Canada has announced a major one-time move to give permanent residence to up to 100,000 workers who already live in the country, along with their eligible family members. The step is meant to clear long backlogs in the immigration system.
The measure was announced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on Tuesday, 10 November, alongside the 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan. Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab highlighted the plan in Dieppe, New Brunswick, on 12 November.
01. Who will benefit
The main group covered is up to 100,000 workers already living and working in Canada, plus their eligible family members. Separately, up to 45,000 spouses, common-law partners and dependent children of Canadian citizens or permanent residents who already live in Canada will be able to obtain permanent residence.
Another 12,600 people who have already been found eligible on humanitarian and compassionate grounds are also expected to benefit. The plan will also help process the remaining applications under two special pathways. Up to 32,000 admissions are planned for people who applied under the Hong Kong pathway, which closed to new applicants on 31 August 2026. Up to 18,800 admissions are planned under the Ukraine Family Reunification Pathway.
02. What the measure does not do
Officials have stressed the limits of the plan. It does not create any new immigration programmes, and it does not reopen pathways that have already closed. People covered by the measure do not need to contact IRCC or take any extra steps, as their applications will be processed under the new spaces.
Because the people covered already live and work in Canada, they are not net new arrivals. The additional admission spaces are for 2027, and the aim is to work through cases that have been waiting in the system for a long time.
03. A time-limited step to clear the backlog
The government has presented the change as a time-limited step, not a permanent widening of the immigration system. The extra spaces are for 2027, and the focus is on people whose cases have been waiting. For workers and families who have built their lives in Canada while waiting for a decision, the announcement brings long-awaited certainty about their future in the country.
