Politics · Canada · 2 hrs ago
Canada to grant permanent residency to 200,000 temporary residents
Canada’s federal government announced a one-time plan to grant permanent residency to 200,000 temporary residents already in the country.
The plan is part of the federal budget and is intended to reduce backlogs in the immigration system.
It divides applicants into two groups: workers who applied through selected immigration programs, and people in humanitarian pathways, including those for Ukraine and Hong Kong.
Spouses and children already living in Canada will also receive priority.
The special places are in addition to 380,000 permanent residents a year that Canada plans to admit in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
The government will also keep its annual target for temporary residents at 370,000 over those years, after immigration growth raised concerns about housing costs and pressure on public services.
Ottawa aims to reduce temporary residents to 5 per cent of the population by the end of 2027; they made up 6.7 per cent as of July 1, so the government has just over a year to reach that goal.
Canada will grant permanent residency to 200,000 temporary residents already in the country under a one-time measure.
The measure is intended to reduce the backlog of applications in the federal immigration system.
Two groups of 100,000 people each will receive priority, including applicants in selected worker and humanitarian pathways.
The 200,000 places are additional to the government’s target of admitting 380,000 permanent residents annually in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
The government also plans to keep annual temporary resident intake at 370,000 over those three years.
- Who
- The federal government will grant permanent residency to 200,000 temporary residents already in Canada.
- What
- A one-time measure will prioritize two groups of 100,000 applicants each.
- When
- Announced on Thursday as part of the federal budget. The year is not stated.
- Where
- Canada.
- Why
- To reduce the backlog of applications in the federal immigration system.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The immigration-levels plan introduced an initiative to transition 115,000 temporary residents in Canada to permanent status.
The government suspended many of the immigration pathways mentioned in the new measure because of processing backlogs.
The federal government announced the one-time measure as part of its budget.
- Permanent residency places
- 200,000
- Worker cohort
- 100,000 temporary residents
- Humanitarian cohort
- 100,000 temporary residents
- Annual permanent resident target
- 380,000 in 2027, 2028 and 2029
- Annual temporary resident intake target
- 370,000 in 2027, 2028 and 2029
- Temporary residents’ share of population
- 6.7 per cent as of July 1
What people are saying
some controlled increase in the population
balance
undue pressure on housing, health care and social services