How to Move to Canada from the US - Real Options for Americans

Americans can visit Canada with just a passport, but living and working there takes a permit or permanent residence. The routes that actually work for US citizens and green card holders are Express Entry, provincial nominee programs, CUSMA work permits, study and family sponsorship. Below are the requirements, fees and timelines for each, how to pick a province, and what can get you refused at the border.

Can an American Just Move to Canada?

No. A US passport makes visits easy, and that is all it does. US citizens need neither a visa nor an eTA to enter Canada by air, land or sea. Green card holders also skip the eTA. By air they need their passport and green card, and by land only the green card. Most visitors can stay up to 6 months, and the border officer can set a shorter or longer date.

A visitor cannot work for a Canadian employer, and six months is not residence. To live in Canada you need one of these.

• Permanent residence - the right to live and work anywhere in Canada with no time limit. For skilled workers the usual way in is Express Entry or a provincial program.
• A work permit - tied to a job. US citizens have a special route under the CUSMA trade agreement.
• A study permit - for a program at a Canadian school.
• Family sponsorship - if your spouse or partner is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

Many people combine them. They start on a work or study permit, get Canadian experience, and then apply for permanent residence with a higher score.

Express Entry - the Main Route to Permanent Residence

Express Entry is the online system for three federal programs. For an American with a degree and a few years of skilled work, it is usually the first thing to check.

You create a profile, and the system gives you a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for age, education, language and work experience. IRCC then holds rounds and invites the top candidates. Some rounds are general. Others invite only people in a category. For 2026 IRCC named French speakers, healthcare and social services, trades, transport, physicians, senior managers and researchers with Canadian work experience, and skilled military recruits.

A few rules surprise Americans.

• The language test is mandatory. Being a native English speaker does not count. You need results from an approved test - IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General or PTE Core. Federal Skilled Worker needs at least CLB 7, and the results must be less than 2 years old.
• A US degree needs an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA). Without it, Federal Skilled Worker will not accept your education. The report is valid for 5 years. You can order it through our diploma evaluation service.
• A job offer no longer adds CRS points. IRCC removed those points on March 25, 2025. A Canadian job still helps in other ways, but it will not lift your score by itself.
• Proof of funds. Federal Skilled Worker applicants show savings - CAD 15,263 for one person and CAD 28,362 for a family of four (amounts updated July 7, 2025). Canadian Experience Class does not ask for this. Neither does a candidate who is already authorized to work in Canada and has a valid job offer.

If you get an invitation, you have 60 days to submit the full application. A profile that gets no invitation expires after 12 months, and you have to create a new one. IRCC's service standard is 6 months for 80% of complete applications. In 2024 it finalized 80% of Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Worker cases within that time.

Fees per adult are CAD 990 for processing plus CAD 600 for the right of permanent residence, CAD 1,590 in total. Each dependent child is CAD 270, and biometrics are CAD 85 per person or CAD 170 per family (IRCC fee list). How the points work and how to raise them is covered on our Express Entry page.

Provincial Nominee Programs and How to Choose a Province

Each province and territory runs its own nominee program with its own streams, occupation lists and limits. A nomination is the strongest boost in Express Entry, worth 600 CRS points on top of your score, and it is meant to get you invited quickly.

There are two ways in. If you qualify for both a provincial stream and an Express Entry program, the nomination is added to your Express Entry profile. If you only qualify for the provincial stream, you apply to the province first and then to IRCC outside Express Entry.

Every province expects you to actually live there. Choosing a province only because its stream looks easy is a bad plan.

• Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta were the most common destinations for Express Entry principal applicants in 2024. Big cities there give more job options, and they are also where the competition for those jobs is.
• Smaller provinces run streams for specific occupations and for graduates of local schools, and they look closely at whether you plan to stay.
• Quebec is not part of the nominee program and selects immigrants through its own system. Nunavut has no nominee program either.

Start with your occupation and work out which provinces need it. Climate and city come second. Province by province streams are on our provincial nominee programs page.

