Canada unveils policy for clearance of Hong Kong 'lifeboat' PR backlog

Canada has officially closed its "lifeboat" permanent residency scheme for Hong Kong residents to new applications on August 31. The country's immigration department on Thursday announced new approach to clear the PR backlog within 2027.

In addition to the targets set in its Immigration Levels Plan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, unveils plans to hold the annual targets at 380,000 permanent admissions and 370,000 temporary residents for 2027 to 2029.

The policy entails a time-bound concession to inject up to 100,000 permanent residency slots into the system for one year dedicated to specific humanitarian groups, starting next year.

This includes Hongkongers under the so-called "lifeboat" scheme who could be potentially eligible to move to Canada for work and study, as well as Ukrainian nationals with family members in Canada.

The IRCC reportedly received roughly 46,000 applications under the Hong Kong pathway, among which over 33,000 applications are still being processed.

Authorities emphasised the measure aims at speeding up clearance of the remaining closed backlog, rather than reopening applications.