Canada announces new permanent residency pathway

By Uglobal Staff

The Canadian government has announced a new permanent residency pathway that will benefit tens of thousands of foreign workers already present in the country who are engaged in essential jobs such as health services and personal support.

In a video statement released on April 14, Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the new policy would affect up to 90,000 foreigners in the country, including temporary workers and international students.

“It's an unprecedented initiative that will support workers across more than one hundred occupations that are vital to our economy,” Mendicino said.

A total of 50,000 spots are reserved for temporary workers while the rest will be for foreign students.

“It includes 20,000 spaces for temporary workers in healthcare, 30,000 dedicated spaces for temporary workers in other supportive essential occupations and 40,000 dedicated spaces for recent international graduates in Canada,” the minister said.

About the main motivations behind launching this program in the post-pandemic era, the Canadian minister said it was about giving temporary workers a chance to put down their roots in the communities they serve.

“This isn't just about giving people a new piece of paper. We are creating a pathway for newcomers that will strengthen their job security, expand their career horizons and encourage them to put down deeper roots in our communities where they are giving back,” Mendicino added.

Canada will begin accepting applications under this new pathway from May 6 this year and end it on Nov. 6, 2021, or when the intake cap is achieved under the pathway streams. 

Applicants are required to have at least one year of experience, or about 1,560 hours of work experience, in one of the 40 listed healthcare jobs or 90 other listed essential jobs. Among the eligible health-related occupations are nurses, physicians, dentists as well as social workers, health policy researchers, marriage counsellors. The other eligible essential occupations list is also quite diverse, and includes professions such as cashiers, plumbers, fumigators, bus drivers, laborers, butchers as well as childcare providers and elementary school teacher assistants.

The applicants are required to meet a certain level of English or French language skills. Family members of the main applicants are to be also eligible to apply under this new pathway. The new pathway for permanent residence would only apply to those living outside of Quebec province.

The announcement of a new pathway is part of the government’s plans to achieve 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021.

The federal minister also said the government was accelerating processing of applications in pre-existing pathways, including for family reunification and new permanent residents.

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