Frequently Asked Questions

Planning for Canada offers services at no cost to all economic and family class immigrants who have been already selected by the Government of Canada. Our services are “pre-arrival”, meaning available to you before you arrive in Canada.

Planning for Canada will help you prepare for your move, settlement and employment in Canada through a three-step program:

• Step 1: A Group Orientation (GO) session, to provide you with key information on living and working in Canada;
• Step 2: A Personalized Planning Session (PPS) to discuss your main settlement and employment needs and assets. By the end of this session, you will have a personalized Action Plan based on your province of destination and intended occupation;
• Step 3: Connections to our in-Canada advisors who will provide tailored pre-arrival settlement and career support based on your destination and occupation.

You are eligible for Planning for Canada if you have applied for immigration to any part of Canada (all provinces and territories) as a principal applicant, spouse or adult dependant and have received at least one of the following documents:

• IRCC invitation to obtain pre-arrival services
• Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) letter/document
• Passport request letter that indicates Permanent Resident visa issuance
• IRCC request that an applicant for permanent residence complete a medical examination
• Single Entry Permanent Resident Visa
• Permanent Resident Visa pick up notification letter
• Offer of Employment to a Foreign National (Atlantic Immigration Pilot)

You must submit one of these documents during registration as proof of eligibility.

Sessions are offered in person in cities across India (New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Chennai and Hyderabad) and the Philippines (Manila, Cebu and in other cities depending on demand), and online anywhere in the world through our Online Global Team. All sessions, whether in-person or online, are delivered in real-time. The only requirements to access online sessions are a strong Internet connection and an Internet enabled device.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Planning for Canada has moved all in-person sessions to online until further notice.

Services are offered in English in India and the Philippines and in English and French online. Additional local languages are also available on demand.

As Planning for Canada is funded by the Government of Canada, our services are free of charge to eligible clients.

Planning for Canada delivers regular weekly sessions and offers different options in terms of format, dates and times. The list of possible options is available at registration.

Please fill out the online registration form.

During registration, you will be prompted to select a Group Orientation (GO) session, as well as a Personalized Planning Session (PPS), from a list of possible options and dates. Once you have completed your registration, you will receive an email confirming the date of your chosen sessions.  We will contact you closer to the session dates with a reminder and with details on how to access the GO and PPS.

No, Planning for Canada is a pre-arrival program only. There are many organizations in Canada who can assist you upon arrival. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has compiled a list of free newcomer services available in your city / town of destination.

Yes, each person who would like to receive our services must register separately. Spouses/partners and adult dependants can attend the GO session together or separately on different dates. Each person who registers for Planning for Canada will be offered individual Personalized Planning Sessions (PPS) to better assess their specific needs.

No, Planning for Canada does not provide these services. Some helpful resources by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada are available below:

• Coming to Canada
• Immigration and Citizenship Canada
• Express Entry

The Group Orientation, or GO for short, presents an overview of all aspects of living and working in Canada. The GO helps you set realistic expectations and provides accurate information to prepare you for a successful economic and social integration in Canada.

The in-person GO lasts 7 hours while the online version has two options:

1. A shorter 4-hour version
2. A longer version split over two days in two 3.5-hour sessions

All versions of the GO cover the same content, just in varying amount of detail.

The GO will help you define strategies to:

• overcome common challenges;
• explore possible destinations according to your career goals and family needs;
• identify settlement concerns and understand how to access relevant resources and support;
• prepare for the Canadian job market and increase your employability;
• identify tools and resources that meet your specific needs to get prepared before arriving in Canada.

The online GO is delivered using a virtual delivery platform. The only requirements to access online sessions are a strong Internet connection and an Internet enabled device. Planning for Canada facilitators deliver the curriculum in real-time to a virtual room of participants. You will have the opportunity to interact with one another using the chat function. This interaction further enhances your learning and the networking potential of the session.

Our team will contact you after registration and provide you with further instructions for joining the session closer to the GO date.

Under circumstances where you are unable to attend a scheduled session, please contact the PfC regional office email address you were provided after registration. Please do not register a second time for services.

After the GO, each client takes part in an individualized one-on-one session with a Planning for Canada facilitator. The PPS is a 60-minute session in which you work with a facilitator to develop a personalized Action Plan (AP) tailored to your specific settlement and employment needs and intended destination in Canada.

During the PPS, you will be connected to expert in-Canada advisors based on your destination of choice and professional career goals. These advisors provide free pre-arrival guidance to help you research and implement aspects of your Action Plan (AP). In addition to answering specific questions and offering additional support, they can connect you with other post-arrival organizations in your city/town of destination.

Planning for Canada is a three-step program. In order to participate in the PPS and receive connections to in-Canada advisors, you must attend the GO first.

Planning for Canada’s in-Canada advisors will:

• respond to additional settlement questions regarding housing, schooling, education, language training, finances and more in your province and city of destination;
• further assess your employment needs and provide additional resources and options, including more detailed labor market information in the province of destination and employer connections, as relevant;
• offer guidance for regulated occupations, including licensing process and referrals to regulatory bodies and/or exploring alternate career options;
• help you enroll in online bridging and mentoring programs, if available;
• provide e-learning tools/modules to help you build or enhance your existing skills;
• provide other referrals within your province and city of destination.

If you are having trouble filling out your registration form, please contact us at: info@planningforcanada.ca.

A PfC regional office representative will contact you within five to ten days of your session dates to confirm the details of your Group Orientation (GO) session and Personalized Planning Session (PPS).

After registration, you should have received an email confirming your registration, a PfC client number and an email address to contact the PfC regional office assigned to your file for further enquiries. Please directly contact the regional office should you have any questions about your sessions.

Temporary foreign workers and international students are not eligible for Planning for Canada. Our pre-arrival services are available to all economic and family class immigrants selected by the Government of Canada, including all provinces and territories, and who will be arriving as permanent residents.

Atlantic Immigration Pilot program applicants are also eligible for Planning for Canada services.

The Atlantic Immigration Pilot is a program for skilled foreign workers who want to work and live in one of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces. This program is designed to help employers in the Atlantic region (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador) hire qualified candidates for jobs they have been unable to fill locally. For more information, please consult the AIP program.

If you have not landed in Canada and have received a completed job offer from a designated employer in one of the Atlantic provinces, you are eligible for our pre-arrival services. To register for Planning for Canada under the AIP program, please consult the following link.

During registration, you will be asked to select an upcoming Group Orientation (GO) session and a Personalized Planning Session (PPS). At the end of the PPS, which takes place after the GO, you, your spouse and your adult dependent will receive individual Action Plans (AP). The AP is the settlement plan that you will need to send to your employer as proof that you and your family’s settlement needs have been assessed.

Your UCI is an 8- or 10-digit reference number that appears on all correspondence you receive from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. It looks like this: 0000-0000 or 00-0000-0000. Each person in your family has a UCI. You can find examples of where to find these immigration numbers in the Government of Canada’s website.

Planning for Canada does not serve refugees. However, other programs offer pre-arrival services for refugees. For more information, please visit the Government of Canada’s website.

Yes, Connexions Francophones is a free pre-arrival service offered to francophone immigrants selected by the Government of Canada who are planning to settle in a province other than Quebec. To learn more about this program and to register, please visit their website.

We are sorry to hear that we were unable to answer your question. Feel free to contact us at: info@planningforcanada.ca.