World Immigration News

BREAKING: Canada’s new TR to PR pathway has launched

Release Date
2026-03-06
Media
CIC News
Summary
Canada has launched a one-time program to grant permanent residence to about 33,000 foreign workers currently in the country. The measure, first announced in the federal budget last November, will run for two years and is intended mainly for temporary foreign workers employed in specific in-demand sectors, particularly those living and working in rural areas. While the government has confirmed the launch of the program, detailed eligibility criteria and application procedures have not yet been released and are expected to be announced in April 2026.

The policy comes at a time when many temporary residents in Canada face the expiration of their work or study permits. At the same time, the Canadian government has been pursuing a broader strategy to reduce the overall number of temporary residents. Since early 2024, Ottawa has introduced several measures aimed at lowering temporary resident levels to below 5 percent of the national population by 2027.

These measures include imposing the first annual cap on study permit applications, limiting eligibility for post-graduation work permits to graduates in fields facing labour shortages, and introducing language requirements for those permits. The government has also restricted labour market impact assessments for low-wage temporary foreign worker programs in regions with high unemployment and tightened rules for open work permits issued to spouses of international students and foreign workers.

As a result of these policies, Canada’s population growth slowed in 2025 and even recorded slight declines, marking the first population decrease since modern record-keeping began in 1971, aside from the temporary drop during the COVID-19 pandemic. Admissions of international students also fell sharply, declining by about 60 percent from 293,000 in 2024 to roughly 115,000 in 2025. These developments indicate that Canada is moving toward a more selective immigration strategy, reducing temporary migration while allowing some existing temporary residents to transition to permanent status.
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