The Citizenship and Immigration office in downtown Vancouver in April, 2025. IRCC says it has already granted 3,600 foreign workers permanent residency in January and February.Isabella Falsetti/The Globe and Mail
About 30,000 temporary foreign workers who live in small, remote and rural communities will be eligible to join a fast track to permanent residency, under an initiative announced Monday by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab.
The much-anticipated program, flagged in last year’s federal budget, has already drawn criticism from immigration lawyers and migrant groups over its lack of new permanent-residency places for temporary foreign workers. Instead, the fast track will be open to people who have already applied to settle in Canada through several existing programs.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada set out plans Monday to accelerate permanent residency for up to 33,000 temporary foreign workers in “in-demand sectors” such as agriculture and natural resources, trades and transportation, and health and caregiving.
The program, called the In-Canada Workers Initiative, will accelerate applications from existing inventories of work-permit holders who have applied for permanent residency and live in rural and remote areas and smaller communities with labour gaps.
Skilled foreign workers who have lived in smaller communities for two years or more in certain in-demand sectors will be eligible for expedited permanent residency.
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IRCC said it had already granted 3,600 foreign workers permanent residency in January and February under the program before it was formally launched.
Toronto immigration lawyer Ravi Jain questioned how the department had granted permanent residency to people under the program even before it was announced.
“I’ve never seen this before in my career,” he said. “Usually you make an announcement and then you get the criteria and then you advise clients if they qualify or not.”
He said the initiative as a whole was disappointing as the government is drawing candidates from existing programs.
“This is a total nothing-burger,” Mr. Jain said.
Among those eligible for the fast track are participants in provincial nominee programs, which allow provinces to select foreigners to settle. Caregivers who applied for permanent residency through a pilot would also qualify.
Skilled foreign workers and international graduates from a Canadian college or university who have applied to work and settle in one of the four Atlantic provinces under the Atlantic Immigration Program will also qualify for the fast-track scheme.
Foreign nationals who applied for permanent residence under community immigration pilots, including rural and francophone locations, will also qualify.
Also eligible are those who applied to remain in Canada through IRCC’s agri-food pilot program for experienced, non-seasonal workers. They include foreign nationals working in food and agriculture jobs such as farm supervision, meat processing and greenhouse production.
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Joycna Kang, a director of the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, said the announcement was “a disappointing reveal, especially after months of piecemeal updates that built significant anticipation among potential applicants and their representatives.”
“Earlier messaging suggested the introduction of a new pathway for temporary foreign workers in Canada to obtain permanent residence. Instead, what has been presented appears to be a commitment to expedite certain existing applications rather than the launch of a distinct new program,” she said.
Ms. Kang questioned whether there had been a shift in policy “given the misalignment in the announcement and how the initiative was communicated prior to launch.”
Toronto immigration lawyer Barbara Jo Caruso said the announcement was “shocking because it confirmed an internal initiative to fast-track some PR cases in existence since the beginning of the year.”
“IRCC must do better to be transparent with the public regarding all policies and initiatives, otherwise the public will continue to lose confidence in the immigration system,” she said. She warned this could fuel more anti-immigration sentiment when foreign workers are needed to provide health care, fuel the economy and work on infrastructure projects being announced.
Last year’s budget flagged that the government was planning a one-time initiative to swiftly approve permanent residency for 33,000 work-permit holders in 2026 and 2027.
On Monday, IRCC said the program supports its efforts to reduce the share of temporary residents to less than 5 per cent of the population by the end of 2027. In December, 2025, that share stood at 6.8 per cent.
The Immigration Department said in a statement that the program is designed to “address labour shortages” in smaller and rural communities.
“By transitioning temporary residents who are already living and contributing to their communities to permanent residence, we’re providing the certainty and the stability needed to maintain and grow vibrant local economies,” Ms. Metlege Diab said in a statement.
IRCC said it plans to transition at least 20,000 workers to permanent residence under the program in 2026, and the remainder in 2027.
Eligible applicants currently living in smaller communities on temporary work permits who have applied for permanent residency will not be notified that they qualify for their applications to be processed faster, said Laura Blondeau, a spokesperson for Ms. Metlege Diab. She said these applications are already in IRCC’s system and are being assessed.
The Migrant Rights Network accused the government of being misleading by suggesting an entirely new program to transition 33,000 temporary residents to permanent residents would be coming.
“The Minister’s misleading and irresponsible statements created false hope for tens of thousands of migrants who hoped this program would be their chance at a future in Canada,” the network said in a statement.