Canada Targets 100,000 Migrant Workers for Permanent Residency
Canada has unveiled a temporary immigration initiative that could grant permanent residency to up to 100,000 foreign workers and eligible family members already living in the country.
The programme will also accommodate up to 45,000 spouses, common-law partners and dependent children of Canadian citizens or permanent residents residing in Canada.
An additional 12,600 people previously approved for consideration on humanitarian and compassionate grounds are expected to benefit from the arrangement.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced the measure on Tuesday, saying additional admission spaces would be created in 2027 to speed up decisions on pending applications.
Eligible workers include applicants under selected federal immigration programmes, such as the Atlantic Immigration Program, Start-up Visa, Self-Employed Persons Programme and Agri-Food Pilot.
Home care worker programmes are also covered, while provincial and territorial governments will receive increased Provincial Nominee Programme allocations to select workers according to regional labour demands.
The government explained that the initiative would prioritise migrants who have already established lives, secured employment and contributed to Canadian communities while awaiting permanent residence decisions.
Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said the arrangement would help restore sustainability to Canada’s immigration system while allowing the government to fulfil existing commitments to applicants.
She noted that people from Hong Kong and Ukraine would also benefit as authorities work towards clearing outstanding applications under previously established permanent residency pathways.
Canada expects to process all remaining applications under its Hong Kong permanent residence pathways, which closed to new applicants on August 31, 2026, potentially covering 32,000 admissions.
The government also intends to conclude pending applications under the Ukraine Family Reunification Pathway, which stopped accepting new applications on October 22, 2024, covering another 18,800 admissions.
Combined, the two pathways could account for 50,800 permanent resident admissions, with the Canadian government targeting the completion of outstanding applications by December 2027.
However, officials clarified that the announcement does not introduce new immigration programmes or reopen previously closed application routes for prospective migrants.
Eligible applicants will not need to submit additional documents or contact immigration authorities specifically to benefit from the additional admission spaces.
The government said the beneficiaries were already living and working in Canada, meaning their transition to permanent residency would not increase the number of new arrivals.
The initiative is part of Canada’s 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, which seeks to reduce application backlogs, improve processing efficiency and maintain more sustainable immigration levels.
