Canada to Prioritize Hong Kong 'Lifeboat' Backlog: 32,000 Permanent-Residence Places in 2027 Aim to Clear the Queue Within a Year
Ottawa — In its 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, tabled on November 5, the Government of Canada announced a time-limited measure for 2027: on top of the regular target of 380,000 permanent-resident admissions a year, up to 200,000 additional processing places will go to people already in Canada whose applications are already in the queue. Up to 100,000 of those places are in the humanitarian stream, covering all remaining applications under the Hong Kong permanent-residence pathways — the 'lifeboat' scheme — which closed to new applications earlier this year. Hong Kong Watch said on November 6 that 32,000 of the places are allocated to the Hong Kong Pathway, and welcomed the measure.
Launched in 2021, the Hong Kong Pathway offered two streams — Stream A for graduates of Canadian institutions and Stream B for applicants with Canadian work experience — and closed to new applications on August 31, 2026. The backlog is the direct reason for the new measure: testifying before the House of Commons immigration committee on October 29, Hong Kong Watch said about 34,150 people were waiting for a permanent-residence decision as of June 2026, against an admissions target of just 800 for 2026 — a pace at which clearing the queue would take more than 40 years. Many applicants had been told they could wait more than a decade.
Aileen Calverley, co-founder of Hong Kong Watch and chair of Hong Kong Watch Canada, said the announcement brings long-awaited certainty to tens of thousands of Hong Kongers who have made Canada their home and waited years for a decision, while calling on the government to deliver faster processing and a clear timetable.
Under the plan, Canada's regular permanent-resident target stays at 380,000 a year for 2027 through 2029. The temporary measure creates processing space only for people already in Canada with applications already filed; it opens no new pathway and requires no separate application. A temporary open-work-permit measure for Hong Kong pathway applicants remains in place until May 2029.
For Hong Kongers in Canada, 2027 could become the year the backlog is cleared: the 32,000 places roughly match the roughly 34,150 people now waiting. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has not yet published a month-by-month processing timetable, and actual progress remains to be seen. (Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加拿大多伦多天际线（资料图）。照片：Jchmrt，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Toronto skyline, Canada (file photo). Photo by Jchmrt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
