Canadian residents are covered by universal healthcare, can vote, can work, etc. (That's a lot more than the U.S. offers residents.)

You need 67 points to get residency status in Canada.

With the new system:

PhD? 25 Points

Speak English? 24 Points

Under 35? 12 points (less 1 point per year over 35)

1 Year of work experience? 9 points

Total: 70 points

There are a lot more ways you can get points. But if you're a young or middle aged English speaker with a degree or a few years of job experience, you're in.

Anyone know how long the entire process takes -- from sending in the application, all the way to being able to cross the border with a moving van -- using the points system?

When I did it in 2004 it took one year almost to the date to get the approval, another 6 months to get the visa (you need to submit medical test). There is/was a web site where people posted their times so you could get an idea, also there's the official site, I don't remember if they give some times.

It used to average about 6-8 months. With the overhaul going into effect next month, they expect it to take 4 to 12 weeks for Americans and 12 to 16 weeks for other countries.

Canadian residents most definitively cannot vote, they pretty much can do the same as a citizen except for voting and spending too much time out of the country.