Key Takeaways
- Ottawa is offering provinces and territories extra PNP space to transition up to 100,000 workers and their families to permanent residence in 2027.
- The extra allocations are optional, and provinces are meant to use them by March 31, 2027.
- Provinces can also identify workers already waiting on PR decisions, including people in closed federal programs.
100,000 workers already in Canada could get permanent residence in 2027
Canada is offering provinces and territories extra room to turn up to 100,000 temporary workers — and their families — into permanent residents in 2027, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced Thursday in Dieppe, New Brunswick.
The offer is the worker side of the time-limited measure in Budget 2026. The workers are already living in Canada, working in key industries and established in their communities. None of them are new arrivals.
How the extra space works
Provinces and territories will be offered additional Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) allocations on top of their regular ones. The space is optional — each province decides how much of it to use — and the allocations are intended to be used by March 31, 2027, so the transitions to permanent residence happen during 2027.
Provinces can also look beyond their nominee programs. Ottawa says they will be able to identify workers in their jurisdictions who have already applied for permanent residence and are still waiting for a decision, including through the Atlantic Immigration Program and through federal programs and pilots that are now closed to new applications: the Start-up Visa Program, the Self-Employed Persons Program, the Agri-Food Pilot and the home care worker programs.
The release gives no dollar figure, no province-by-province breakdown and no sector list. The selections are the provinces' to make.
"Communities across the country benefit each and every day from the contributions of workers — both Canadians and those who have chosen Canada," Metlege Diab said. "Our government understands that by retaining high-value, established workers, we can support economic growth and help our businesses thrive."
Ottawa's argument is that keeping workers who are already settled fills labour shortages without adding significant new pressure on housing or community infrastructure.
The Twikup Take
This is the second half of the Budget 2026 measure — the first half cleared space for the Hong Kong and Ukraine humanitarian backlogs. Together they tell one story: with new immigration levels held flat, Ottawa is spending its 2027 room on people who are already here. If you are a work-permit holder in Canada, your province just became the door to watch.
Image: Illustrative image.