Canada’s Temporary to Permanent Residence Pathway For Graduates, Essential Workers Opens Noon Thursday

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino unveiled Wednesday the details of six new pathways that will start Thursday, May 6 at noon to grant permanent residence for up to 90,000 temporary foreign workers and international graduates.

The new pathways are being touted as vital to bolster Canada’s healthcare system and industries providing essential services, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“One in three workers in our healthcare system is an immigrant,” said Mendicino during a Zoom call broadcast over YouTube Wednesday. “That’s why this new pathway is so important.”

Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of the Fraser Health Authority, were also on the call and agreed.

“When the healthcare system is stretched, it’s not because we don’t have enough space, enough beds. It’s because we don’t have enough people,” said the top exec for the health authority in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.

“There are many healthcare workers that are in under-employment situations because their healthcare credentials are not recognized,” she said.

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Both Dr. Lee and Rhose Harris-Galia, a nurse and supervisor at Alberta Health Services, agreed the new pathways to permanent residency will allow healthcare workers from other countries already working in Canada to make longer-range plans and get their qualifications recognized.

“Nurses and other healthcare professionals still have to get the qualifications to get these roles,” said Harris-Galia. “Hopefully, once they get their permanent residence, this will allow them to finalize their plans … and have a bit more stability.”

Under the special public policy, Canada will grant permanent status to temporary foreign workers and international graduates of a Canadian institution who are already in Canada.

Eligible applicants can submit their applications through the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) online portal starting tomorrow starting at noon EDT time.

Applicants Must Live Outside Quebec

To be eligible, workers must have at least one year of Canadian work experience in a health care profession or another pre-approved essential occupation.

International graduates must have completed an eligible post-secondary program in Canada within the last four years, and no earlier than January 2017.

All applicants must intend to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec to qualify.

The portal will remain open until Nov. 5 or until the maximum number of applications is reached.

Canada will be accepting:

• 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care;
• 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations, and;
• 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from an eligible Canadian institution

Three additional streams with similar eligibility criteria have also been launched for French-speaking and bilingual candidates, but there is no maximum number of applications for those who speak French.

The new pathways to permanent residency open up a broad category of occupations now deemed essential, including many in such areas as manufacturing and food processing that are often low-paying and not always regarded as all that important.

Ottawa is looking to change that perception and value these jobs more than they may have been in the past and to bring in enough immigrants to fill these positions, said Mendicino.

“We are experiencing a broad shift in the way we view these jobs and the people who do them,” said the immigration minister.

“Immigration is vital to our short-term recovery and longer-term prosperity,” he said. “This is a watershed moment.”

Applicants can get an eligibility tool, checklists, forms, and an application guide for the program online and must include valid language test results received through a designated testing organization. Language tests can be submitted provided they are from a designated organization and less than two years old.

Incomplete applications will be assessed based on the information provided. If they are refused due to incompleteness, processing fees will not be returned.

40 Healthcare Occupations and 95 Other Essential Jobs

In all, the new streams will draw on workers in 40 healthcare occupations and 95 other essential jobs, including caregiver, food production, and distribution worker.

English-speaking temporary foreign workers applying for permanent residence under the two streams for them must have worked full-time for at least one year -or the equivalent in part-time experience (1,560 hours) in Canada, in an eligible occupation listed in either the A or B streams within the past three years.

The eligible occupations in the A stream are:

The occupations deemed essential under the B stream are:

Those applying under the worker streams must also:

• be employed in Canada in any occupation at the time that the application for permanent residence is received;
• have attained Level 4 proficiency in either official language;
• live in Canada with valid temporary resident status;
• be willing to live in a province or territory other than Quebec, and;
• have applied online.

The stream for French-speaking international graduates who are willing to live outside of Quebec comes with many of the same criteria as the one for the English-speaking graduates but applies broadly to the following skilled trades:

Those seeking permanent residence under the A or B streams for French-speaking temporary foreign workers can apply using very similar criteria as for the English-speaking stream.

Under the French-speaking A stream, even the list of eligible occupations is the same as under the English-speaking stream.

Under the French-speaking B stream, however, the following occupations are eligible: