Today, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced a new pathway to permanent residence for over 90,000 essential workers and international graduates who are currently actively contributing to Canada’s economy.
These special public policies will grant permanent status to temporary workers and international graduates who are already in Canada and who possess the skills and experience that Canada needs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to accelerate the country’s economic recovery.
The focus of this new pathway will be on temporary workers employed in Canadian hospitals and long-term care homes and on the frontlines of other essential sectors, as well as international graduates.
To be eligible, workers must have at least 1 year of Canadian work experience in one of 40 health-care occupations or one of 95 other essential jobs across a range of fields, like caregiving and food production and distribution. International graduates must have completed an eligible Canadian post-secondary program within the last 4 years, and no earlier than January 2017.
Graduates and workers, alike, 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.
Effective May 6, 2021, IRCC will begin accepting applications under the following 3 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 institution
The streams will remain open until November 5, 2021, or until they have reached their limit. Up to 90,000 new permanent residents will be admitted under these 3 streams.
To promote Canada’s official languages, 3 additional streams with no intake caps have also been launched for French-speaking or bilingual candidates. According to the Minister, Immigration is essential to the vitality of Francophone communities across Canada and that is why these policies include dedicated spaces for French-speaking or bilingual candidates, and no limit on applications for them.
If you are a temporary worker or an international graduate working in Canada and you wish to avail yourself of this opportunity, please contact our office and we will explain the detailed eligibility requirements to you and determine with you whether you meet them.