More foreign workers gaining Canadian permanent residency

Results of a recently released study carried out by Statistics Canada reveals that far more temporary foreign workers are now converting to permanent residency compared to a decade ago.

The study found that one out of five foreign workers currently become permanent residents – twice the rate from two decades ago.

In the mid-1990s, only 9 per cent of temporary foreign workers who arrived in Canada went on to successfully obtain permanent resident status. By the end of 2014, around 21 per cent of all temporary residents in the country went on to become permanent residents.

The number of temporary residents entitled to work in Canada, including migrant workers and those under international mobility programmes, such as intra-company transfers, has tripled since early 2010s. More than 500,000 temporary residents arrive in Canada each year, compared to the 260,000 permanent residents who settle there each year.

The study also found that temporary foreign workers from less developed countries were also more likely to seek permanent residence in Canada.

Those from countries with higher gross domestic products per capita, such as the US, UK, France and Japan had much lower transition rates than workers from the Philippines, India and China.

Four out of five of low-skilled workers obtained their permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Programme. This allows provincial governments to select its own immigration candidates to meet local labour market needs.

Article published 23rd March 2017