In-Canada Workers Initiative targets up to 33,000 transitions

What changed

IRCC has launched the In-Canada Workers Initiative, a one-time measure intended to accelerate permanent residence decisions for up to 33,000 temporary workers already living in Canada, over the course of 2026 and 2027. This is not a new immigration program or a new way to apply; it is a processing initiative that speeds up decisions on permanent residence applications that eligible workers have already submitted through existing programs and pilots.

Eligible applicants are those who applied through the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, one of the community immigration pilots (including the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot), a caregiver pilot, or the Agri-Food Pilot, and who have been living in a smaller community in Canada, generally outside major metropolitan areas, for at least two years. IRCC has said that eligible applicants do not need to take any action themselves; the department is identifying and processing eligible files from its existing application inventories.

Why it matters

The stated goal is to address ongoing labour shortages in smaller and rural communities by giving workers who are already established there, and already in the permanent residence queue, a faster route to permanent status, rather than leaving them waiting in a general backlog. IRCC has indicated it expects at least 20,000 of the 33,000 targeted permanent residence approvals to be completed in 2026, with the remainder carrying into 2027, and has reported that several thousand workers had already received permanent residence under this initiative in the early months of 2026.

Because this initiative works by accelerating processing of applications that already exist in IRCC's inventory, it does not expand who is eligible for permanent residence, and it does not help someone who has not yet applied through one of the listed programs or pilots.

What this means for your application

If you are a temporary worker in Canada who has already applied for permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, a community or caregiver pilot, or the Agri-Food Pilot, and you have lived in a smaller community for at least two years, your existing application may be processed faster under this initiative without you needing to file anything new or contact IRCC to request it.

Because eligibility depends on details like which program you applied through, how long you have lived in your community, and whether that community falls outside a major metropolitan area, it is worth reviewing your specific file with us to understand whether your existing application likely falls within scope, and what realistic processing expectations look like given IRCC's stated targets for 2026 and 2027. If you have not yet applied through one of these programs and are hoping to benefit from faster processing, the initiative does not create a new way in; the standard eligibility rules for each underlying program still apply.