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Location matters: Helping economic migrants find where they are most likely to thrive in Canada.
Research shows that settlement location matters in a migrant’s economic success.
Canada is a large country and choosing a place to settle can be overwhelming for newcomers. GeoMatch has been designed by the Immigration Policy Lab (IPL), in partnership with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), to help economic migrants find the locations in Canada where they are most likely to thrive economically.
GeoMatch is an online tool that uses information on past immigrants and their earnings, as well as data on local labour markets, to provide Express Entry candidates personalized recommendations to help them decide where to live in Canada.
How GeoMatch works:
LOCATION FEATURES
GeoMatch asks participants about the features that matter most to them when choosing where to live in Canada. Each of Canada’s economic regions, outside Quebec*, are rated based on location features such as community size, climate, and access to public transit, arts, and nature.
EARNINGS PREDICTIONS
For each participant, GeoMatch generates earnings predictions for each economic region in Canada. These predictions are based on the candidate’s Express Entry profile and how important they’ve said earnings are to them when choosing a location.
RECOMMENDATIONS
GeoMatch then combines the participant’s preferred location features with their earnings predictions to recommend places where they are most likely to find the features important to them as well as strong economic opportunities.
Participants receive a number of location recommendations and are encouraged to conduct further research before deciding where to live. They are not required to live in any of the recommended locations.
Who can use GeoMatch:
PILOT PROGRAM
IRCC is testing GeoMatch with a limited number of Express Entry candidates in order to assess its effectiveness. If selected to participate, candidates will receive an email invitation directly from IRCC. Currently, invitations cannot be requested and are sent within a few weeks of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence.
Participants have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience using GeoMatch.
FREE AND OPTIONAL
Using GeoMatch is optional and free of charge. All information provided is confidential and secure. GeoMatch will not affect the status of a candidate’s application for permanent residence.
* Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec selects its own immigrants, hence no regions in the province of Quebec are included as recommendations.
For more information about GeoMatch Canada, contact:
IRCC.GeoMatch.IRCC@cic.gc.ca
A NOTE ABOUT ONLINE “GEOMATCH EXPERTS”
The Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) do not endorse and are not affiliated with any immigration representatives. No representatives have been: involved in developing GeoMatch, trained in how the tool works, or authorized to speak on behalf of GeoMatch, IPL or IRCC.
