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• Over 42,000 Canadians of Nigerian descent call Canada home, and this number continues to grow.
• Nigerians are Canada’s fourth largest source country of immigrants.

In 2021, over 15,000 Nigerians were granted permanent residency in Canada.

Canada is a popular destination choice for Nigerians because of the various economic opportunities and sectors the country offers to Nigerian professionals, such as the oil and gas sector, the informational and communication technology sector, the health sector and other science and engineering related fields. Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that most Nigerians come to Canada as skilled workers under the economic class.

Nigerians are usually well qualified for Canadian immigration programs due to reasons such as high English proficiency, education level and work experience. Two popular options for Nigerians to immigrate to Canada are the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Provincial Nominee Program.

Federal Skilled Worker Program

The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) may be a good option for you if you are an overseas Nigerian immigration candidate. The FSWP allows candidates with work experience and no connection to Canada or job offer to apply for permanent residence.

In order to be eligible for the FSWP, candidates must be able to use their foreign work experience, education, language skills and other human capital factors to become established in Canada. In particular, candidates must meet the following requirements:

• One year of continuous full-time or equivalent paid work experience in the past 10 years in a skilled occupation classified under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill level 0, A or B;
• Validated language ability equivalent to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in English or French across all abilities (reading, writing, listening, and speaking); and
• Canadian educational credential (certificate, diploma, or degree) or foreign credential and Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report.
• Score at least 67 points on IRCC’s six immigration selection factors.
• Prove that you have enough money for you and your family to settle in Canada.

The FSWP is one of three programs managed under Express Entry, which is the Canadian governments application management system. Once you know you are eligible for the FSWP, you may upload your Express Entry Profile onto Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) website.

Candidates will then receive a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on factors such as age, education, work experience, language ability and more. Every two weeks, IRCC sends out invitations to apply for permanent residency for the highest scoring candidates in the pool.

By 2024, the target is to admit 110,000 permanent residents through Express Entry. Therefore, Express Entry may be the most attractive and fastest option for economic class candidates to be granted Canadian permanent residency.

Provincial Nominee Program

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is another great option for Nigerian immigration candidates. The majority of the Canadian provinces and territories administer the PNP, which allows each province and territory to design their own immigration pathways based on their own economic and demographic needs. Through the PNP, provinces and territories nominate skilled worker candidates for immigration to their respective jurisdictions.

Nigerian immigration candidates may be able to apply to come to Canada directly through a PNP, provided they meet the eligibility criteria. They may also enter the Express Entry pool and be invited to apply for nomination by a province that will select candidates from the federal pool. If they are nominated through Express Entry, they will receive an additional 600 CRS points, which means they are effectively guaranteed to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence in an upcoming Express Entry draw.

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