Canada Announces Time-Limited Measure to Transition Up to 100,000 Workers and Families to Permanent Residence
On November 12, 2026, Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced a time-limited initiative offering provinces and territories additional Provincial Nominee Program allocations to help transition up to 100,000 workers already in Canada and their families to permanent residence in 2027.
On November 12, 2026, in Dieppe, New Brunswick, Minister Lena Metlege Diab outlined a time-limited measure designed to support worker retention across the country. The Government of Canada is offering provinces and territories optional, additional space through the Provincial Nominee Program to transition up to a combined total of 100,000 workers already in Canada and their families to permanent residence in 2027. Provinces and territories will receive these additional allocations with the intention that they be used by March 31, 2027.
The initiative aims to help employers maintain access to skilled talent and support communities facing labour shortages, while avoiding adding significant new pressures on housing and community infrastructure. It also seeks to provide stability and fairness to select groups already in Canada.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will facilitate transitions for several specific groups under this measure. This includes helping up to 32,000 people who applied under the Hong Kong permanent residence pathways, which closed to new applications in August 2026. IRCC will also assist up to 18,800 people who applied under the Ukraine Family Reunification Pathway, which closed to new applications in October 2024.
Additionally, the department will help transition up to 12,600 people found eligible for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Up to 45,000 spouses, common-law partners, and dependent children of Canadian citizens or permanent residents living in Canada are also included in the measure.
The government clarified that this measure does not create new programs or re-open closed pathways. Applicants do not need to take any action for their applications to be processed. This initiative is separate from the In-Canada Worker Initiative announced in Budget 2025.