IRCC plans up to 100,000 humanitarian spaces in 2027 to finalize permanent residence applications already submitted: spouses living in Canada, Hong Kong and Ukraine pathways, and humanitarian cases already found eligible.
On November 5, 2026, alongside Budget 2026 and the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced a temporary measure for 2027 that would help up to 200,000 people already living in Canada become permanent residents. Half of those spaces, up to 100,000, make up a humanitarian stream aimed largely at people who have been waiting a long time: spouses and partners of Canadians and permanent residents, applicants in the Hong Kong and Ukraine pathways, and humanitarian and compassionate cases that are already well advanced. Here is what we know, what is still unclear, and what you can do now.
What was announced
According to IRCC, the measure provides additional admissions to process applications in certain permanent residence pathways in 2027. It has two streams of up to 100,000 people each.
- Worker stream (people and their families): higher Provincial Nominee Program allocations. Provinces and territories will also be able to nominate people who have already applied to the Atlantic Immigration Program, or to programs now closed to new applications: the Start-up Visa, self-employed, Agri-Food Pilot and home care worker programs.
- Humanitarian stream: processing of applications already submitted by four specific groups, described below.
This measure should not be confused with the one-time initiatives announced in Budget 2025, which continue in 2026 and 2027: up to 115,000 protected persons in Canada and their dependants in Canada, and 33,000 work permit holders. Protected persons are not among the groups listed in the new humanitarian stream.
The four groups in the humanitarian stream
IRCC says that in 2027 it intends to:
- Hong Kong: process all pending applications in the Hong Kong permanent residence pathways.
- Ukraine: process all pending applications in the Ukrainian family reunification pathway.
- Humanitarian and compassionate grounds: finalize applications from people whose eligibility has already been established.
- Family: process applications from spouses, common-law partners and dependent children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who already live in Canada. The stated goal is to bring wait times down to about 12 months for the spouses and common-law partners class for people destined to a province or territory outside Quebec.
The government points to fairness for people who have waited a long time, family unity, humanitarian commitments already made and a smaller backlog of pending applications.
The key point: this is not a new program open to applications. These are additional spaces to finalize files that have already been submitted.
What is still unclear
No program delivery instructions or public policy have been published yet, so several questions remain open:
- Timing: the announcement only says "in 2027." No start date and no breakdown of spaces among the four groups have been given.
- Spouses "already living in Canada": the criteria have not been published. It is not yet known whether only inland applications are covered, or also applications made from abroad for someone who already lives here.
- Quebec: the 12-month goal excludes spouses and partners destined to Quebec. For the other groups, the treatment of Quebec-bound files has not been specified.
- Link to the Levels Plan: the plan sets a target of 380,000 new permanent residents in 2027. Whether the humanitarian spaces come on top of that target remains to be confirmed.
- Link to the Budget 2025 initiatives: it is not yet known whether remaining admissions under those initiatives count toward the 200,000 spaces.
In many cases, the answer will depend on your pathway, where you live and how far along your file is.
What you can do now
No form, portal, opening date or fee specific to this measure has been announced. In the meantime, these steps make sense:
- Do not submit a new application just to benefit from the measure. It is meant for applications already submitted in certain pathways.
- Keep your file up to date: address, contact details, passport validity and any family changes (birth, marriage, separation).
- Respond promptly to IRCC requests: medical exams, biometrics, police certificates or other documents.
- Maintain valid temporary status, for example through a spousal open work permit or an extension. Faster processing is never guaranteed for any individual file.
- Humanitarian and compassionate files: check your IRCC correspondence to see whether the eligibility stage has been completed, since these are the files IRCC says it wants to finalize.
- Watch out for fraud: no one can "reserve" one of the 200,000 spaces. Only work with an authorized representative, such as a consultant regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants or a lawyer.
If you have a pending application and want to know whether it could be affected in 2027, our regulated consultants can review your situation and help you plan your next steps.
Official sources
This article is general information, not legal advice. Immigration rules change often: have a regulated consultant assess your situation before you act.
