Canada Unveils 2027-2029 Immigration Plan: Up to 200,000 Extra Permanent Residency Spots in 2027, Hong Kong Pathway Backlog Targeted for Clearance
CANADA — The Canadian federal government released its 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan on November 5 and, alongside the 2026 budget, announced a one-time measure: in 2027, up to 200,000 people already in Canada will be offered additional permanent resident status to clear application backlogs, including applicants under Hong Kong's "lifeboat" pathway.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the regular targets remain unchanged: 380,000 new permanent residents a year in 2027, 2028 and 2029, with economic-class admissions making up more than 64%; new temporary residents will be held to 370,000 a year, including 220,000 workers and up to 150,000 international students. The 200,000 additional spots sit outside the regular targets and are split into two groups of up to 100,000 each: a worker group for people in Canada who have obtained provincial nominations or similar routes, and a humanitarian and family group covering pending applications under the Hong Kong permanent residence pathway and the Ukrainian family reunification pathway, people found eligible on humanitarian grounds, and spouses and dependent children in Canada of Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
On the Hong Kong pathway, a Canadian parliamentary petition puts the number of Hong Kong applicants awaiting decisions at about 32,000, with about 30,000 Ukrainian applicants also in the queue; the three humanitarian pathways together face a backlog of about 62,000 applications, which at previous quotas could mean waits of more than a decade. The department said the Hong Kong pathway is no longer accepting new applications, that existing applications will continue to be processed, and that the goal is to process all remaining applications under the Hong Kong permanent residence pathway and the Ukrainian family reunification pathway.
The department also said that eligibility details, language requirements, occupation lists and application procedures have not yet been announced, and that the measure provides extra processing room for the specific pathways covered rather than opening a new application stream for people outside Canada.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 渥太华国会山 William Lyon Mackenzie King 雕像（Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 4.0）
