Canada to announce more permanent residence pathways

Temporary residents in Canada may soon get more immigration pathways for Permanent Residence. The federal government is looking forward to offering more immigration options for international students, asylum seekers, and workers who are already living in Canada. Recently, Canada announced its three years Immigration Levels Plan and planned to welcome more than 400,000 immigrants each year. To support this target, the government has decided to offer more immigration programs for temporary residents and help them secure Canada PR.

Necessary to create more immigration pathways

Marco Mendicino, the immigration minister, believes that it is imperative for Canada to offer more immigration pathways apart from the existing ones. Canada needs to accelerate immigration for temporary residents such as international students, foreign workers, among others who are already staying in Canada. The fall in immigration levels this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected economic growth. So, Canada needs new immigrants to increase economic activities and help in economic recovery. The count of both temporary and permanent residents in Canada has reduced significantly this year. Therefore, the federal government is actively seeking more immigration programs to attract new immigrants in the upcoming years. The Immigration Minister wants to address the short-term needs first in response to the country’s current situations. So, he believes that giving an opportunity to temporary residents to become Canadian permanent residents will help address the demographic challenges. Canada has a low birth rate and a rapidly increasing aging population. And thus, it needs immigrants every year to maintain population levels and meet labor market needs. The federal government is also trying to make it convenient for foreign students to work in Canada. Further, in order to help international students in times of the pandemic, Canada has allowed online study at a DLI to be counted as an eligible condition for the Post Graduation Work Permit. Lately, Canada has also opened its doors for international students despite the travel restrictions in place. So, students who belong to post-secondary Canadian institutions that have coronavirus preparedness plans can travel to Canada.

What could be announced by the Canadian government?

The Immigration Minister has not revealed anything regarding the new reforms. But we can assume that the government might launch a new pilot program, modify CRS score, hold program-specific Express Entry draws, or extend the length of work permit for temporary residents. The Candian government might release an official notice soon. So, we have to wait and witness what changes could be implicated for temporary residents.