SURREY, B.C. - Up to 100,000 temporary workers already living in Canada could be moved to permanent residence in 2027 under a Budget 2026 measure that offers the provinces and territories extra Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) space, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says.
Who else could be included
Provinces can also identify people who have already applied for permanent residence and are waiting for a decision, including applicants under the Atlantic Immigration Program and under closed programs such as the Start-up Visa, the Self-Employed Persons Program, the Agri-Food Pilot and the home care worker programs. IRCC says it will also use the measure to transition up to 32,000 Hong Kong pathway applicants, 18,800 Ukraine Family Reunification Pathway applicants, 12,600 people already found eligible on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, and 45,000 spouses, partners and dependants of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are living in Canada.
What Surrey workers should know
The measure creates no new programs and does not reopen closed pathways, and IRCC says applicants do not need to do anything or contact the department about it. It is separate from the In-Canada Worker Initiative announced in Budget 2025. The open question for this province is how much of the extra space British Columbia takes up through the BC PNP; BC has not yet announced its share. In Surrey, where many families include someone working in Canada on a temporary permit, that BC decision will decide how many local workers the new path actually reaches.
Apna News
(Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, November 12, 2026)
