There are six types of immigration by which a person foreign to Canada can take up legal permanent residence there. These are 1) skilled worker class immigration, 2) business class immigration, 3) provincial nomination, 4) family class immigration, 5) international adoption, and 6) Quebec-selected immigration.

Although Canada has had immigration programs in place since 1867, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) was established in 1994 to link immigration services with citizenship registration. According to a report produced by CIC, just over 200,000 immigrants came to Canada in 2002, as well as roughly 230,000 refugees.