Canada is planning to bring more pathways to enable foreign nationals already residing in the country to gain Canadian permanent residence.
In November 2020, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told Bloomberg that the government is exploring different options to offer permanent residency to temporary residents. This statement came after the announcement that Canada would bring 400,000 newcomers annually for the following three years.
Why is this change required?
The Immigration Minister addressed this question and said it is crucial for Canada to find out how they can expedite permanent residence pathways for temporary foreign workers, international students, and asylum seekers staying in the country. Moreover, this will help Canada to combat the economic challenges it has been facing due to the lower immigration levels as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Due to the decline in immigration levels, Canada has been encountering decelerated labor force, population, and economic growth.
In 2020, the number of temporary and permanent residents declined drastically. In 2019, there was a net increase of over 190,000 temporary residents; however, this number dropped to 18,221 during the first half of the year 2020.
Canada revised the 2020 immigration target
Canada changed its target to welcome only 200,000 permanent residents in 2020, which is much lesser than the targeted number of 341,000 as decided before the coronavirus outbreak. This also led to slowed population growth in the second quarter of 2020 with just 0.1 percent; on the other hand, Canada sees growth of at least 1% every year.
Moreover, the Immigration Minister said that making temporary residents permanent will help them face short-term challenges. He further clarified that through these measures, they would be able to address long-term demographic challenges as well, such as low birth rate and aging population. Thus, Canada will need more immigrants to support its population and meet the labor force requirements, as the gaps will be increasing with the low birth rate and retirement of the old population.
Mendicino told Bloomberg that the Canadian government would consider global talent (which is already in Canada) to sustain the economy by identifying students, workers, and asylum seekers with relevant skills.
He further said that the government is working to make permanent residence pathways easier for international students to attract them to work in Canada. The reason is that international students will help the country alleviate the gaps created due to the aging population.
For example, Canada is offering online study between May 2020 and April 2021 at a Canadian designated learning institution, which will be counted towards the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) eligibility. The PGWP is popular among international students as it allows them to gain Canadian work experience, which helps them to meet eligibility for a number of economic class immigration programs, and these are:
- Canadian Experience Class (under the Express Entry system)
- The Provincial Nominee Program
- Quebec Experience Program
Canada has also lifted restrictions for the students who are enrolled in classes at post-secondary institutions with coronavirus readiness plans.
Canadian work experience counts
Primarily, there will be two benefits of offering more permanent residence pathways to the students, asylum seekers, and workers already staying in Canada, and these are:
- In the short run, it will help Canada to reduce the population gaps caused due to declined immigration levels, which will also support its economy.
- In the long run, Canada will be benefited as these candidates will have Canadian experience, which tends to result in better labor market outcomes.
Furthermore, these candidates with Canadian work experience, social and professional networks, education, and English and/or French proficiency will be able to quickly integrate into the labor market and have high wages in the long run. Many studies conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Statistics Canada, and other researchers support the former statement. As a result, the selection criteria also prefer candidates with Canadian work and study experience, as used by IRCC, provinces, and territories under the PNP, and Quebec.
What could be the possible changes?
The Immigration Minister did not clarify what could be these changes; however, it could be one or multiple from the below options:
- Introducing new federal pilot programs
- Updating the Express Entry’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to increase the weightage of points for Canadian experience
- Conducting program-specific Express Entry draws
- Changing the eligibility factors under different federal programs (such as reducing the work experience requirement for the Canadian Experience Class
- Increasing the validity duration for temporary work permits, so candidates can gain more Canadian experience to be eligible for immigration programs such as the Canadian Experience Class
The Immigration Minister and IRCC have not further clarified the changes that will be implemented to facilitate immigration options for temporary residents; thus, stakeholders must wait for the official notice from the government of Canada.
