Canada's 2027 Pathway for In-Canada Workers: Up to 100,000 Extra PR Spaces and Who May Be Selected

If you have already submitted a permanent residence application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), your existing file may be considered under a new measure. Under IRCC's plan for 2027, the federal government will work with provinces and territories to provide up to 100,000 additional permanent residence (PR) spaces for eligible people already working outside Quebec, together with their accompanying family members.

1. How are the 100,000 spaces counted?

This is a one-year arrangement for 2027, and the spaces are added on top of that year's permanent resident admissions. IRCC's time-limited measure has two cohorts:

The workers cohort covers eligible workers and their accompanying family members, so 100,000 spaces does not mean 100,000 principal applicants.

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2. Which existing federal applications may benefit?

In its backgrounder, IRCC states that provinces and territories can identify in-Canada workers who have already applied under certain federal programs. The programs named include:

• Permanent residence applications already submitted to IRCC under the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP).
• Existing federal business applications, including the Start-up Visa Program and the Self-Employed Persons Program.
• Pending applications under the Agri-Food Pilot and the home care worker (Caregiver) programs.

For programs that are closed to new applications, the extra spaces are meant to process eligible existing files. If you once prepared a start-up or caregiver application, first confirm that it was formally submitted and is still in processing.

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3. Haven't applied for PR yet? Can a provincial nomination still help?

Possibly. Provincial nomination has its own selection process. By increasing PNP allocations, the federal government lets provinces and territories nominate workers who meet local labour needs.

If you already work in British Columbia or Nova Scotia and have not yet applied for federal PR, start by checking which streams your province is currently accepting, and whether your occupation, work experience, language results and job offer meet that stream's requirements.

The national cap of 100,000 cannot be translated into spaces for a specific province, occupation or employer. Whether a stream is open, whether you must first submit an expression of interest and which occupations were recently invited all depend on your province's own rules (see IRCC's Provincial Nominee Program page for links to each province).

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4. AIP example: job offer, endorsement or PR application?

Suppose you work in Nova Scotia and have a job offer from a designated AIP employer. The stage your file is at determines how "selection from existing applications" applies to you:

Job offer only

Your employer still needs to apply to the province for endorsement under the AIP process.

Endorsed, but no PR application yet

You still need to submit a complete permanent residence application to IRCC under the AIP instructions. A file with only an endorsement letter is not yet a submitted federal PR application.

AIP PR application already submitted to IRCC

Your file is one of the types IRCC has listed for provinces to identify. Keep your submission records and follow the instructions for your existing application. There is no need to apply again for these 100,000 spaces.

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5. Two questions applicants ask most

Does "no separate application needed" mean I don't have to do anything?

That statement refers only to the time-limited measure itself. If you are waiting on an existing application, keep watching for requests or other notices from IRCC. If you are still preparing a provincial nomination or federal PR application, you must still complete the registration, nomination or submission steps that program requires.

Does holding a Canadian work permit mean I will be invited or processed faster?

A work permit only shows that you are authorized to work. Whether you can be considered under this measure depends on whether you meet a relevant provincial nomination stream or already have a pending application under one of the named federal programs. IRCC has announced additional admission spaces; it has not promised approval or a completion date for any individual application (see IRCC's Supplementary Information for the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan).