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Proof of Residency:


A document that has your name and current home address. This document confirms that your principal home is in Ontario.

• Child Tax Benefit Statement
• Employer record (pay stub or letter from employer on company letterhead)
• Income tax assessment (most recent)
• Insurance policy (home, tenant, auto or life)
• Monthly mailed bank account statements for savings or chequing accounts (does not include receipts, bank books, letters or automated teller receipts)
• Mortgage, rental or lease agreement
• Ontario Motor Vehicle Permit (plate or vehicle portions)
• Property tax bill
• School, college or university report card or transcript
• Statement of Direct Deposit for Ontario Works
• Statement of Direct Deposit for Ontario Disability Support Program
• Statement of Employment Insurance Benefits Paid T4E
• Statement of Old Age Security T4A (OAS) or Statement of Canada Pension Plan Benefits T4A (P)
• Statement of Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), or Registered Home Ownership Savings Plan (RHOSP) from a financial institution (bank, trust company, credit union)
• Utility bill received by mail (home telephone, cable TV, public utilities commission, hydro, gas, water)
• Valid Ontario Driver's Licence
• Temporary Driver's Licence (you must also show a photo license card with the same address)
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Statement of Benefits T5007
• Canada Pension Plan Statement of Contribution
• Valid Ontario Photo Card

• In Canada: 1-800-268-1154
• TTY: 1-800-387-5559

You can send us one of a number of different documents to show that you meet the language requirement, including:

• the results of an IRCC-approved third-party test
• proof from certain government-funded language training programs
• proof of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English or French, in Canada or abroad

For information on other forms of proof accepted, see:

• acceptable language proof tool (wizard)
• complete list of acceptable documents

You need to reach level 4 or higher to apply for citizenship. We use your documents to determine if you have reached this level for speaking and listening in English or French.
We will review the language proof you send us. We won’t process your application and will return it to you if your proof:

• can’t be read
• can’t be verified
• isn’t included with the application
• is in a language other than English or French (without a certified translation)

If you are applying to a program taught in English, and if English is not your first language, proof of English proficiency is required. If you are applying to a program taught in French, you may need to complete a Test for Evaluating French to determine your French language skills.
English Language TestingThe following three services evaluate language skills of people whose first language is not English. Contact the college you wish to attend to find out what test and score is needed there.

• Test of English As a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
  Website: ets.org/toefl
  Telephone: 1-877-863-3546
  Use Institution Code 0211 when taking the TOEFL test
  
  
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
  Website: ielts.org
  
  
• Canadian Academic English Language Assessment (CAEL)
  Website: cael.ca
  Telephone: 1-855-520-2235

If you have taken language tests other than those listed above, please contact the college’s international department to determine whether they will meet language testing requirements.
Some colleges may also ask you to take a college language assessment test and / or enroll in an English as a Second Language program before being accepted as a full-time student in a college program.
English Upgrading
Many colleges offer English as a Second Language programs to help you improve your language skills. Contact the International Office at the college of your choice for more information.

Changing the name on your passport can cause problemsBe sure to make all of your travel bookings, such as tickets and hotels, in the name you have on your passport. Your ID should also ideally match the name you have on your passport.
If the name on your passport doesn’t match your bookings or other ID, you might have problems such as

• delays at border crossings
• not being allowed on your plane, boat, train or bus
• countries not allowing you to enter

This could happen even if you carry your marriage or civil partnership certificate, legal change of name documents or proof of citizenship with you.
You can ask the consulate of the country you plan to visit about your name change. If you have a travel agent, you can also ask them.

It is important to consider Mexican surrogacy laws. While surrogacy is legal in Mexico as of 2021, not every state in Mexico has implemented the court’s order yet.

Therefore, you must consider the surrogacy laws in the state you are intending to engage a surrogate in. You should also inquire as to whether the state allows for a “pre-birth parentage order” which allows birth certificates to include the names of the intended parent(s).

International surrogacy in Mexico generally requires that one genetic parent be a citizen of the baby’s intended country of residency. This can hold a few different implications for those seeking surrogacy options in Mexico:

One of the genetically linked parents must hold a Canadian citizenship.

A DNA test will likely be performed on the newborn post-birth to prove paternity.

Intended parents who use both an egg and sperm donor (therefore having no genetic relationship to the baby) may be unable to apply for the baby’s citizenship to return home.

If the baby receives Mexican citizenship and holds a valid Mexican passport, then they would be eligible to travel to Canada with an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) and would not require a temporary resident visa or a temporary resident permit (see below). eTAs are valid for 5 years however, as a visitor, your baby will initially be admitted for 6 months. You can ask the officer to issue the baby a visitor record valid for 1 year or, you can enter for 6 months and then after 4-5months, file an online application to extend the baby’s stay in Canada as a visitor while you wait for the sponsorship application to be processed. While the application is pending, the baby will be in maintained status.

As a permanent resident, you can apply to sponsor your dependent child for Canadian permanent resident status. This can be done online (from outside or within Canada) however the processing times are lengthy.

More information can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/apply.html.

To facilitate travel, if the baby does not receive Mexican citizenship but instead Chinese (or another visa required) citizenship, you can submit the sponsorship application and apply for a Temporary Resident Visa concurrently so that you can travel to Canada with your new baby.

It is unlikely that a child would be approved for a temporary visitor visa as they do not have a temporary intention to remain in Canada and therefore, it is possible that you will instead be asked to apply for a Temporary Resident Permit concurrently.

If eligible for sponsorship, you as the sponsor must be able to prove your ability to support the child financially. Also, sponsoring a child born through surrogacy will generally require proof of legally recognized parental rights.

If you are eligible to apply for Canadian Citizenship, and can receive Citizenship before your baby is born, it will likely speed up the process of obtaining the necessary documents to bring your new baby back to Canada.

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you must:

• be a permanent resident
  
• have lived in Canada for 3 out of the last 5 years
  
• have filed your taxes, if you need to
  
• pass a citizenship test
  
• prove your language skills
  

This would support obtaining the necessary documents for your baby as a minor born outside Canada to a Canadian parent is a citizen by birth if the minor is in the first generation born outside Canada, and the Canadian parent:

• was born in Canada; or
  
• became a Canadian citizen by immigrating to Canada (becoming a permanent resident) and being granted citizenship (also known as naturalization).
  

The interpretation of “parent” for applications of citizenship by descent has been expanded to include non-biological legal parents at birth and biological parents. Parents who have been recognized as their child’s legal parent at birth by way of the original birth certificate or relevant birth records (surrogacy contracts, court orders, hospital records, etc.) are eligible to pass down Canadian citizenship with or without a genetic or gestational link to their children.


More information on submitting an application for a minor child of a Canadian Citizen can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-0003-application-canadian-citizenship-minors-under-18-years.html.

Family medical leave may be taken to provide care or support to certain family members and people who consider the employee to be like a family member in respect of whom a qualified health practitioner has issued a certificate indicating that they have a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks. Family caregiver leave is another job-protected leave available under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) for employees with certain relatives who have a serious medical condition. One of the main differences between family medical leave and family caregiver leave is that an employee may be eligible for family caregiver leave even if the family member who has a serious medical condition does not have a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks. Employees may also be entitled to take critical illness leave to provide care or support to a minor child or adult who is a family member, whose baseline state of health has changed significantly and whose life is at risk from an illness or injury. Critical illness leave may be taken for up to 17 weeks to care for an adult, and up to 37 weeks to care for a minor child.
Note that if an employee has a certificate issued by a qualified health practitioner before January 1, 2018 to support their entitlement to family medical leave, then the rules for family medical leave before January 1, 2018 apply to that employee. What this means is that the employee with a pre-January 1, 2018 certificate would be entitled to take up to 8 weeks of family medical leave within a 26-week period, and would have to wait until that 26-week period was over to potentially become eligible for the 28-week period of leave.

Eligibility:
All employees, whether full-time, part-time, permanent, or term contract, who are covered by the ESA are entitled to family medical leave.
There is no requirement that an employee be employed for a particular length of time, or that the employer employ a specified number of employees in order for the employee to qualify for family medical leave.
Care or support includes, but is not limited to: providing psychological or emotional support; arranging for care by a third party provider; or directly providing or participating in the care of the family member.
The specified family members for whom a family medical leave may be taken are:

• the employee's spouse (including same-sex spouse)
• a parent, step-parent or foster parent of the employee or the employee's spouse
• a child, step-child or foster child of the employee or the employee's spouse
• a brother, step-brother, sister, or step-sister of the employee
• a grandparent or step-grandparent of the employee or of the employee's spouse
• a grandchild or step-grandchild of the employee or of the employee's spouse
• a brother-in-law, step-brother-in-law, sister-in-law or step-sister-in-law of the employee
• a son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the employee or of the employee's spouse
• an uncle or aunt of the employee or of the employee's spouse
• a nephew or niece of the employee or of the employee's spouse
• the spouse of the employee's grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece
• family medical leave may also be taken for a person who considers the employee to be like a family member. Employees wishing to take a family medical leave for a person in this category must provide their employer, if requested, with a completed copy of the compassionate care benefits attestation form, available from Employment and Social Development Canada, whether or not they are making an application for EI Compassionate Care Benefits or are required to complete the form to obtain such benefits.

The specified family members do not have to live in Ontario in order for the employee to be eligible for family medical leave.

How we calculate your weekly benefit amountThe amount of weekly benefits is calculated as follows:

• we calculate your total insurable earnings for the required number of best weeks (the weeks that you earned the most money, including insurable tips and commissions) based on the information you provide and/or your record(s) of employment
• we determine the divisor (number of best weeks) that corresponds to your regional rate of unemployment
• we divide your total insurable earnings for your best weeks by your required number of best weeks
• we then multiply the result by 55% to obtain the amount of your weekly benefits

In regions of Canada with the highest rates of unemployment, we’ll calculate using the best 14 weeks. In regions of Canada with the lowest rates of unemployment, we’ll use the best 22 weeks. In other regions, the number of weeks used to calculate benefits will be somewhere between 14 and 22, depending on the unemployment rate in those regions.

To apply for citizenship, you can use proof of language ability (in English or French) from specific third-party organizations. Alternatively, you can include proof that you have completed a LINC course at CLB/NCLC level 4 or higher. For a list of documents that meet the requirements for proof of language level, please see the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website.

There are different language requirements for various immigration and visa programs. Many settlement agencies can give you information about getting your English assessed and which path to take based on what you need the results for.