How could Katy Perry join Justin Trudeau in Canada?

If Katy Perry wanted to relocate to Canada to join Justin Trudeau, she would need to acquire permanent immigration status.

If Perry were one of the millions of Americans with Canadian ancestry, she could claim Canadian citizenship by descent, and apply for proof of Canadian citizenship—by far the easiest, most straightforward path to acquire permanent status in Canada.

But Perry doesn’t have Canadian ancestry, according to research conducted by CIC News. She would need to pursue Canadian permanent residency (PR) in the same way as any other foreign national, and she would need to meet Canada’s admissibility requirements.

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Let’s look at the options she would have.

In pursuing Canadian PR, Perry would first need to decide whether she planned to settle in Quebec, or outside Quebec, as Quebec manages its own immigration system.

Let’s assume Perry decides to settle outside Quebec.

Since Perry wouldn’t qualify as a refugee, she’d need to pursue PR through one of two routes: either through economic immigration, or through family reunification.

Pathway to PR: Economic immigration

Perry would have poor prospects of achieving PR as an economic immigrant.

If she were to pursue PR through Express Entry, Canada’s flagship system for managing immigration applications, *she’d have little hope of receiving an invitation to apply for PR.

According to research by CIC News, Perry’s score under Canada’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) would be only 255, putting her the bottom 4% of candidates.

In recent draws, invitations have been going out only to candidates with scores in the top 5% range, at cut-off scores of between 508 and 534.

Like many foreign nationals with low CRS scores, Perry’s best shot at PR through economic immigration would be to pursue a nomination through Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), if she qualifies for any PNP streams in a province or territory she’d like to settle in.

For example, Ontario has announced intentions to launch an “exceptional talent” stream as part of an upcoming overhaul of its PNP, for which successful musicians could have the potential to qualify.

If Perry were to qualify for Ontario’s exceptional talent stream once its released, she would need to follow the consideration process established by the province.

If Perry were to receive a nomination from a PNP, she would subsequently apply to the federal government for PR.

Obtaining a provincial nomination requires demonstrating an intent to reside in that province—for example, through residential, family, or employment connections.

In Perry case, she might make mention of Trudeau’s rented residence in Ottawa to help demonstrate her intent to reside in Ontario.

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams

Pathway to PR: Spousal sponsorship

Perry’s best prospects at PR would likely be through spousal sponsorship.

Unlike economic immigration pathways, which often require competing against other candidates, spousal sponsorship is a straight path to PR.

As a Canadian citizen, Trudeau has the ability to sponsor a spouse for PR, provided he can show the ability to financially support his spouse, and is not ineligible to be a sponsor.

If he and Perry were to get legally married, Trudeau could likely sponsor her.

Trudeau could also sponsor Perry if the two were to count as common-law spouses under Canadian law.

To qualify as common-law, the couple would need to have been continuously cohabitating for at least 12 months.

If proceeding with a spousal sponsorship application, they would need to decide whether to submit an application through the Family Class (outside Canada sponsorship) or the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class (in-Canada sponsorship).

If Perry and Trudeau plan to continue to travel back and forth between Canada and the US, Perry would need to apply under the Family Class category, which allows for both the sponsor and their spouse to travel in and out of Canada while the application is being processed.

As of March 9, the wait time for in-Canada applications (outside Quebec) is 21 months, while outside-Canada applications have a wait time of 15 months.

See a full breakdown of both categories here.

Sponsor your spouse or common-law partner for Canadian immigration

Temporary resident intent and dual intent

Perry could face trouble entering Canada while her PR application is being processed.

Until she receives her PR visa, Perry would need to seek entry to Canada as a visitor, which requires demonstrating temporary resident intent—meaning that she plans to leave Canada at the end of the authorized period of her stay.

When a foreign national travels into Canada to visit their spouse, an officer may question whether the foreign national truly plans to return to their home country.

Perry would need to demonstrate to the officer dual intent—that she simultaneously holds both the intention to settle in Canada as a PR, and the intention to leave Canada at the end of her authorized period of stay as a temporary resident.

She could demonstrate her temporary resident intent through ties to the US, such residential addresses and family members.

If the officer is not convinced of Perry’s genuine temporary resident intent, they would deny her entry.

*Note: Under Express Entry, Perry’s CRS score of 255 would break down as such:

• Age (41): 39 points.
• Education (high school diploma): 30 points.
• Language (CLB 12): 136 points.
• Canadian work experience: 0 points.
• Skill transferability: Foreign work experience (3+ years) + language (CLB 12): 50 points.
• Additional points: 0 points.

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