Canada Announces One-Time Path to Permanent Residency for 200,000 Temporary Residents in 2026 Budget
The 2026 federal budget introduces a one-time measure granting permanent residency to 200,000 temporary residents already in Canada, separate from the annual target of 380,000 new permanent residents. The plan prioritizes specific worker pathways and humanitarian cases while aiming to reduce the temporary resident population share to 5% by the end of 2027.
The Canadian government introduced a one-time measure in its 2026 federal budget to grant permanent residency to 200,000 temporary residents currently living in the country. This initiative is designed to reduce immigration backlogs and operates separately from Ottawa’s annual target of admitting 380,000 new permanent residents.
The 200,000 special permanent residency spots will be divided equally between two priority cohorts of 100,000 each. The first cohort focuses on workers in specific pathways, including the Start-up Visa, Home Care Worker pilots, the Atlantic Immigration Program, and the Agri-Food Pilot. The second cohort addresses humanitarian cases, such as Ukraine family reunification, the Hong Kong pathway, and spouses and children already in Canada.
Beyond this one-time measure, the government plans to maintain its temporary resident intake target at 370,000 annually for 2027, 2028, and 2029. A central goal outlined in the budget is to reduce the number of temporary residents to 5% of Canada's total population by the end of 2027. As of July 1, temporary residents constituted 6.7% of the population, a decrease from a peak of 7.2% recorded in October 2024.
The budget also allocates funding to reform existing immigration systems. Approximately $152 million has been directed to Employment and Social Development Canada to reform the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, with the aim of improving processing times and employer compliance. Additionally, the budget earmarks $98 million over five years to clear the backlog of asylum applications and $82 million for non-profit groups supporting migrant workers.
Prime Minister Mark Carney hinted in September that the government could resume "some controlled increase in the population." However, the 2026 budget emphasized balancing labor needs with pressures on housing and social services.