How soon after landing can I apply for Canadian citizenship?

You need 1,095 days of physical presence in Canada in the 5 years before you apply. If you were never in Canada before becoming a PR, the earliest is three years after landing. Time spent in Canada as a worker, student or visitor before PR counts as a half-day per day, up to a maximum credit of 365 days — so heavy pre-PR presence can bring the date forward by up to a year.

Can I sponsor my parents as a new permanent resident?

Parent and grandparent sponsorship requires meeting the minimum necessary income — LICO plus 30% — for the three taxation years before the invitation, proven by CRA Notices of Assessment. Your Canadian tax history starts building the year you land, so early years matter. While the income history builds, the super visa offers stays of five years per entry under a plain-LICO test.

What happens if my work permit expires while my extension is in process?

If you file the extension before your current permit expires, you hold maintained status: you may remain in Canada under your existing conditions until a decision is made. File after expiry and you fall out of status, with only a 90-day restoration window. The filing date, not the decision date, is what protects you.

Can I lose my permanent residence by spending time outside Canada?

Yes. Permanent residents must be physically in Canada for at least 730 days in every rolling 5-year period. The days need not be consecutive, and some time abroad counts — for example accompanying a Canadian-citizen spouse, or full-time work abroad for a Canadian business. Long absences early on are how new PRs quietly drift into a residency-obligation problem.

When do I have to apply for my Post-Graduation Work Permit?

Within 180 days of your school issuing your final marks — and you get one PGWP per lifetime, so the length you qualify for matters. Watch your study permit's own expiry inside that window: you may need to change status to visitor or apply before it lapses to stay in Canada legally while you wait.

How do I check whether an immigration consultant is licensed?

Search the consultant's name or licence number in the public register of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Anyone charging fees for Canadian immigration advice must be a licensed RCIC, a lawyer, or a Quebec notary. CHK's consultants are CICC-licensed and verifiable in that register — insist on the same from anyone you hire.

NEWCOMERS · AUGUST 2026

Welcome to Canada. The clock is already running.

Landing is not the finish line — it starts the timers. Citizenship counts from days of presence, sponsorship counts from tax years, the PGWP counts from final marks, and status counts from an expiry date. This page turns your stage into a dated plan — no forms, nothing stored, no settlement filler.

Find my next move Book a consultation

1,095 daysof presence to citizenship

730 daysin every 5 years to keep PR

180 daysto claim your PGWP

Next move finder

Where are you in the journey? Get the dates that decide it.

Pick your stage and one date. The plan is computed in your browser — an ordered timeline of what is due, what is open to you now, and what to set up early because a future application will ask for it.

Your situation

Nothing is submitted or stored — this calculates on your device.

1Your status today

2The day you landed as a PR

From your Confirmation of Permanent Residence or landing stamp.

Planning guidance only, reviewed August 2026 — not legal advice, and every date here is the general rule, not a ruling on your file. Exceptions exist in both directions. Confirm on canada.ca or have the plan reviewed.

The four newcomer files

Whatever you landed as, there is a next move.

Just landed PR card & obligations

The card, travel before it arrives, and the 730-day rule that quietly decides whether you keep what you just won.

PR card & status Working here Permits & extensions

Every route compared — and the maintained-status rule that makes the filing date matter more than the decision date.

All permit routes Building toward PR Express Entry from inside

Canadian work experience is the strongest CRS currency there is. When a year of skilled work becomes a profile.

Express Entry Family abroad Spousal & family sponsorship

Inland or outland, evidence that convinces, and what your family can do here while the application runs.

Sponsorship

Credentials & your first role

Your career crossed the border with you. Your licence may not have.

Regulated professions — healthcare, engineering, trades, teaching, accounting — need Canadian recognition before you practise. Two Government of Canada tools do the first pass, free.

Check how your credentials transfer

Job Bank's foreign credential recognition tool maps your occupation to the regulator, the assessment body and the process for your province. Run it on Job Bank.

Know the wage before you negotiate

The median wage for your NOC and city — the same figures ESDC uses in work permit files. Compare wages on Job Bank.

Tie the job to the plan

The right first role can carry a future application — TEER level drives Express Entry eligibility and the wage feeds provincial streams. Express Entry and the provincial programs show what your role can open.

Where newcomers lose ground

Four mistakes we see every month. All four are preventable.

Letting status lapse before filing

Maintained status only exists if the extension is filed before expiry. A day late converts a routine extension into a 90-day restoration case. Extensions & restoration.

Missing the PGWP window

180 days from final marks, one permit per lifetime, and the study permit's own expiry runs inside that window. Graduates lose this by celebrating first and checking dates second. The PGWP rules.

Treating PR as unconditional

730 days in every rolling five years, counted at the border and at every PR card renewal. Long early absences are how the shortfall sneaks up. Understand the obligation.

Paying an unlicensed "consultant"

Anyone charging for Canadian immigration advice must be a licensed RCIC, a lawyer or a Quebec notary. Verify every name — ours included — in the CICC public register before money moves.

Asked every week

The newcomer questions with real answers.

How soon after landing can I apply for citizenship?

After 1,095 days of physical presence in the five years before applying. Pre-PR time in Canada counts as half-days, up to a 365-day credit — heavy pre-PR presence can pull the date up to a year closer. Citizenship & the presence calculator.

Can I sponsor my parents as a new PR?

PGP sponsorship needs LICO + 30% for the three tax years before the invitation — your Canadian NOAs start counting the year you land. Until the history builds, the super visa delivers five-year visits under a plain-LICO test.

My permit expires during processing — am I still legal?

Yes, if you filed before expiry: maintained status holds your conditions until the decision. The protection comes from the filing date, not the decision date. Work permit extensions.

Do days outside Canada cost me my PR?

They can. The floor is 730 days inside per rolling five years, with narrow credits for time abroad with a Canadian-citizen spouse or for a Canadian business. The residency obligation.

When do I have to apply for my PGWP?

Within 180 days of your school issuing final marks — one permit per lifetime, and your study permit's own expiry runs inside that window. The PGWP rules and timing.

How do I verify an immigration consultant is licensed?

Search their name or licence number in the CICC public register. Anyone charging for Canadian immigration advice must be a licensed RCIC, a lawyer or a Quebec notary — CHK's consultants are verifiable there, and anyone you hire should be.

The first two years in Canada decide the next ten. Play them deliberately.

Bring us your landing date, your permits and your family plan. A licensed RCIC maps the sequence — what to file, in what order, and the dates that must not slip. Brampton, London, or remotely anywhere in Canada.

Book a consultation

Reviewed August 2026 — general information only, not legal advice, and no consultant–client relationship is created by reading this page. Rules and dates change; confirm on canada.ca before filing. IRCC makes all final decisions.

eligibility review

Find out where you actually stand.

Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.

Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant — never a bot, never a salesperson
A written shortlist of the programs you realistically qualify for
Consultations are fee-based; you get the fee and available times by reply

CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.