For many years Canada has embraced immigration as a means to nullify labour shortages and support an ageing population, however there are signs that the government there has slowly been changing the way it grants visas.

Traditionally the policy was to grant permanent residency to ‘economic immigrants’ who would be sufficiently skilled to gain employment and in turn help fuel Canada’s growth. It’s emerged though that since 2006 there has been a shift towards issuing more temporary visas for foreign workers rather than permanent ones.

“The temporary workers can come for a period of up to four years to fill a specific labour shortage,” says Stewart Buchanan, an expat in Vancouver and author of CanadaBuyingGuide.com. “This represents a good opportunity for British citizens that want to experience living and working in Canada, and if it is everything they hoped it would be they can apply to upgrade their temporary residency status to a permanent visa during their initial stay.”

The shift has meant that the government has empowered employers to select and recruit people into their organisations. This has been met with some criticism as companies are generally motivated by their own interests (or those of their owners) and some quarters feel that the government should be looking out for the interests of the country as a whole and controlling immigration themselves.

However, it does provide more immigration opportunities for British citizens and once in the country if you can establish yourself financially and commit to becoming a valuable member of society there is no reason why an application to become a permanent resident would not be granted.

For details of properties for sale in Canada, visit the Canada listings on Rightmove Overseas. Preparation for anyone considering a move to Canada should include planning for the transfer of your pounds into Canadian dollars. For information on how to do this safely and save money when doing so – giving you more to spend on shopping – speak to currency exchange specialist Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in Canada, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘Canada Property Buying Guide’