Canada's temporary measures for people affected by the crisis in Lebanon, open only to people already in Canada, ended on July 31, 2025. Global Affairs Canada describes a large Lebanese community in Canada and shared membership of La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries. In the admissions data of IRCC, Canada's immigration department, the skilled worker programmes are Lebanese citizens' most common route to permanent residence, ahead of spouse sponsorship and nomination by a province. French often helps in Express Entry, the online system that invites top-ranked candidates to apply: IRCC's year-end report for 2024 lists Lebanon among the top countries of citizenship for invitations in its French-language rounds, which set a minimum French test result in all four skills.

Plan the police certificate early: Lebanon's Internal Security Forces issue the Criminal Record No. 2 only on an application made in person, at a gendarmerie brigade (a local police post) if you live in Lebanon. From abroad, a spouse, sibling, parent or adult child living there can apply for you with your power of attorney and a letter giving your address, work or school, and exact dates in Lebanon. For the degree, WES, an assessor IRCC designates, takes transcripts from some universities, such as the American University of Beirut, only electronically, and from others only in a sealed envelope.

The mistake to avoid, if one of your parents is Canadian, is applying to immigrate before checking whether you are already a citizen. IRCC says that since the rules changed on December 15, 2025, someone born abroad before that date is likely a citizen if a parent was a Canadian citizen at the birth, and a child who is already a citizen cannot be sponsored for permanent residence. With so many Canadians living in Lebanon, many families should check: applying for a citizenship certificate asks IRCC to confirm whether you are a citizen, and a Canadian passport comes only after that.