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Main article: Canadian Immigration and Refugee Law

In 2010, Canada accepted 280,681 immigrants (permanent and temporary) of which 186,913 (67%) were Economic immigrants; 60,220 (22%) were Family class; 24,696 (9%) were Refugees; and 8,845 (2%) were Other. Some 60,000 come to Canada each year under the International Experience Canada initiative, which provides Working Holiday, internship, and study visas.

Under Canadian nationality law an immigrant can apply for citizenship after living in Canada for 1095 days (3 years) in any 5-year period provided that they lived in Canada as a permanent resident for at least two of those years.

See also: Temporary Labour Migration

As of May 1, 2014, the Federal Skilled Worker Class opened once again accepting 25,000 applicants with intake caps at 1,000 per category. A New Economic Action Plan 2015 took effect in January 2015 in which the skilled worker program will be more of an employer based program. The current list of accepted occupations for 2014 includes many occupations such as senior managers, accountants, physicians and medical professionals, professionals in marketing and advertising, real estate professionals and many more. The changes in 2015 moved permanent residency in Canada away from the 'first come, first served' model, and towards a new structure that took on permanent residents based on Canada's economic need. The new system is called "Express Entry".

Effective August 2, 2016, all home buyers (including immigrants and refugees) who are not Canadian citizens nor have landed immigrant status are obliged to pay a 15% Property Transfer Tax when purchasing residential property in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Copied from Immigration to Canada

Claiming Asylum in Canada
A person who is seeking asylum in Canada must be first considered eligible by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada(IRB). The IRB classifies eligible refugees into two separate categories: Someone who is outside and unable to return to their home country due to a fear of persecution based on several factors including race, religion, and political opinion. Claims for asylum under this category are usually made at a point of entry into Canada. Those claiming to be a person in need of protection must be unable to return to their home country safely because they would be subjected to a danger of torture, risk for their life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment.
 * Convention Refugees:
 * A person in need of protection:

There are many instances that make a persons claim ineligible for referral to the IRB, notably those who seek entry into Canada through the U.S, were the Canada-U. S Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is then applied. The STCA is responsible for limiting refugee eligibility to enter Canada and the rejection of several hundred claims a year since its implementation. The Canadian Border Services Agency(CBSA) reported a drop in the number of claims from 6,000-14,000 before its implementation to an average of 4,000 claims per year after its implementation. Asylum claimants have been subjected to “indirect-refoulment”, a consequence of a persons claim in Canada being refused under the STCA, subjecting them to deportation to the destination in which the person was originally seeking asylum from, due to more conservative immigration and refugee policies in the U.S.

Refugees in Detention
Asylum seekers arriving at a point of entry on the Canadian border have been subject to incarceration and detention, due to the passing of Bill C-31 in December, 2012. Often, claimants are subject to detention for failing to provide insufficient identification documents, which is in violation with the United Nations Refugee Convention, to which Canada is a signatory. In 2010-2011, Canada detained 8,838 people, of which 4,151 of them were asylum seekers or rejected refugee claimants. There is to requirement to the maximum time limit spent in detention upon being released, a situation which has been subject to criticism held in contrast to areas in Europe: Ireland (30 days), France (32 days), Spain (40 days), and Italy (60 days).