Canada to give 200,000 temporary residents permanent status, in a one-time measure

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government plans to transition up to 200,000 temporary residents to permanent residency by the end of 2027, in addition to its annual immigration target. 

The Canadian government’s immigration levels plan maintained its annual targets for temporary and permanent residents at 370,000 and 380,000 respectively through 2029. But a one-time measure will also grant permanent residency to individuals who are already in the country on a temporary basis. 

Canada’s non-permanent resident population ballooned after the COVID-19 pandemic as the government relaxed rules for the international student and temporary foreign worker programs, reaching nearly three million people in October 2024. The surge of newcomers strained housing and services and prompted a public backlash.

Canada also welcomed large numbers of Ukrainian refugees after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

The federal government has since tightened rules and pledged to reduce the share of non-permanent residents to 5% of the population by the end of next year. 

As of July 1, the number of non-permanent residents in Canada had dropped to less than 2.8 million, representing 6.7% of the population.

The effort to move temporary residents to permanent status will be divided equally into two streams, one focused on workers and the other on a humanitarian cohort. 

Carney said the individuals who will qualify have effectively already been permanent residents of their communities, whether they’re temporary workers or Ukrainians who have been here for years.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Carney said in a news conference on Friday.

The opposition Conservatives accused Carney of trying to bury the plan in Thursday’s federal budget. The move brings Canada’s permanent resident target for 2027 to the highest on record, they said. 

“I hope there’ll be some actual debate. He did it right before Parliament closes for 10 days,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told BNN Bloomberg Television. “We need to have vastly lower numbers while housing, healthcare, and jobs catch up with the enormous increases in population that the Liberals have brought in over the last decade.”

In a briefing with reporters on Friday, immigration officials said provinces and territories will be able to choose how many people from the worker stream they would like to take on to address regional labor needs. 

Provinces have been lobbying the federal government for more control over immigration, including higher allocations through the provincial nominee program, which allows them to select permanent residents for their jurisdictions. Some business groups have also been calling for a regional approach to immigration to address varying labor needs across communities.

The second cohort of the government’s one-time initiative will focus on family reunification and Canada’s existing humanitarian commitments, the government said.

The federal budget also signaled the government plans to reform the temporary foreign worker program to align it with labor needs, but provided no additional details.

–With assistance from Melissa Shin.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.