How permanent residence works
Almost every economic route follows the same shape, whoever runs it. You are assessed against fixed criteria, you enter a pool or a queue, you are selected, and then Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada makes the final decision.
What differs is who does the selecting. On federal routes Canada selects you directly, usually by ranking candidates against each other. On provincial routes a province nominates you first, according to what its own labour market needs, and you then take that nomination to the federal government. A nomination is not status. It is a strong endorsement that still has to clear federal medical, security and criminal admissibility.
Two of the four routes do not work this way at all. Family sponsorship turns on a qualifying relationship and on the sponsor's eligibility, not on a score. Protection turns on the risk you face, assessed on its own merits. Neither involves a ranked pool, and neither is affected by how many other people applied.
Two questions decide most cases. Do you meet the criteria, and is anyone currently selecting people like you? They are not the same question, and the second one changes far more often.
The four routes
Skilled worker
Based on your work, skills, education and language. Federal programs run by Canada, and provincial nominee streams run by each province.
Explore → bBusiness and entrepreneur
Based on a business you will start, buy, or already run. Assessed on the business rather than on a job offer.
Explore → cFamily sponsorship
A qualifying relationship rather than a score. Spouses and partners, dependent children, and the narrow routes for anyone else. Sponsoring a parent or grandparent is closed to new applications.
Explore → dProtection and humanitarian routes
Decided on the risk you face rather than on a score. Refugee claims, humanitarian and compassionate applications, and pre removal risk assessments.
Explore →Most people take a temporary route first. A work permit is not one of the four, because it is not permanent residence and it does not turn into it. It is how a great many people reach the skilled worker route, since Canadian work experience is what several of those programs are built out of. If that is your position, start at work permits and read this page as where it leads.