On May 7, shortly after the launch of Canada’s new temporary immigration pathways, 40,000 international graduates were able to apply for permanent residency.

Just one day after launching their brand-new pathway for English-speaking international graduates, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has had to close the pathway after quickly reaching the quota. This and five other pathways, including three pathways dedicated to French-speaking candidates, were launched at 12:00 PM EST on May 6. 

The IRCC reached 40,000 international graduate applications at 1:01 PM EST on May 7, a little over 24 hours later. 

Canada first announced that they would be launching new temporary immigration pathways for essential workers and international graduates on April 14. There was much anticipation for the program from those who were eligible to apply, in particular students and skilled temporary workers who remained in the country on temporary visas. 

The streams were intended to offer additional immigration pathways to international graduates and essential workers living in Canada during the pandemic. At present, the IRCC hopes to welcome at least 90,000 aspiring immigrants to Canada through these permanent residency pathways. 

The quotas for the streams were set as follows:

• Workers in Canada: Stream A, health care workers (20,000 applications)
• Workers in Canada: Stream B, essential non-health care workers (30,000 applications)
• International graduates (40,000 applications)
• Workers in Canada: Stream A, French-speaking health care workers (no cap)
• Workers in Canada: Stream B, French-speaking essential non-health care workers (no cap)
• French-speaking international graduates (no cap)

The IRCC hopes to process at least 40,000 of these applications this year, in order to achieve the goal of welcoming 401,000 new permanent residents this 2020. 

As of the latest update, at least 5,000 applications have been submitted for English-speaking workers for both streams. Interested applicants have until November 5, 2021 or until the quota has been fulfilled to apply. As for the streams targeting French-speaking candidates, applications have been slow, due to no caps and the same late November 5 deadline. 

The large demand for international graduates was due to the high volume of temporary residents currently in Canada on work and study permits. An estimated 1.5 million temporary residents on work and study permits are reported to be living in Canada at present. 

The eligibility criteria for this pathway was a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of 5, as opposed to the usual 7. Candidates also did not need one year of Canadian work experience to be eligible, only needing to be employed at the time of application, though not counting self-employment. 

For more information on Canadian immigration, or If you’d like to learn more about the different pathways to immigration and permanent residency to Canada, we’d like to invite you to register to one of our private online discussions. Register to an orientation for free here.

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