June 09, 2021
Nigerians are flocking to Canada in record numbers. According to the 2020 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, Nigeria was the fourth most popular source country for permanent residents admitted to Canada in 2019. The number of Nigerian immigrants has tripled over the last five years, growing from 4,000 in 2015 to 12,000 in 2019.
There are several factors which make Canada an attractive destination for Nigerian immigrants, such as:
- Political stability
- Education opportunities for children
- Business opportunities in a young and thriving economy
- Quality of life (universal healthcare, low crime rate, clean environment)
There are a host of opportunities that are available to Nigerian business people who are interested in immigrating to Canada, as well as several immigration pathways we can recommend.
Canadian business immigration programs for Nigerians
Our top recommendation is Canada’s Start-Up Visa Program (SUV). If you are an entrepreneur or a Top manager with an innovative business idea and the skills to bring it to life, you are an excellent candidate for this program. When submitting an application, you’ll also want to demonstrate that your business has the potential to benefit the Canadian economy by creating jobs for Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada, succeeding in Canada, and being able to compete on a global scale.
For example, the Nigerian economy is dominated by crude oil. If you have an innovative solution for the crude oil industry, you can bring your concept to Canada and start a business with the support of a designated Canadian partner such as a venture capitalist, angel investor, or business incubator.
Canada is the fourth-largest producer and third-largest exporter of oil in the world, which would make your business idea extremely beneficial to the Canadian economy.
Currently, the Start-Up Visa application (SUV) is the only Canadian business immigration program that provides a direct pathway to Canadian permanent residency. Candidates who apply through Canada’s SUV program typically obtain permanent residency within 16 months, whereas candidates applying through other business immigration programs wait an average of 28 months to obtain Canadian permanent residency.
Another advantage of this program is that it allows you to establish yourself and your business anywhere in Canada (except for Quebec).
Other options you may be interested to explore are the Labour Market Impact Assessment (Owner/Operator), the Intra-Company Transferee, and various provincial nominee programs (PNP). However, these are temporary residency programs leading to work permits which grant you permission to stay in Canada temporarily and do not provide a direct pathway to Canadian permanent residence.
These options do allow you to obtain valuable Canadian work experience, which would then make you eligible to apply for permanent residency through a secondary immigration program, such as Express Entry.
