Canada to grant special work permits to Hongkongers seeking permanent residency in bid to retain them amid case backlog
- New measure to be implemented on May 27 onwards, remain in place for five years to allow applicants to extend temporary status in Canada, Ottawa says
- ‘Processing times for this pathway have grown and many applicants are at risk of seeing their temporary status in Canada expire before their permanent residence applications are finalised,’ it adds
Canada will allow Hong Kong permanent residency applicants to seek special work permits while they wait for a decision on their cases.
Ottawa announced the new measure on Tuesday, in an effort to keep Hongkongers from being forced to leave Canada amid thousands of backlogged cases.
The move was in response to the mounting calls from politicians who said the prolonged processing times for approving residency applications left Hongkongers with looming uncertainty about their work and study statuses expiring.
Canada rolled out a bespoke migration pathway for Hongkongers in 2021 in the wake of the Beijing-imposed national security law. Canada’s policies, which target young people, recent graduates and those who have studied there, have been the friendliest, compared with those of Britain and Australia.
“Due to a high volume of applications, processing times for this pathway have grown, and many applicants are at risk of seeing their temporary status in Canada expire before their permanent residence applications are finalised,” Ottawa said on Tuesday.
“A new public policy will be launched in the coming weeks to let Hong Kong permanent residence pathway applicants extend their status and get a new open work permit in Canada while they wait for a decision on their permanent residence applications.”
The government added that the new move would be implemented on May 27 and would remain in place for five years to allow Hong Kong applicants to extend their temporary status in the country.
