According to information provided by the Minister of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship of Canada, Marco E. L. Mendicino, the path to permanent residence is just opening up for over 90,000 essential workers as well as international students who are actively contributing to Canada’s economy.

These special programs will grant permanent residency to temporary workers and international students who are already in Canada and have the necessary skills and experience to fight the pandemic and are already helping to accelerate the economic recovery.

The new path to immigration is expected to focus on Canadian temporary workers working in hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as on the front lines of other “essential” sectors, as well as international students who, the minister said, are “fueling the economy of tomorrow”.

To be eligible, employees will need at least 1 year of experience working in Canada in a healthcare related profession and a pre-approved “essential” workplace. International students must have completed a Canadian University program in the past four years, but no earlier than January 2017.

From May 6, 2021, the Ministry of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will begin accepting applications in these three streams.

The first stream will include 20,000 applications for temporary healthcare workers. The second stream will include 30,000 temporary workforce applications in other selected “essential” occupations. The third stream will include 40,000 applications for international students who have graduated from Canadian colleges.

Streams will be open until November 5, 2021 or until their limit is reached. Up to 90,000 new permanent residents will be admitted in these three streams.

In addition, according to the ministry, in order to promote Canadian official languages, three additional immigration streams are introduced without any upper limit, and which are intended for French-speaking and bilingual – French and English-speaking immigrants. In this way, he claims, the ministry wants to contribute to the revitalization of francophone minority communities.

The ministry said that despite the fight against the pandemic, immigration continues to play a critical role in the recovery of the economy and appropriately targeted at sectors with labor shortages, contributes to their development.

With an accelerated path to permanent residence, according to the ministry, these specific guidelines are designed to encourage “essential” temporary workers and international students to put down roots in Canada and help retain the talent Canada needs, especially in the health care system.

The program just announced is designed to help implement the ministry’s immigration plan to admit 401,000 new immigrants to Canada this year.