How to Immigrate to Canada as a Civil Engineer – If you are a civil engineer, you should know that this profession is one of the most respected professions in the world and if immigrating to Canada as a civil engineer is going to be a good decision as there are a lot of immigration programs waiting for you in Canada.
Civil engineering is one of the jobs that are in demand in Canada and so as a civil engineer, you have a one-way ticket to Canada as you would easily see a job offer from an employer in Canada.
The Canadian government has a target to invite about 1.23 million immigrants between 2021 to 2023 so you see that the Canadian borders are open to you if you want to move to Canada as there are also immigration programs put in place to assist immigrants immigrate to Canada.
The country is one of the world’s largest with big cities and urban centres and all these are because of the presence of engineers in the country of which civil engineers are one of them.
So if you want to immigrate to Canada as a civil engineer, now is the time but how are you going to know the best immigration programs to immigrate to Canada as a civil engineer?
Well, you shouldn’t worry much as we are here to give you full details on the most suitable immigration programs through which you can immigrate to Canada and since it is a job that is in demand, you won’t have much issue getting a job in Canada before or after your immigration.
As a civil engineer, you could be earning an average of about $102,000 annually and this can change depending on the province and your level of experience.
Let’s look at the most suitable immigration programs to immigrate to Canada as a civil engineer.
The Express Entry System
This is the most popular immigration program in Canada that was initiated in 2015 and it was created to speed up the immigration process in Canada and it has been the source of a large number of immigrants to Canada.
It is also the fastest and easiest immigration program as it takes as short as six months to process. It is an online program where applicants are to create an online profile and fill some information according to the requirements of the program and these requirements are age, language proficiency, work experience, proof of funds and education qualifications.
Unlike some other immigration programs, you don’t need a job offer to be eligible for the program although having a valid job offer will increase your chances of successfully immigrating to Canada.
You will be expected to complete your profile within 60 days after which you will be placed in a pool with other applicants and a draw will be conducted where applicants will be given scores and these scores will be ranked against a cut-off score in a ranking system called the Comprehensive Ranking System.
Applicants that meet or exceed the cut-off score in this ranking system will be selected to get an Invitation to Apply for permanent residency in Canada. You also have the chance to participate in another draw if you were not successful in the first draw as the draws are conducted twice in a month and to be successful, you will have to improve your CRS score.
The Express Entry System is managed under three Federal Immigration program and they are:
- Federal Skilled Worker Program
- Federal Skilled Trades Program
- Canadian Experience Class
How Can You Immigrate To Canada As A Civil Engineer Through The Express Entry System?
Like we mentioned that there are three federal immigration streams under the Express Entry System but there are only two streams through which you can immigrate to Canada as a civil engineer and they are the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canadian Experience Class.
We will be talking on the Federal Skilled Worker Program and how you can immigrate through it as a civil engineer.
As a civil engineer, you fall under the National Occupation Classification (NOC) code 2131 skill type A under the FSWP.
The FSWP is designed for foreign skilled workers with training, skill and experience who are willing to contribute to the workforce of Canada and you must meet the requirements for the program. These requirements are:
- You must have a paid skilled work experience of at least one year as a civil engineer (30 hours/week) for full-time and for part-time it could be (15 hours/week)
- You must take the approved language test in English or French in writing, speaking, listening or reading and you must get a minimum score of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in all abilities.
- You must have an education certificate of high school diploma or degree from secondary school or post-secondary school in Canada and if you have a foreign certificate, it must be equivalent to the Canadian standard and so you will have to go through the Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to check the credentials.
- You must prove that you have sufficient funds to help you settle in Canada and also take care of any other family member coming with you unless you have a valid job offer
- You must successfully pass the security background check which shows that you have no criminal record and also pass the medical examination check meaning that you are in good health.
You will also need to attach some documents when applying for this Express Entry program. These documents are:
- Means of identification (travel documents or passport)
- Educational Credentials Assessment report
- Birth certificate or record
- Medical clearance certificate
- Language proficiency test results for TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS ( International English Language Testing System) or TEF (Test d’ Evaluation de Francias)
- Police clearance report
The Provincial Nomination Program
The PNP is another program but it is designed for the provinces in Canada to nominate foreign workers to come to the province and contribute to the workforce.
There are about 11 participating provinces in Canada that have Provincial Nomination Program and through this program, foreigners are able to find work and settle in a particular province.
Each province sets its requirements to meet its economic needs and employers in the province are able to hire foreign skilled workers through the Provincial Nomination Programs.
So if you have the right skills and experience as a civil engineer, you can go through the provincial nomination program of the province you want to work in so that you will be nominated to get permanent residency and immigrate to Canada.
You should know that the provinces in Canada do not give permanent residency, they only nominate you to get permanent residency.
So as a civil engineer, do well to look for provinces in Canada where civil engineers are in demand as this will make it easy for you to get a job and get nominated by the province to fast track your immigration to Canada.
There are 11 provincial nomination programs in Canada that you can go through to immigrate to Canada as a dentist and they are:
Under the provincial nomination program, you can apply through direct application which means you will have to submit paper through mail or courier service and this takes time around 15 to 19 months or you can decide to go through the Express Entry linked with PNP as this is quicker as you have only about 6 months and in this option, you can either apply through the expression of interest (showing interest in a particular province when creating you online profile in the Express Entry System) or you apply for the Provincial Nominee Entry Stream which is for occupations in-demand in that particular province and civil engineering is among the occupation in high demand in many provinces in Canada.
The Atlantic Immigration Pilot
You can decide to go through this pilot program if you consider living and working in the Atlantic Provinces in Canada as the AIP is an immigration program for foreign workers and international graduates who want to work and live in the Atlantic Provinces in Canada. They can also get permanent residency in Canada through the program but you will have to meet the requirements of the program to be eligible.
The most important requirement for the program is that you need to have a job offer from an employer in any of the four Atlantic Provinces (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador).
You must also meet the eligibility requirements of age, work experience, education and language proficiency under the following programs under this Pilot program listed below.
- Atlantic high-skilled program
- Atlantic intermediate-skilled program
- Atlantic international graduate program
As a professional civil engineer, you can go through the Atlantic high-skilled program as it is for professional skilled workers that want to work and live in one of the four Atlantic Provinces but you must have a valid job offer to proceed with your application.
Final Note
It is very important that you know about the Canadian immigration and that is why we have taken our time to show you the best immigration programs through which you can immigrate to Canada as a civil engineer and you should know that Canada is one of the best countries of the world to immigrate to as the country is known to take care of everyone living in it.
So as a civil engineer, you can look for job in any of the provinces in Canada where civil engineers are in demand and then start your immigration process through any of the immigration programs that you are eligible for.
When running your immigration process, you can do it yourself or employ the services of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants as they will make sure your immigration process goes smoothly from start to finish.
