Settling in Canada

More people than expected, and this catches many by surprise.

Canadian citizens are excluded outright, regardless of how or when they became a permanent resident. International students and most work permit holders are excluded. Refugee claimants are excluded until they receive a positive decision, at which point they become protected persons and are eligible.

The exceptions among temporary residents are narrow: participants in the Rural Community, Francophone Community, Atlantic and Rural and Northern pilots, and their families, are eligible even though they are not yet permanent residents.

If you fall outside, free options still exist. Ontario funds adult English and French classes through school boards with much broader eligibility, and in Sault Ste. Marie the Newcomer Settlement and Language Training programme serves international students and temporary foreign workers at no cost.

A significant change that very few people heard about. IRCC announced on 10 March 2026 that economic-class permanent residents can now use federally funded settlement services only for a limited period.

The limit is six years from the date you became a permanent resident, dropping to five years for anyone landing on or after 1 April 2027. It applies to your spouse or partner and dependent children too, if they were on the same application.

Crucially, it is retroactive. IRCC applies it to everyone, including people who became permanent residents long before the rule existed. Their own worked example is blunt: if you became a permanent resident on or before 1 April 2020 through an economic programme, your access ended on 1 April 2026.

The clock runs from the “Became P.R. on” date printed on your Confirmation of Permanent Residence. It applies to Express Entry, provincial nominee, the Rural Community and Atlantic pilots, start-up visa and the rest. It does not apply to family sponsorship, refugees or protected persons.

No. Ontario removed the three month waiting period for OHIP in March 2020 and it has not come back. The province states plainly that if you are eligible, coverage is immediate and you can apply as soon as you arrive.

Three things trip people up. You must apply in person at a ServiceOntario centre. You need three separate original documents: proof of status, proof of Ontario residency and proof of identity. And photocopies are refused, so bring originals.

You also need to satisfy the residency tests, which include being physically in Ontario for at least 153 of your first 183 days, and Ontario being your primary home.

Permanent residents qualify. So do protected persons, and work permit holders working full time for an Ontario employer for at least six months, whose spouse and dependants may then qualify too.

This is the hardest and slowest part of settling, and it is worth separating two things that sound similar.

An educational credential assessment is an immigration document that tells IRCC what your foreign credential is worth in Canadian terms. IRCC states clearly that it does not guarantee you a licence to practise. It costs roughly $200 to $265 through the designated organisations.

Licensure is separate, provincial, and run by the regulator for your profession. Different body, different evidence, different timeline. Ontario regulates over a hundred professions and trades.

Two things in your favour in Ontario. Since December 2021 a regulated profession cannot require Canadian experience as a qualification for registration, and non-compliant requirements were deemed void from December 2023. And the Ontario Bridge Training Program offers occupation-specific training and licensing exam preparation, with a bursary of up to $5,000 available through the institution.

Federal loans of $15,000 to $30,000 also exist for exam fees, training and tuition through designated lenders.

More than most newcomers realise, and it depends on filing a tax return even if you earned nothing.

The Canada Child Benefit pays up to $8,157 a year for each child under six and $6,883 for ages six to seventeen, at the full rate below an adjusted family net income of $38,237. Apply on form RC66 with proof of birth.

The old GST credit was renamed the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit from July 2026 and pays $445 per adult and $234 per child under nineteen, quarterly. New residents apply on form RC151 before their first return.

In Ontario the Trillium Benefit adds a sales tax credit of up to $378 each and an energy and property tax credit of up to $1,307. If you settle in the Algoma district, which includes Sault Ste. Marie, you also qualify for the Northern Ontario Energy Credit of up to $189 single or $290 family.

All of it requires a social insurance number and a filed return. File by 30 April, every year, even with no income.