# What Are Mobility Rights in Canada? — Live, Work, Travel
Canadian mobility rights are a small but commonly tested Charter topic. They allow citizens to enter and leave Canada freely, and they allow both citizens and permanent residents to live and work anywhere in the country. This guide breaks down Section 6 of the Charter and what it means in practice.
The two parts of Section 6
Section 6(1) — Citizens only
Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.
This means Canadian citizens cannot be prevented from coming home, cannot be exiled, and cannot be barred from leaving the country except in narrow legal circumstances (court orders, bail conditions). It also means a passport renewal cannot be denied for arbitrary reasons.
Section 6(2) — Citizens AND permanent residents
Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right to move to and take up residence in any province; and to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province.
This means PRs and citizens can live and work in any of the 10 provinces and 3 territories. A PR who lands in Vancouver can immediately move to Toronto, Halifax, or Iqaluit and start working — no provincial approval needed.
What mobility rights protect against
Provinces or the federal government cannot:
- Bar a citizen from coming back to Canada after a trip abroad
- Stop a PR from moving from BC to Quebec
- Make it impossible for a citizen or PR to seek work in another province
- Impose discriminatory residency requirements that effectively block movement
What mobility rights do NOT protect
- Provincial professional licensing — provinces can still require doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teachers to register with the relevant provincial body and take qualifying exams
- Provincial social program waiting periods — provinces can require new residents to wait up to 3 months before health, welfare, or other social programs kick in. The Charter explicitly allows this in Section 6(3)
- Foreign workers and students — they have status-specific rules (work permit conditions, study permit conditions), not Charter mobility rights
- Travel bans during emergencies — federal and provincial public-health orders during a pandemic, for example, can temporarily limit interprovincial travel
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Why this matters in real life
Mobility rights are why Canada functions as a single labour market. A Saskatoon-trained nurse can work in Calgary the same week. A Halifax PR can answer a job ad in Vancouver and relocate. A Quebec citizen can retire to BC. Without Section 6 these movements would require provincial permission — which is the case in some other federations.
For permanent residents specifically, mobility rights make Canadian citizenship slightly less urgent for purely economic reasons: you do not need to become a citizen to move provinces. The big benefits of citizenship are voting (Section 3) and the right to leave and re-enter without an immigration document.
How this is tested
Common test questions:
- "What right allows a citizen to move from one province to another?" → Mobility right
- "Can a permanent resident live in any province?" → Yes
- "Which Charter section covers mobility rights?" → Section 6
- "Can the government prevent a citizen from leaving Canada?" → Generally no
Practice now
Drill mobility rights questions on our [free Canadian citizenship practice test](/practice-test). For the bigger Charter picture, see [The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Explained](/blog/canadian-charter-of-rights-freedoms-explained) and [What Are Democratic Rights in Canada?](/blog/what-are-democratic-rights-canada).
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Frequently Asked Questions
1Can a permanent resident move from one province to another freely?
Yes. Section 6 of the Charter explicitly protects the mobility of permanent residents within Canada. A PR can move from Quebec to Alberta tomorrow and start a job there without any provincial permission. Provincial residency requirements for social programs (like provincial health insurance) can require a 3-month waiting period, but they do not prevent the move itself.
2Can the government stop a citizen from leaving Canada?
Generally no. Section 6 says every citizen has the right to enter, remain in, and leave Canada. There are limited exceptions — for example, a person on bail or under a court order may have travel restrictions. But the default rule is free exit and re-entry for citizens.
3Are mobility rights only for citizens?
Section 6(1) — the right to enter, remain in, and leave Canada — applies only to citizens. Section 6(2) — the right to live and work in any province — applies to both citizens and permanent residents. Foreign workers, students, and visitors have status-specific rules, not Charter mobility rights.
4Can a province refuse to license me to work because I just moved there?
Generally no, when it comes to mobility itself. But provinces regulate professions (medicine, law, engineering, teaching) and can require their own qualifying exams or registration. The Charter does not override professional regulation, but the federal Internal Trade Agreement and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement encourage interprovincial recognition of credentials.
5What is the difference between mobility rights and the right to vote?
Mobility rights (Section 6) are about where you can live, work, and travel. Democratic rights (Section 3) are about voting in elections. They are separate Charter sections. PRs have mobility rights but not voting rights.