze the eligible-field list for all of 2026, so the list you check today is the list that applies. Verify before enrolling; this is still the single most expensive mistake on this route.
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Family sponsorship
Spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, dependent children, and — through a lottery — parents and grandparents.
Family sponsorship
Spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, dependent children, and — through a lottery — parents and grandparents.
- A Canadian citizen or permanent resident sponsor aged 18+
- For spouses and partners, a genuine relationship and a sponsorship undertaking
- For parents and grandparents, the sponsor must meet a Minimum Necessary Income for three consecutive years
- How long it lasts
- Grants permanent residence.
- Path to permanent residence
- It is a permanent-residence route.
- Cost
- Around CAD 1,260 for a spouse from 30 April 2026 — a CAD 90 sponsorship fee, a CAD 570 processing fee and the CAD 600 Right of Permanent Residence Fee.
- Processing time
- Spousal applications target about 12 months; parent and grandparent cases run far longer.
- Spousal sponsorship has no income requirement — unusual among comparable countries, and a genuine advantage over the UK or US.
- The Parents and Grandparents Program operates by invitation from a limited pool, so it is not something you can simply apply for when you choose.
Where you'd land in Canada
The most multicultural city in the world, and the rare place you can get permanent residence without an employer sponsoring you — if you can take the winter.
- Work permit and permanent residence
- Exchanging your licence for an Ontario G
- OHIP health card and seeing a doctor
Mountains, ocean and the most expensive housing in Canada — with three separate taxes aimed at it.
- Work permits, permanent residence, and the SIN you need before payday
- Exchanging a licence, and buying insurance from the government
- Opening an account, and building a credit score from nothing
Quebec picks its own immigrants, files its own taxes, and moves house on the first of July.
- The CSQ, the federal step after it, and the SIN you need before payday
- Exchanging with the SAAQ, winter tyres by law, and snow-removal towing
- Opening an account, credit from zero, and the caisses populaires
No sales tax, no health waiting period, and rents that finally caught up with the migration.
- Work permits, the Alberta nomination route, and the SIN you need before payday
- Exchanging a licence, private insurance, and hail
- Opening an account, and building a credit score from nothing
The federal capital, where most government jobs need citizenship and the cheap rent is in another province.
- Work permits, permanent residence, and why the federal jobs are harder than they look
- Ontario's graduated licence, expensive insurance, and crossing into Quebec
- Opening an account, and building a credit score from nothing
Alberta's capital and university city — cheaper than Calgary, less tied to the oil price, and genuinely cold.
- Work permits, the Alberta nomination, and the SIN that gates your first paycheque
- Exchanging a licence, block heaters, and the parking ban that costs $250
- Opening an account, ATB, and building a credit file from zero
North America's only walled city, three metres of snow a year, and one of Canada's lowest unemployment rates — all of it conducted in French.
- The CSQ, the French requirement that decides it, and your SIN
- Exchanging with the SAAQ, mandatory winter tyres, and the hills
- Opening an account, building credit from zero, and why everyone here banks at a caisse
The province that invented the provincial nominee program, one public body for both your licence and your car insurance, and a winter that plugs your engine into the wall.
- Express Entry, the nominee program Manitoba invented, and the connection requirement
- MPI does both jobs, the Driver Safety Rating, and plugging the car in
- Opening an account, credit from zero, and Manitoba's unlimited deposit guarantee
Four hours behind London instead of five, an employer immigration route with no labour market test, and a rent cap that follows the tenant out the door.
- The Atlantic Immigration Program, the nominee streams, and why no labour market test
- Exchanging at Access Nova Scotia, private insurance, and bridges that close
- Opening an account, and why a credit file matters more here than the rent does
Canada's biggest office market outside downtown Toronto, wrapped around an airport — same Ontario rules as the city next door, at a smaller discount than anyone expects.
- Express Entry, and the Ontario nominee programme that was demolished and rebuilt in 2026
- Exchanging for an Ontario G, the 407 toll trap, and why insurance costs what it does here
- Opening an account, and the credit file that decides whether you get the flat
The steel town whose biggest employer is now a hospital — a hundred waterfalls on the escarpment, one government running everything, and rents several hundred dollars below Toronto's.
- Express Entry, and the Ontario nominee programme that was demolished and rebuilt in 2026
- Exchanging for an Ontario G, and the escarpment accesses that close in freezing rain
- Opening an account, building a credit file, and what a landlord here actually asks for
The mildest winter in Canada, thirteen municipalities in one small metro, and a vacancy tax that wants a declaration from every owner every March.
- Express Entry, and a BC nominee programme rebuilt around Care, Build and Innovate
- ICBC, the 90-day switch, public insurance, and the ferry as part of the road network
- Opening an account, the credit file, and the credit unions that are unusually strong here
Metro Vancouver's other city — six town centres instead of a downtown, its own municipal police force since 2024, and about a third off Vancouver rent for the same flat.
- Express Entry, the BC nominee programme, and why being inside Metro Vancouver matters
- ICBC does your licence AND your insurance, and you have 90 days to switch
- Opening an account, a credit union headquartered here, and BC's deposit rules
Not the other one. Southwestern Ontario's regional city, with the loosest rental market in fifteen years, a licence your landlord needs before renovating you out, and no commuter train to Toronto at all.
- Express Entry, and the Ontario nominee programme that was demolished and rebuilt in 2026
- Exchanging for an Ontario G, and the Lake Huron squalls that close the 401 and 402
- Opening an account, building a credit file, and the paperwork a London landlord asks for
Canada's densest startup cluster outside Toronto and Vancouver, on the only light rail line in a region this size — with two governments, a municipal gas utility, and a GO train that is not yet two-way all-day.
- Express Entry, the rebuilt Ontario nominee stream, and a region full of study permits
- Exchanging for an Ontario G, the ION crossings, and passing a buggy properly
- Opening an account, building a credit file, and renting in a three-term city
The prairie city whose clocks never change — one Crown corporation for your licence and your car insurance, no cap on rent at all, and twelve months' notice before it can rise.
- Express Entry and the SINP — which now needs a job offer in every worker category
- SGI does the licence and the insurance, 90 days to switch, and a block heater
- Opening an account, the credit unions, and the deposit a Saskatchewan landlord may take
Canada at a glance
- Capital
- Ottawa
- Population
- 41.7M
- Languages
- English, French
- Currency
- CAD
