Canada is fast-tracking permanent residence applications for TR-to-PR eligible workers

The federal government has released new details on eligibility criteria for its In-Canada Workers Initiative, often referred to as the TR to PR pathway.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed that the initiative will initially fast-track workers who already applied for permanent residence (PR) through one of several specific programs, such as the Provincial Nominee Program, and have been living in a smaller community in Canada for at least two years.

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IRCC has further stressed that applicants do not need to take any action — the department will process eligible applications from existing inventories.

These details have been shared in a press release published on May 4.

The In-Canada Workers Initiative is a one-time program that will transition up to 33,000 temporary workers to permanent residence in 2026 and 2027, which was first announced in the federal budget last November.

Which programs are being targeted?

Workers who applied through the following streams are being selected for accelerated PR processing though the government’s one-time initiative:

• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
• Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)
• Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP)
• Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP)
• Caregiver pilots
• Agri-Food Pilot

The government has specified that it is using this pathway to grant PR to applicants “across a range of in-demand sectors in rural areas and communities with labour gaps.”

*Applicants from some of these programs can benefit from Bridging Open Work Permits as they wait for their applications to be processed.

How many have been approved so far?

The press release states that between January 1 and February 28, 2026, IRCC granted PR to 3,600 workers under the initiative — 18% of its 2026 target.

The government says it remains on track to reach its target of at least 20,000 approvals in 2026, with the remaining transitions expected in 2027.

About the TR to PR Pathway

The one-time initiative to transition temporary workers to permanent residents, was first announced in Budget 2025 and is part of the government's broader effort to reduce the temporary resident population to less than 5% of Canada's total population by the end of 2027.

It was then confirmed in the government's annual Immigration Levels Plan, where it stated the initiative was aimed at transitioning temporary foreign workers, "in Canada in specific in-demand sectors," with a focus on those living in rural areas.

Since then, the government has shared sporadic details over a period of time through unofficial channels. In early March 2026, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab stated that the initiative had already launched in an interview with Toronto Star.

In an April interview, she confirmed that the program would exclude Census Metropolitan Areas — a classification that covers Canada's largest urban centres.

This new press release suggests that the initiative is designed to accelerate the processing of applications that have already been submitted under existing pathways.

Recent Push Towards Rural Immigration

The focus on prioritizing workers in rural areas for PR fits a wider pattern that the federal government has been building over recent years.

Earlier this year, the federal government announced temporary measures under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program that make it easier to hire and retain low-wage temporary foreign workers in rural areas. Under these measures, eligible employers can retain their current share of low-wage temporary foreign workers above the usual cap, and can hire up to 15% of their workforce through the TFWP — up from the standard 10% limit.

These measures only apply to rural employers in provinces and territories that have opted into the program.

Last year, IRCC also launched two pilot pathways — the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot — to help address labour shortages in rural areas.

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