Work Permits for Americans - CUSMA and Intra-Company Transfers

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, formerly NAFTA) gives US citizens a work route that most other nationalities do not have. Only US and Mexican citizens qualify, and a US green card alone is not enough. The employer does not need a labour market impact assessment (LMIA). The details are on the IRCC page for business people.

CUSMA Professionals. You need a pre-arranged job with a Canadian employer in an occupation from the CUSMA list, plus the education and licences that occupation requires. The list includes accountants, engineers, lawyers, management consultants, registered nurses, pharmacists, scientists and university instructors. You cannot enter as a professional to look for work. The permit is issued for the length of the contract, up to 3 years, and can be extended.

Intra-company transferees. If your US employer has a parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate actually doing business in Canada, it can transfer you. You must have worked for the company for at least 1 year in the last 3 years, in a similar full-time role, as a manager, executive or specialized knowledge worker. The first permit is up to 3 years. The total stay is capped at 5 years for specialized knowledge workers and 7 years for managers and executives.

In both cases the employer submits the job offer through the IRCC Employer Portal and pays the compliance fee. As a visa-exempt traveller, a US citizen can usually apply for the work permit at the border on entry, with the offer of employment number and proof of qualifications. The work permit fee is CAD 155. The officer decides on the spot, so bring every document.

A year of skilled work in Canada then opens the Canadian Experience Class. That is the natural next step from a CUSMA permit to permanent residence.

Studying in Canada as a US Citizen

A study permit lets you live in Canada for the length of your program. US citizens and US permanent residents are among the few who can apply for it at the port of entry, not only online before the trip. The fee is CAD 150.

Two documents are needed before you apply. The first is a letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution. The second, for most programs, is a provincial attestation letter (PAL). Since January 1, 2026, master's and doctoral students at public institutions do not need a PAL. Quebec asks for its own acceptance certificate (CAQ) instead.

Study is a slow route to residence, but a steady one. A Canadian credential adds CRS points, and work after graduation gives Canadian experience. More on the process is on our study permit page.

Family Sponsorship - If Your Partner Is Canadian

If your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident aged 18 or older, they can sponsor you for permanent residence. A Canadian citizen living in the US can sponsor you from there but must show a plan to return to Canada when you become a permanent resident. A permanent resident living outside Canada cannot sponsor.

Government fees for sponsoring a spouse or partner, including the right of permanent residence fee, are CAD 1,260. Processing times depend on whether your partner lives in Canada and whether you are going to Quebec. Documents and steps are on our family sponsorship page.

What Can Stop You - Criminal Records and DUI

This is the issue Americans underestimate most. Canada made penalties for impaired driving tougher on December 18, 2018. Since then a DUI conviction can make you inadmissible for serious criminality, whether it happened in Canada or in the US.

There are two ways around it.

• Rehabilitation - possible when at least 5 years have passed since the end of your sentence, probation included. The fee is CAD 1,231 for serious criminality and CAD 246.25 for ordinary criminality.
• Temporary resident permit - lets you enter for a specific reason while you are still inadmissible. It costs CAD 246.25, and nobody is guaranteed one.

Check your record before you sign a lease or quit your job in the US.

Costs, Health Care and Taxes After the Move

The government fees above are the small part. The real budget is the move itself, housing deposits and the first months without a Canadian income.

Public health insurance is run by each province, and you apply for a provincial health card after you arrive. In some provinces there is a waiting period of up to 3 months before coverage starts. Buy private health insurance for that gap.

On taxes, Canadian tax residence for most newcomers starts on the first day they live in Canada, while the US keeps taxing its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live.

Which Path Fits You

Canada plans to admit 380,000 new permanent residents a year from 2026 to 2028, with economic programs taking almost two thirds of places. Express Entry cut-offs move from round to round, so a plan B matters. For an American with a job offer in a CUSMA occupation, that can be a work permit first and the Canadian Experience Class after a year of work.