Canada Increasing Visa Caps for the New Temporary PR Pathways

2.25 minute read

"Canada’s immigration minister Marco Mendicino hints at the possibility of extending the visa caps of the recently launched PR Pathways for temporary workers in healthcare and non-healthcare occupations and international graduates. The initial visa cap for these streams for English-speaking applicants was 90,000."

Written by My Visa Source Team
Published on: Jun 23, 2021

Canada’s immigration minister Marco Mendicino hints at the possibility of extending the visa caps of the recently launched PR Pathways for temporary workers in healthcare and non-healthcare occupations and international graduates. The initial visa cap for these streams for English-speaking applicants was 90,000.

He was quoted as saying, “I am open to discussions on whether or not to review the current visa caps.” He also suggested that his department will first assess the initial results of the programs, the quality of the applications received and the time it takes to reach the initial visa cap before deciding on further extensions.

How Have the New PR Pathways Performed Since Being Launched?

The new 6 PR Pathways launched on May 6, 2021, have so far received encouraging responses from the applicants. The two PR Pathways for International Graduates who are French-speaking and non-French-speaking reached its visa cap of inviting 40,000 immigrants in just 25 hours.

The other streams that include the two PR Pathways for Temporary Workers in Healthcare Occupations and Non-Healthcare received only 10,000 applications out of the total visa cap of 50,000. There were even fewer applications filed for the streams launched for French-speaking and bilingual applicants but that can be attributed to these streams not having a visa cap. The two PR Pathways for French-Speaking Temporary Workers In Healthcare Occupations and Non-Healthcare will accept applications till November 5, 2021.

Why Were the PR Pathways Introduced?

These PR pathways were launched as a part of the Canadian government’s effort to meet the immigration levels target for 2021. Canada intends to invite over 401,000 new immigrants in 2021 to support Canada’s economy in post-pandemic recovery. Since the processing times and capacity of the immigration system were largely affected by the pandemic, the government has to find new ways to meet the set target.

In recent months, we have seen Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) hold Express Entry draws focused only on the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program and the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP). Since border and travel restrictions have made it difficult to invite overseas applicants, the IRCC is now focusing on transitioning temporary residents to permanent residency.

The IRCC will also be introducing a new online portal for immigration programs to make it easier for applicants to access different streams. In the budget for 2021, the government has allocated nearly $430 million to create this platform to replace the current Global Case Management System (GCM).

According to the data released by the IRCC, Canada has invited over 70,000 new immigrants in the first three months of this year. Compared to last year during the same period, this number is significantly higher than since the pandemic began.