Moving to Canada from India: Express Entry, Study Permits and Documents

Most Indians who settle in Canada use one of the routes below. The right one depends on your age, education, English or French scores, work experience, and budget.

Some older routes are no longer available. The Start-Up Visa closed to new applications on December 31, 2025, and the Self-Employed Persons Program is paused. For the big picture, see how Canadian immigration works.

India is on IRCC's list of visa-required countries (entry requirements page updated July 31, 2026). You need a visitor visa, officially a temporary resident visa (TRV), to travel to Canada, and you can't use an eTA instead. The visa costs CAD $100 plus CAD $85 for biometrics, as of September 2026.

If IRCC approves a study permit or work permit for you, it issues the visa at the same time, so you don't file a separate visa application.

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 India in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Pune. If you live in another country, you can use any VAC. See our biometrics guide.

VACs collect biometrics and documents; they don't make decisions and can't speed up a file. Anyone who says they can buy you faster processing or a guaranteed visa is not telling the truth. See our scam protection 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.

Express Entry is the most common permanent residence route for skilled Indians, especially software and civil engineers, accountants, and health workers. Because the pool has many Indian candidates with similar profiles, small gains matter: a higher English band, a second credential, or a French test can move you ahead.

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.

Many Indians qualify later through the Canadian Experience Class after studying or working in Canada. A provincial nomination adds 600 CRS points; compare the two in Express Entry vs PNP.

• Ontario has the largest 2026 nomination allocation (14,119), but all legacy OINP streams were repealed in June 2026. The new Ontario Workforce Priority Stream needs a job offer, except for self-employed physicians.
• British Columbia cut its graduate, tech, and entry-level streams in April 2026. It now focuses on health care, child care, education, and construction workers with BC job offers.
• Alberta and Saskatchewan mostly select people who already work in the province or have a job offer in a priority sector.
• Manitoba favors candidates with a Manitoba connection, such as family, work, or study there.
• Atlantic Canada: the Atlantic Immigration Program (about 6,500 spots in 2026) needs a job offer from a designated employer in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Smaller towns: the Rural Community Immigration Pilot runs in 14 communities, each with its own employer list.

Quebec runs its own selection system and requires French for almost every program.

India has been one of the largest sources of international students in Canada. Since 2024, the cap, the attestation letter rule, tighter PGWP rules, and higher funds requirements have reduced the number of new permits. Choose your school and program carefully, confirm the program leads to a PGWP before you pay a deposit, and avoid agents who promise guaranteed visas.

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. Spouses of workers and students can get an open work permit only in limited cases, such as a worker in a TEER 0 or 1 job or a student in a master's program of 16 months or more; see spousal open work permits.

Working holiday: India is not an International Experience Canada (IEC) partner country, so Indian 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.

Family ties help in other ways too. A brother or sister in Canada who is a citizen or PR adds 15 CRS points, and some provincial streams give weight to relatives living in the province.

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 India, IELTS General Training and PTE Core are widely available, and CELPIP-General is offered at test centers in several Indian cities. TEF Canada and TCF Canada are offered at a smaller number of approved French-language centers, so check dates early. 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. For Indian degrees, WES usually needs your university to send transcripts directly, so start several months before you plan to enter the Express Entry pool.

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. In India you get a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) from the passport office or your local district police. If you live abroad, apply through an Indian embassy or consulate, or a BLS International center. IRCC does not accept a "character certificate" in place of a PCC. Full details: IRCC's police certificate instructions for India. See our police certificates guide.

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

Indian Canadians live in every province, but the biggest communities are in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario (especially Brampton, Mississauga, and Toronto), Metro Vancouver in British Columbia (especially Surrey), and Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta. Winnipeg, Montreal, and Ottawa also have large communities. Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and other language groups run associations, places of worship, and newcomer programs. IRCC-funded settlement agencies offer free help with jobs, housing, and language classes once you arrive.