On April 14, 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a temporary public policy that will let 90,000 essential workers, international students, and francophones already in Canada apply for permanent residency. The policy opens on May 6, 2021 and closes on November 5, 2021, or earlier if a stream hits its intake cap.
These programs are only for candidates already living in Canada. IRCC plans to admit up to 90,000 new permanent residents across the following streams:
- 20,000 applications for temporary workers in health care;
- 30,000 applications for temporary workers in other selected essential occupations;
- 40,000 applications for international students who graduated from a Canadian institution.
There will not be any intake caps for French-speaking candidates in Canada under the following streams:
- French-speaking international student graduates;
- French-speaking essential workers in healthcare;
- French-speaking essential workers in other occupations.
Eligibility
Graduates and workers need to be proficient in English or French, meet the general eligibility requirements, and be in Canada and authorized to work at the time of application.
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 approved Canadian post-secondary program within the last four years, and no earlier than January 2017.
For the full public policy announcement and criteria, see the IRCC news release on the 90,000 new permanent residency pathways.