Moving to Toronto as a Brit: the visa and residence routes that actually work

Getting into Canada is easy on a British passport; staying and working there needs a permit, and the right one depends on your age, your job and who you love.

The short version

• Visiting is simple. Brits flying in need an eTA, Canada's online travel permit, which costs CAD 7 (about £3.70), and can normally stay up to six months, but can't work [1][2].
• Under 36? The working holiday is the obvious door. International Experience Canada (IEC) lets UK citizens aged 18 to 35 work in Canada for up to 24 months on a first permit [3][4].
• Permanent residence usually goes through Express Entry, a points-based pool, sometimes boosted by a nomination from Ontario [5].
• Family and study are the other real routes. There's no retirement visa and no dedicated digital nomad visa.
• Canada doesn't make you choose. It recognises dual citizenship, so you can keep your British passport if you become Canadian later [6].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = CAD 1.8858).

Visiting first: the eTA and the six-month rule

Plenty of Brits do a recce before committing, and Toronto in October is a very different proposition from Toronto in February.

If you fly in on a British passport you need an eTA before you board. It's applied for online, costs CAD 7, and is linked electronically to your passport [2]. Dual British–Canadian citizens don't use one; they have to travel on a Canadian passport [2]. Arriving overland from the US doesn't need an eTA, but you still need a valid passport [1].

When we checked the FCDO travel advice on 7 November 2026 (page updated 30 October 2026), it said British visitors don't need a visa for short visits, normally up to six months, and that border officers may ask for a return or onward ticket and proof of funds [1]. If you want to stay longer than six months as a visitor, the FCDO's "Living in Canada" guide says you need to apply for a visitor record [6]. A visitor can't take a job with a Canadian employer, so the eTA is for scouting neighbourhoods, not starting work.

The routes that let you live in Toronto

International Experience Canada (the working holiday)

This is how most young Brits end up in Toronto. The UK has three IEC categories: Working Holiday, Young Professionals and International Co-op (Internship) [3].

For UK citizens, IEC is open to people aged 18 to 35 inclusive. You can take part twice: up to 24 months the first time and up to 12 months the second [4]. The Working Holiday gives you an open work permit, so you can work for almost any employer, change jobs and move cities. Young Professionals needs a job offer in your field, and Co-op is for students doing an internship.

It works on invitations, not a first-come queue. You create a profile, go into the pool, and wait for an invitation to apply. For the 2026 season the UK had several thousand Working Holiday places and a few hundred Young Professionals places, and IRCC posts each season's quota on its rounds of invitations page [4]. The fees for the participation charge, open work permit and biometrics come to roughly CAD 370 (about £196), and you'll need to show at least CAD 2,500 (about £1,326) in savings plus enough for a ticket home, and health insurance for your whole stay when you arrive [3][4]. Check the current figures on the IRCC site before you apply, because they're reset each season.

Don't skimp on that insurance. Canada has no reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK [6], and the GHIC is no use there. Our guide to OHIP and Ontario health cover explains when the public system takes over. For the detail on the pools and invitations, see Canada's working holiday (IEC) for Brits.

Express Entry: the main road to permanent residence

Express Entry isn't a visa in itself. It's the online system Canada uses to manage three economic immigration routes: the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) [5].

It runs in four steps [5]:

1. Check you're eligible and get your documents together, typically an English test result, an educational credential assessment for your UK qualifications, and police certificates.
2. Create a profile. You're given a score under the Comprehensive Ranking System, based on age, education, language, work experience and more.
3. Wait for an invitation. IRCC holds regular draws and invites the highest-scoring candidates, including category-based draws for particular jobs.
4. Apply for permanent residence once invited, with medicals and the full paperwork.

Native English speakers start with an advantage on language, and a year of skilled work in Canada (for example on an IEC permit) can make a big difference to your score. That's why so many Brits treat the working holiday as stage one and Express Entry as stage two. Our guide to Express Entry for Brits goes through the points.

Ontario's own route

Provinces can nominate people they want, and a provincial nomination adds a large boost to an Express Entry score. Ontario's scheme is the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, with streams for people with Ontario job offers and for certain skilled workers already in the Express Entry pool. Its streams open and close through the year, so check the Ontario government's site rather than relying on last year's forum posts.

Family, study and the routes that don't exist

• Partners: a Canadian citizen or permanent resident can sponsor a spouse, common-law partner (you've lived together for at least a year) or conjugal partner. It's a slower process with a lot of evidence about your relationship, but it doesn't involve points.
• Study: you'll need an acceptance letter from a designated college or university and, in most cases, a provincial attestation letter, as Canada now caps study permits. Toronto has plenty of choice, from the University of Toronto to the big colleges, but international fees are steep.
• Retirement: Canada has no retirement visa. Retirees usually come as six-month visitors, through a family route, or on the Super Visa if a son or daughter is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Bear in mind that the UK State Pension is frozen in Canada, with no yearly increase, which matters over a long retirement; see the frozen UK State Pension in Canada.
• Remote work: there's no digital nomad visa. Some Brits spend a few months in Toronto as visitors while still working for a UK employer; check IRCC's current guidance on remote work before you try it, and remember that's still visitor status with the six-month limit, not residence.

Permanent residence and, later, citizenship

Permanent residents can live and work anywhere in Canada and use the public health system once eligible. To keep the status, the FCDO notes, you generally need to have been in Canada for at least 730 days in the last five years [6]. After that, citizenship is possible, and Canada recognises dual citizenship, so you don't have to give up being British [6]. Our guide to Canadian permanent residence and citizenship covers the test and the PR card.

Remember that children born in Canada to British parents may or may not be British themselves, depending on how you got your own citizenship. Our guide to registering a child born abroad explains why.

What to sort first

Once your permit is in hand, the first few weeks are a fair bit of admin. A rough order of play:

1. Sort the UK end before you leave. Tell HMRC you're going with form P85 if you're not filing a Self Assessment return, check whether split-year treatment applies, and tell your council, bank and GP. Our moving abroad checklist has the full list.
2. Land with paperwork. At the airport your permit is issued by a border officer, so keep the letter of introduction, proof of funds and insurance in your hand luggage, not in a suitcase in the hold.
3. Get a Social Insurance Number (SIN). You need one to be paid. See your first month in Canada.
4. Open a bank account and get a phone plan. Canadian mobile tariffs will make you nostalgic for UK SIM-only deals.
5. Apply for OHIP if your permit qualifies you, and keep private cover until it starts.
6. Find a flat. Toronto rentals move fast, so have references and proof of income ready. Our guide to renting in Toronto explains deposits and the Ontario standard lease.

The British Consulate-General in Toronto, at 777 Bay Street, handles consular help for Brits in Ontario, by appointment only, but it can't help with Canadian visas. And when the forms get too much, our community group for Brits in Canada is full of people who've been through the same faff: join here.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (FCDO): Canada travel advice – entry requirements (checked 7 November 2026; page updated 30 October 2026)
2. Government of Canada (IRCC): eTA for visitors (modified 5 June 2026)
3. Government of Canada (IRCC): International Experience Canada – who can apply (modified 7 August 2026)
4. pvtistes.net: IEC Working Holiday permit to Canada for Brits, 2025–2026 guide (updated 16 June 2026)
5. Government of Canada (IRCC): Express Entry (modified 16 October 2026)
6. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Canada (updated 11 December 2025)

Keep reading

• Canada's working holiday (IEC) for Brits
• Express Entry for Brits: points and provincial nominations
• Renting in Toronto
• Moving abroad checklist for Brits