Once the decision to immigrate to Canada was reached, our respondents began their preparations to do so. The first step for most health care providers is the national system of immigration, although for some, this is a second step, following recruitment. While there are tremendous differences in immigration preparations undertaken by our respondents, it is possible to categorize them into having followed one of four different routes: 1) independent immigration, through one of two possible immigration entry points (economic or family class); 2) immigration to Canada through the recruitment agencies (largely economic class), 3) immigration to Canada with the help of agencies that solely provide assistance with immigration per se, without helping immigrants find work (which could be either economic or family class); and 4) entry to Canada as refugees.

First, it is important to outline the citizenship status of our respondents by their profession. Clearly the largest proportion of respondents came as skilled workers but this is far greater for the IENs and IMG than for the ITMs. Family class was a very close second for ITMs but a distant second place category for IENs and IMGs.

Figure 2.1 Citizenship Status by Percent within the Profession