Canada has ended the direct application stream for Hong Kong residents seeking Canadian permanent residence. The immigration department announced that no new applications will be accepted after 31 August 2026; submissions received on or before that date will continue to be processed.
Closure details
- The decision was confirmed in an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) news release dated 28 August 2026.
- Applications already in the system are expected to be processed after 2027, according to a federal briefing.
- The two “Hong Kong pathways” that offered a guaranteed route to permanent residence were time‑limited and have now been closed as scheduled.
Current processing backlog
- More than 46,000 applications have been received under the Hong Kong programmes.
- Over 33,000 remain in the backlog, reflecting a shortage of admission spaces rather than a lack of processing capacity.
- Processing times have stretched beyond 10 years, as shown by IRCC’s online processing‑times tool.
- An immigration officer can only finalize a permanent‑residence decision when a spot becomes available under the federal annual admissions targets.
Admission quotas
- For 2026, 5,800 admission slots are allocated to the “Other” category, which includes the Hong Kong pathways together with Canada’s responses to the crises in Ukraine and Sudan.
- Canada plans to admit 446,000 permanent residents in total for 2026.
- Since the programmes launched in June 2021, 13,370 Hong Kong applicants have been granted permanent residence.
Open work permit option
- IRCC continues to accept applications for a three‑year open work permit for foreign nationals who have applied for permanent residence under the Hong Kong pathways.
- Intake for this special work permit remains open through May 2029.
Policy background
- June 2021 – IRCC introduced the “Temporary public policy creating two pathways to permanent residence to facilitate the immigration of certain Hong Kong Residents.”
- August 2023 – The post‑secondary graduation requirement was removed from the work‑experience stream.
- February 2021 – A separate policy launched a three‑year open work permit for Hong Kong residents with qualifying post‑secondary education; it was extended from its original 2023 expiry to 2025.
Alternative permanent‑residence routes
Applicants facing long wait times can pursue other streams in parallel, such as:
- Economic immigration programmes (e.g., Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs)
- Family sponsorship
- Humanitarian and compassionate grounds
IRCC permits simultaneous applications through multiple routes, but only one can be approved; any additional applications must be withdrawn once a permanent‑residence visa is issued.
Source article: www.cicnews.com
