Immigration status overview

There are three main categories of people in Canada: citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents. A temporary resident is a foreign national who is legally allowed to enter and remain in Canada for temporary purposes.

As a temporary resident, your immigration status might be one of the following:

• visitor 
• student
• worker

Depending on what you want to do while in Canada, you would need to apply for the appropriate temporary resident status document with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Visit our Immigration documents page for more information on the process for students.