The Canadian government plans to grant permanent residency to up to 200,000 temporary residents by the end of 2027, in addition to its annual immigration target.
Bloomberg reports this.
Canada’s immigration levels plan keeps annual targets for temporary and permanent residents at 370,000 and 380,000 respectively through to 2029. But the one-off measure will also grant permanent residency to people already in the country on a temporary basis.
The number of temporary residents in Canada surged after the Covid-19 pandemic, as the government relaxed rules for international student and temporary foreign worker programmes, covering almost three million people in October 2024. The influx of newcomers has put pressure on housing and public services and triggered a public backlash.
Canada also took in a large number of Ukrainian refugees after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Since then, the government has tightened the rules and pledged to reduce the share of non-permanent residents to 5% of the population by the end of next year.
As of 1 July, the number of temporary residents in Canada had fallen to under 2.8 million, accounting for 6.7% of the population.