Canada is adding 200,000 permanent resident spots. Here’s how it will work - Toronto Star

A woman holds balloons as she waits for family members to arrive at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ont., on March 7 2026.

Ottawa will work with provinces to decide how to divvy up the extra 100,000 permanent resident spots set aside in 2027 for temporary foreign workers already working in Canada and contributing to the economy.

In a technical briefing Friday, senior immigration officials said the one-time measure is meant to help retain workers whose skills and experience are already supporting local employers and communities, particularly in regions facing labour market challenges.

“We have a very large population of temporary residents in Canada with a right to work, many of whom have already applied for permanent residence,” said the officials, who spoke on background about the federal government’s 2027-29 immigration levels plan released this week.

“They are located throughout the country, across provinces and territories. So our goal here with the provinces and our conversation with them will be to determine which of those populations they wish to bring forward to respond to their specific labour market needs.”

Last year, the Immigration Department rolled out a similar time-limited initiative to transition current work permit holders to permanent residence, but was criticized for the lack of communication on the criteria, timing and workings of the program. It fuelled confusion and misinformation as unscrupulous agents tried to take advantage of desperate migrants.

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab is pictured in the House of Commons on Thursday.

While details for the 100,000 spots allocated for workers in 2027 have yet to be determined, officials noted: “Clients who have already applied for permanent residence don’t need to take any action to be considered under the time-limited measure.”

On Thursday, Ottawa unveiled its immigration levels plan for the next three years, keeping the yearly intakes of new permanent residents at 380,000, the same as 2026. 

However, the conversion of the 100,000 current foreign workers to permanent residence is on top of that annual target. So are the additional 100,000 spots set aside to grant permanent status to temporary residents for family reunification and humanitarian purposes.

The opposition Conservatives have accused the government of “cooking the books” by excluding these 200,000 extra permanent residents from the 380,000 headline count. 

On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said the temporary residents qualifying for the one-time initiative have been working for the same employers and living in the same communities for years, and “in all respects,” permanent residents of Canada.

“We’re formalizing that,” Carney told reporters. “We’re recognizing that it’s the right thing to do, and we’re absolutely clear about that, and it’s within the context of a sustainable immigration system.”

Immigration officials said the humanitarian stream will include 45,000 spouses and children as well as 32,000 Hong Kongers and 18,800 Ukrainians awaiting permanent residence under special pathways. The rest are allocated to people approved in principle for permanent residence on humanitarian grounds. They have been kept waiting for permanent status due to the limited admission quotas each year.

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“This will reduce inventories with unreasonable wait times and support more predictable processing times,” immigration officials said at the technical briefing.

“Many of the people covered by this measure are already living in Canada or will be joining family members who are established here. These admissions are expected to have a limited impact on housing, infrastructure and public services.”

The officials said the government is still committed to reducing the share of temporary residents in Canada to five per cent of the country’s population by the end of 2027. As of July, that rate still stood at 6.7 per cent.

In addition to transitioning select people in Canada to permanent residence, the immigration levels plan will cap the arrivals of new international students at 150,000 and temporary foreign workers at 220,000 in each of the next three years. 

Nicholas Keung is a Toronto-based reporter covering immigration for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @nkeung.