Glossary
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses terms and abbreviations that can be hard to understand. This glossary contains some of the most commonly used terms. These are not legal definitions; they are based on IRCC’s glossary and expanded upon by Lighthouse Immigration Law.
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Volunteer
A person who, of his or her own free will, contributes time, resources, energy and/or talent to an organization without being paid.
War crime
Examples of a war crime or a crime against humanity could include execution-type murders, destroying people’s property, forcing people out of their homes and/or country, genocide (the killing of a group of people based on their ethnicity, race, religion, cultural backgrounds) and human rights violations.
Widowed
Widowed means that a person’s spouse has died and that person has not remarried or entered into a common-law relationship.
Work permit
A document issued by IRCC that authorizes a person to work legally in Canada. It sets out conditions for the worker such as:
the type of work they can do,
the employer they can work for,
where they can work, and
how long they can work.
Working holiday visa/Working Holiday Program
Years of schooling
Number of years spent in school. Used for statistical purposes, as well as to determine education points in the Federal Skilled Worker selection grid.
eMedical
An online tool that doctors approved by IRCC to do medical exams use to record and send Immigration Medical Exam (IME) results to IRCC. It is more accurate, convenient and faster than paper-based processing.