Essential workers, international student graduates and French speakers in Canada will have six new pathways to permanent residency this May.

Canada’s immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, announced the new programs on April 14. Three of the new programs will pave the way for 90,000 new immigrants to get permanent status this year. The other three streams for French-speaking immigrants will have no intake cap

The new programs will be for temporary workers employed in hospitals and long-term care homes, and those on the frontlines of other essential sectors, as well as international student graduates from Canadian educational institutions.

As of May 6, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will begin accepting applications under the following three streams:

• 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care
• 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations
• 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian educational institution

The streams will remain open until November 5, 2021, or until they have reached their limit. These new public policies apply to workers in 40 healthcare occupations, as well as 95 other essential jobs across a range of fields, like caregiving and food production and distribution.

To be eligible, workers need at least one year of Canadian work experience in a healthcare profession or another pre-approved essential occupation. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last four years, and no earlier than January 2017.

Graduates and workers must have proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages; meet general admissibility requirements; and be present, authorized to work and working in Canada at the time of their application to qualify. They also must be residing in any Canadian province other than Quebec.

“These new policies will help those with a temporary status to plan their future in Canada, play a key role in our economic recovery and help us build back better,” Mendicino said in a media release. “Our message to them is simple: your status may be temporary, but your contributions are lasting—and we want you to stay.”

A long time coming

The immigration minister had been hinting at the idea of facilitating immigration for temporary residents since the fall, after announcing the highest immigration targets Canada has ever seen. Mendicino said the move would be necessary in order to bounce back from a year of reduced immigration. Canada did not admit enough immigrants in 2020, and as a result, population growth fell to WWI levels.

Over the next three years, Canada is aiming to welcome about 1.2 million new immigrants. About 401,000 are supposed to become permanent residents in 2021 alone, yet the coronavirus-related travel restrictions are still in effect, hindering many from immigrating to Canada.

Canada’s immigration system already aims to facilitate transitions to permanent residence to those already residing in the country. Many of Canada’s over 100 different economic class programs award extra points to those with Canadian experience or exist specifically to facilitate such transitions. This is largely a function of Statistics Canada research showing that pre-landing Canadian experience supports integration into the country’s labour market. Moreover, facilitating such transitions has been key to Canada promoting a broader distribution of immigration across Canada. This approach helps smaller cities and communities retain the temporary foreign workers and international students that have established roots locally.