Amid immigration cuts, Canada tops the United Kingdom as study-to-immigrate destination

For individuals seeking to study to immigrate, Canada offers a more straightforward path to permanent status than the United Kingdom (UK).

Both countries’ immigration systems have experienced upheavals over the past several years, as many governments around the world have been scaling back on immigration in response to changes in public sentiment.

Even after these changes, post-secondary graduates in Canada can become eligible for Canada’s primary pathway to permanent status in as little as one year after graduating.

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In contrast, under current rules, UK graduates require at least five years before they can become eligible for permanent status—and the UK government has proposed an increase to ten years.

Canada’s more straightforward path to permanent status

In both Canada and the UK, foreigners can be issued permanent immigration status. Permanent status provides a foreigner the legal authorization to live and work in the settlement country indefinitely.

In Canada, this is called permanent residence (PR), while in the UK, it is called indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

Gaining permanent status is never guaranteed, and typically requires a good deal of time and effort for immigrants to both countries.

That said, international student graduates in Canada can pursue a more direct and faster route to permanent status than graduates in the UK.

Canada provides longer post-graduation work status

Both countries typically require international student graduates to gain local work experience in order to qualify for permanent status, so the work authorization they provide to graduates forms an important step on the journey to permanent settlement.

Canada provides clear advantages in the work authorization granted to international student graduates.

International student graduates of Canadian post-secondary programs can be issued a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) valid for up to three years – for graduates of programs of at least two years in length, as well as for graduates of one year master’s programs.

In contrast, in the UK, graduates can be issued a graduate visa for three years only if they graduated from a PhD program. UK bachelor’s and master’s graduates who apply for their graduate visas in 2026 can be issued graduate visas for a maximum of only two years, and those who apply on or after January 1, 2027 can get a graduate visa for a maximum of 18 months only.

International students who are applying to bachelor’s or master’s programs in 2026 can expect that after they graduate, Canada will provide them with twice the length of work authorization that they’d receive as a graduate in the UK.

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Canadian post-graduation work authorization works toward permanent status, unlike the UK’s

Gaining local work experience after graduation is typically necessary to qualify for most pathways to permanent status in both countries.

But in the UK, the time an international student graduate spends working on a graduate visa (the work visa they receive upon graduation) does not count toward the time spent in the UK to satisfy the residency requirement needed to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR).

To start building time to qualify for ILR, an international student graduate must transition from the graduate visa to another form of work status, typically the skilled worker visa, which requires a certificate of sponsorship from a government-approved employer for a job on the list of eligible occupations, along with meeting the minimum salary for their occupation.

Only after transitioning to a qualifying status such as that granted by the skilled worker visa can the graduate begin accumulating time toward the UK residency requirement for ILR.

In Canada, on the other hand, the time that graduates spend working on a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) immediately counts toward eligibility for Canadian permanent residence (PR) programs.

International student graduates in Canada can become eligible for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Canada’s main pathway to PR, in as little as one year after graduating by working in any skilled job (*TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3) for any Canadian employer.

*Under the National Occupation Classification (NOC), the Canadian federal government’s system for categorizing occupations, each job is assigned a TEER level between 0 and 5 on the basis of its required training, education, experience, and responsibilities, with TEER 0 being the highest skilled and TEER 5 the lowest skilled. Under this system, jobs in TEERs 0 – 3 are considered “skilled” occupations.

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Example – Rachel immigrates to the UK

At the age of 22, Rachel decides she wants to settle in the UK, and pursue a study-to-immigrate route.

She applies to master’s programs in history at several UK universities, receives an acceptance from the University of Liverpool, and obtains a student visa from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).

After a year, she completes her master’s program, and applies for and obtains a graduate visa, which is issued for a validity period of 18 months.*

On her graduate visa, Rachel gets a job as an IT project manager for a UK financial services firm, at an annual salary of £60,000.

After 12 months, she asks her employer, who is listed on the government’s “Register of Worker and Temporary Worker licensed sponsors,” to sponsor her for a skilled worker visa for the same role.**

She obtains the skilled worker visa and works in the same role for five years.

After having accumulated five years of work in the UK on a skilled worker visa, Rachel applies for indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Her application is processed in six months, and she receives ILR at age 30, about seven and a half years after having moved to the UK.

If the UK government moves forward in extending the residency requirement to 10 years, as has been proposed, Rachel would not be able to qualify for ILR until age 35—twelve and a half years after moving to the UK.

*This is the maximum duration for graduate visas for master’s graduates for applications submitted on or after January 1, 2027. Applications submitted before then are eligible for up to two years.

**Her role qualifies for this visa: IT project managers (***SOC 2131) falls under the “Higher Skilled” category, so it is eligible without needing to appear on the government’s immigration salary list or temporary shortage list. Her annual salary also exceeds the annual minimum salary of £58,200 for this role.

***The Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) is the UK government's official system for categorizing occupations.

Example – Rowan immigrates to Canada

At age 22, Rowan decides to pursue Canadian permanent residence via the study-to-immigrate route.

After applying to several universities for master’s programs in English, he accepts an offer from McMaster University.

Rowan then applies for and receives a study permit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

After a year, Rowan completes his program, and applies for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP), which is issued to him with a validity period of three years.

On his PGWP, Rowan accepts a job working as an underwriter for a Canadian insurance company.

After a year of working as an underwriter, Rowan qualifies for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) immigration program.

He completes a language test and enters the Express Entry pool, and is assigned a score of 539 under the Comprehensive Ranking System.

A month later, Rowan receives an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence through an Express Entry draw, and responds with a complete application for permanent residence.

Rowan’s application is successful and he receives his confirmation of permanent residence (COPR) five months later.

Rowan receives Canadian permanent residence at age 25, about two and a half years after having moved to Canada as a student.

Conclusion

There is no right or wrong way to select a study-to-immigrate destination.

Where someone wishes to settle is a personal choice they must make by weighing the pros and cons of each destination against their own values.

For study-to-immigrate hopefuls whose primary desire is for a smoother and likely quicker transition from student to permanent status, Canada stands out as the preferred destination.

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