IRCC ANNOUNCES TEMPORARY PUBLIC POLICIES TO FACILITATE THE GRANTING OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CANADA

On April 14, 2021, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, the Honourable Marco E.L. Mendicino announced several temporary public policies to facilitate the granting of permanent residence for foreign nationals in Canada. These policies, which apply to eligible foreign nationals intending to reside outside of Quebec, target those individuals who are currently employed in Canada with either Canadian work experience in a designated occupation, or an eligible education credential from a Canadian post-secondary institution. Individuals with demonstrated French language abilities will be able to apply through separate public policies with similar eligibility criteria.

Following the announcement, as of May 6^th 2021 intending permanent resident applicants will be able to apply under the following temporary pathways to permanent residence:

FOREIGN NATIONALS WITH RECENT CANADIAN WORK EXPERIENCE IN ELIGIBLE OCCUPATIONS

Under this pathway, permanent resident status may be granted to foreign nationals who meet the following conditions:

1. Have accumulated at least one (1) year of full-time (or part time equivalent) authorized work experience in Canada within the three (3) years immediately preceding the application, in an eligible occupation, designated as ‘essential occupations’ in Annex A and Annex B;
2. Be currently employed in Canada in any occupation;
3. Have attained a language proficiency of CLB 4 in either English or French as evidenced by the results of a valid language test;
4. Be physically present in Canada with valid temporary status (or be eligible to restore) at the time of application’s submission, and approval;
5. Intend to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec; and
6. Be admissible to Canada.

INTAKE CAP

This pathway has an overall cap of 50,000 applications, depending on the occupation in which the applicant’s qualifying work experience falls within:

• Annex A- a maximum of 20,000 applications will be accepted for processing;
• Annex B- a maximum of 30,000 applications will be accepted for processing.

There is no intake cap for those candidates who have scored at least CLB 4.0 on an approved French language test.

FOREIGN NATIONALS WITH A RECENT CREDENTIAL FROM A CANADIAN POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTION 

Under this pathway, permanent resident status may be granted to foreign nationals who meet the following conditions:

1. Have completed on authorized status, prior to the date of the application and no earlier than January 2017, a program of study from a Designated Learning Institution in Canada, and graduated with one of the following credentials;
   1. A degree which was issued on completion of a program of at least 8 months;
   2. A credential issued on completion of a program of any duration leading to an occupation in a skilled trade (listed in Annex A); or
   3. One or more diploma/certificate/attestations where each of the following conditions are met:
      1. Each program of study must be 8 months in duration and the combined length of the credential(s) must be equivalent to a two-year credential (at least 16 months).
      2. For vocational studies/specializations each program of study must be at least 900 hours in duration and the combined program must be at least 1800 hours.
2. Studies were completed with valid student status in Canada;
3. Be employed in Canada in any occupation;
4. Have attained a language proficiency of CLB 5 in either English or French as evidenced by the results of a valid language test;
5. Be physically present in Canada with valid temporary status (or be eligible to restore) at the time of application’s submission, and approval;
6. Intend to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec; and
7. Be admissible to Canada.

INTAKE CAP

This pathway has an overall cap of 40,000 applications. There is no intake cap for those candidates who have scored at least CLB 4.0 on an approved French language test.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Candidates wishing to apply under one of these temporary pathways to permanent residence must submit an application online, no earlier than May 6, 2021. While the policies are set to expire on November 5, 2021, candidates will no longer be able to submit applications once the applicable intake cap for their stream is met.

On October 30, 2020, Canada released a revised Immigration Levels Plan which seeks to welcome 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021. Combined with shortfall of approved permanent resident applicants in 2020, the new pathways target those already in Canada in an effort to meet the immigration levels plan while balancing public health concerns created by the global COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on temporary workers employed healthcare occupations and on the front lines of other essential sectors, these pathways aim to highlight the significant contribution which foreign nationals have made to Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, in creating new opportunities for international students to qualify for permanent resident status without requiring extensive Canadian work experience, Canada has also underscored its commitment to maintaining the skilled talent required to support the economic recovery and growth in the coming years.

Based on the eligibility criteria, this program casts a wide net for those individuals not eligible under any other permanent resident streams to apply for permanent resident status. As such, it is anticipated that the quotas under each pathway will be met relatively quickly. While additional details of the new pathways are expected to be released in the coming weeks, should you wish to discuss your options for permanent residence in Canada, please contact our office.