The Canadian federal government will issue work permits to some foreign nationals working in Yukon.
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On Wed, 1 Oct, immigration minister Marc Miller announced that this new temporary measure would provide work permits to up to 215 Yukon Nominee Program (YNP) candidates.
The work permits will enable eligible foreign nationals to continue legally working in Yukon while their applications for permanent residence are being processed under the YNP.
Who is eligible?
To quality for these work permits, foreign nationals must
- Be working for a Yukon employer with legal work status;
- Have applied to the YNP;
- Be supported by the Government of Yukon;
- Demonstrate that they can expect to obtain permanent residency in 2025 or 2026; and
- Meet all other program criteria.
Part of IRCC’s broader program
This temporary measure for Yukon comes as part of a wider program: in Sept, IRCC announced a temporary policy to provide open work permits for some PNP candidates.
This temporary policy supports IRCC’s intentions to support provincial labour market needs, and to transition more temporary residents to permanent residents.
IRCC is transitioning more temporary residents to permanent residents as a tactic in support of its objective of reducing temporary resident levels as a proportion of Canada’s overall population from 6.5% to 5% by 2027.
Prior to Yukon, IRCC has implemented this measure with the Alberta and Manitoba Provincial Nominee Programs.
Scaling back of temporary resident programs
On 18 Sept this year, Miller announced several changes for the scaling back of temporary resident programs. Miller said that over the next three years, IRCC expects these changes to result in
- 300,000 fewer study permit holders;
- 175,000 fewer post-graduation work permits (PGWPs); and
- 150,000 fewer spousal work permits.
Upcoming Levels Plan
On 1 Nov, IRCC is expected to release its annual Levels Plan, in which it sets immigration targets for the upcoming year, and provisional targets for the following two years.
The government has telegraphed that big changes will be coming.
This year’s Levels Plan will be the first to include targets for temporary resident levels.
