Moving to Canada from Brazil: eTA, Study, Work and PR Routes

Brazilians often start in Canada as students, including at language schools and colleges, and many build a path to permanent residence through Canadian work experience or French.

Courses of 6 months or less, such as short English or French programs, can be taken as a visitor without a study permit, but they don't give you work rights. Brazil is not an International Experience Canada (IEC) partner.

Brazil is on IRCC's visa-required list, but it is also one of the countries whose citizens can sometimes get an eTA instead of a visa. You qualify for the CAD $7 eTA only if you are flying to Canada and you either held a Canadian visitor visa in the last 10 years or hold a valid US nonimmigrant visa. Otherwise, or if you arrive by land or sea, you need a visitor visa (CAD $100 plus CAD $85 biometrics, as of September 2026).

If IRCC approves a study or work permit for you, it issues the visa or eTA you need at the same time.

Where to give biometrics. Most applicants aged 14 to 79 give fingerprints and a photo at a visa application center (VAC). IRCC lists VACs in Brazil in Brasília, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. If you live in another country, you can use any VAC. See our biometrics guide.

Processing times depend on the country you apply from and change every week. Check the processing times tool before you plan a move date.

Brazilian engineers, IT specialists, and other graduates can qualify for Express Entry directly from Brazil if they have strong language results. Many Brazilians take both an English and a French test, because French adds up to 50 CRS points and opens French category draws.

Express Entry covers three programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. From abroad, most people use FSW: at least 1 year of continuous skilled work (TEER 0 to 3) in the last 10 years, CLB 7 in English or French, an educational credential assessment for foreign degrees, 67 points on the FSW grid, and settlement funds (CAD $15,263 for one person in IRCC's current proof of funds table). Candidates are ranked by the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), and job offers stopped adding CRS points on March 25, 2025. Check your score with the CRS calculator.

2026 categories and how they fit:

Between July and mid-September 2026, French draws invited 5,000 candidates each with cutoffs of 382 to 420, a health care draw cut off at 475, and CEC draws at 516 to 523. There were no STEM, education, or trades draws in that period. See 2026 Express Entry categories and the draw tracker.

French is one of the strongest advantages a Brazilian applicant can build:

• Quebec selects its own immigrants. Its main worker program, the PSTQ, invites candidates from the Arrima portal, and most programs need oral French at level 7 (French requirements). The PEQ reopened on July 2, 2026 for people who already studied or worked in Quebec; its first intake closes October 31, 2026.
• Francophone Mobility is an LMIA-exempt work permit for French speakers with NCLC 5 in speaking and listening and a job offer anywhere outside Quebec.
• Francophone Community Immigration Pilot offers permanent residence to French speakers (NCLC 5) with a job offer in one of six communities in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia.
• Express Entry French category draws need NCLC 7 in all four skills and had the largest invitation rounds of 2026.

Outside Quebec, most provincial programs in 2026, such as those in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, need a job offer or local experience.

Brazil sends many students to Canada, from short language courses to college and university programs. Language school courses of 6 months or less don't lead to a PGWP, so if your goal is to stay, choose an eligible college or university program.

Study permits in 2026. Canada caps new study permit applications: in 2026 IRCC accepts about 309,670 applications that need a provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL/TAL). Most college and bachelor's students need one; master's and doctoral students at public institutions don't. You must show tuition plus living funds (CAD $23,448 for one person outside Quebec, for applications from September 1, 2026). See the study permit page and the 2026 cap. The fast-track Student Direct Stream that many applicants from this country used ended on November 8, 2024, so everyone now applies through the regular process.

After graduating, a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) needs CLB 7 for university graduates or CLB 5 for college graduates, and non-degree programs must be in an eligible field. Canadian study and work can add CRS points and lead to the Canadian Experience Class.

Work permits. Most foreign workers need a job offer and a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from the employer; see LMIA work permits. Low-wage LMIAs are refused in 26 of 41 metro areas for July 10 to October 8, 2026 (details). Tech employers can use the Global Talent Stream, and multinationals can use an intra-company transfer.

Working holiday: Brazil is not an International Experience Canada (IEC) partner country, so Brazilian citizens can't get an IEC working holiday permit.

If your spouse or partner is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, they can sponsor you through spousal sponsorship, which is open in 2026 and usually has no minimum income rule. Parents can also sponsor dependent children. The Parents and Grandparents Program stopped taking new interest to sponsor forms on July 15, 2026, but the Super Visa still lets parents and grandparents visit for long periods.

Language tests. IRCC accepts five tests for permanent residence: IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General, and PTE Core for English, and TEF Canada and TCF Canada for French. IELTS Academic and PTE Academic don't count for Express Entry. Results are valid for 2 years. In Brazil, IELTS General Training and PTE Core are available in major cities. CELPIP-General is offered in only a few countries outside Canada, so check celpip.ca. TEF Canada and TCF Canada are offered at approved French-language centers. Convert your scores with the CLB converter and read the language tests guide.

Credential assessment. If you studied outside Canada, you need an educational credential assessment (ECA) from an IRCC-designated organization, such as World Education Services (WES), for FSW eligibility and CRS points. Doctors use the Medical Council of Canada and pharmacists use the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada. An ECA is valid for 5 years.

Police certificate. IRCC asks for a police certificate from each country where you spent 6 months or more in a row since age 18, usually after you apply for permanent residence. Brazil's police certificate for IRCC is the Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais from the Brazilian Federal Police (Polícia Federal). Most applicants can request it online on the Federal Police website; if you don't have the Brazilian ID numbers it needs, apply in person at a Federal Police office. State certificates are no longer accepted. Full details: IRCC's police certificate instructions for Brazil. See our police certificates guide.

You will also need an immigration medical exam with an IRCC panel physician when IRCC asks for it.

Brazilian Canadians live mostly in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Montreal in Quebec, Metro Vancouver in British Columbia, and Calgary in Alberta. Toronto also has a long-established Portuguese-speaking community, and Brazilian churches, businesses, and community groups help newcomers settle.