Permanent Residency vs Canadian Citizenship

Hello everyone,

In this post I would like to focus on the differences between a permanent resident of Canada and a Canadian citizen. I believe it is very important to understand the difference and to know how to become each of those. There will be another post about how to get the PR and citizenship because it would be too lengthy if I wrote about everything in here.

Lest's clarify one thing right away - immigration rules in Canada are totally different from the rules in some of the European countries for example. If you were born somewhere else and your parents are not citizens or permanent residents of this country then everything will be more difficult for you. If you want to study in Canada you will need to apply for a study permit. If you wish to work here, you will need to have a work permit. If you would like to move here permanently you will need a permanent residency status or canadian citizenship. Now that you see the big picture, let's talk about the differences.

Permanent Residency (PR)

• As a permanent resident you can work or study wherever you want and you are not required to have a work/study permit. In addition, you are treated as a domestic student, and so are eligible for the lower tuition fees (20-30% of the amounts that international students have to pay) & government student loans
• Individuals holding the PR status in Canada can sponsor their spouses, children or parents through the family class immigration program
• For permanent residents it is easier to get credit cards and loans with attractive interest rates at the major banks in Canada
• Permanent residents qualify for most of the social benefits available to the citizens such as: Canada Child Tax Benefit, Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan or Maternity
• Each permanent resident has the opportunity to apply for the citizenship after satisfying certain requirements (there will be another post about this)
• PR card can expire and it has to be renewed every five years
• The status can be revoked if you spent less than two years of the past five years in Canada, or you are convicted of a serious crime

Canadian Citizenship

• All of the rights and benefits that PR holders have
• Canadians have the right to live outside Canada with no time limit 
• As a citizen you have the right to vote in any municipal, provincial or federal elections
• Becoming a citizen will make you eligible to apply for Canadian passport. This may be useful if people from your home country are required to have a visa to the United States - Canadian passport holders do not need a visitor visa to enter the country
• Preference is given to the citizens while hiring for government positions
• If you become a citizen you have the right to pass Canadian citizenship to your children born outside Canada

As you can see there are so many benefits of being a permanent resident or citizen. Certainly, there are many more of them but I focused on the ones that I think are the most important for most people. However, nothing in life worth having comes easy as you probably know. The process of becoming a resident and then a citizen is very complicated and requires a lot of time. Depending on the circumstances, it may take you 1-7 years to get the PR status and then additional 3-4 years to get the citizenship. I know... it seems to be such a long period of time, but keep in mind that you can get your education and work experience during that time for instance. In addition, new government was elected last year and they promised to make the immigration system more efficient and less restrictive for some of us so the time frames may significantly change in the near future. 

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