The humanitarian pathway launched on November 17, 2023. After only one month (as of December 31, 2023), over 1,100 persons (excluding non-accompanying dependents) have received a positive eligibility assessment and several (17) had already received a positive final decision. We anticipate seeing the first admissions in early 2024.
Intake paused for this pathway on December 30, 2023, given the Department expects to meet the commitment of welcoming up to 11,000 individuals with the number of applications that were submitted.
Canada is on track to meet its commitment of an increase of 4,000 temporary workers. Since April 1, 2023, the number of work permits issued for those from the Americas has increased by 5.5K (8% increase) compared to the same period last year.
Since spring 2023, we have been working with partners to expand our Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) footprint in the Americas.
Key Messages
Canada is committed to promoting and supporting safe and regular migration pathways and is proud to welcome 15,000 people from the Americas.
We are well on our way to achieving this goal:
The uptake has been extremely positive of the new Americas humanitarian pathway for up to 11,000 Colombian, Haitian and Venezuelan nationals residing in Latin America or the Caribbean, with family connections to Canada.
We are on track to meet our target of an incremental 4,000 temporary foreign workers from Latin America or the Caribbean.
We continue to leverage the existing EMPP to welcome refugees and other displaced individuals from the region.
Supplementary Information
15,000 Commitment
Canada committed to welcoming 15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere over the course of the year during President Biden’s visit on March 24, 2023. To fulfill this commitment, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is welcoming up to 11,000 migrants under a humanitarian permanent residence pathway, 4,000 more temporary workers, and leveraging the EMPP.
Humanitarian Pathway
The pathway was launched on November 17, 2023, and will close after one year or when 6,600 applications (representing 11,000 individuals) have been accepted into processing.
To be eligible, principal applicants must be Colombian, Haitian or Venezuelan nationals living in Central and South America, Mexico, or the Caribbean, and have a family tie in Canada (“anchor”) that agrees to support them for one year.
Family ties include a spouse, common-law partner or child (regardless of age), grandchild, parent, grandparent, or sibling who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Under this pathway, the anchor must attest to their intention to provide a number of supports to meet the immediate and essential needs of clients when they arrive in Canada.
Successful applicants will also receive a number of government supports, including: no fees for the application, biometrics, nor Right of Permanent Residence Fee; a one-time payment equivalent to three months of income support under the Resettlement Assistance Program; pre-departure medical services (including covering the cost of the Immigration Medical Exam); and a pre-arrival skills assessment to start the labour integration process earlier.
On December 30, 2023, we paused application intake as we believe we have received enough applications to fill the available spaces. We are assessing the applications already received.
If pressed on which nationalities qualify for the humanitarian pathway:
As of December 31, 2023, these nationalities are the highest volumes of migrants transiting through the Darien Gap, a particularly dangerous irregular route between Colombia and Panama.
For this humanitarian pathway, approximately 50% of applicants are Colombian, 30% are Haitian and 20% are Venezuelan. The majority (approximately 90%) of applicants are currently located in one of these three countries as well, with a small percentage (approximately 10%) located in other countries in the region.
If pressed on processing times and anticipated arrivals:
IRCC officers are assessing applications as quickly as possible. Some factors are outside of IRCC’s control, such as clients’ decisions on when to travel to Canada. This will impact the timing of arrivals.
Temporary Workers
Canada is also welcoming an additional 4,000 people as temporary residents from the Americas. The target is incremental compared with numbers from the region from the previous time period (April 2022-March 2023.
Between April 1 and December 31, 2023, 78.9K clients from the Americas arrived in Canada under the Temporary Worker programs, compared to 70.5K arrivals over the same period last year.
Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot program
The EMPP program helps skilled refugees and other displaced people to access economic permanent residence pathways. Since spring 2023, we have been working with partners to expand our EMPP footprint in the Americas to reach populations who may be eligible for the EMPP.
As of December 31, 2023, eight individuals from the Americas have been approved under the EMPP.
Other measures
Canada also announced $75M over six years for projects across Latin American and the Caribbean. These projects focus on strengthening asylum capacity and better integrating migrants and refugees into local communities and labour markets.
This support will help countries, including those that refugees and migrants are coming from, travelling through, or are being hosted in, address the challenges of irregular migration, while also improving the quality of life for migrants and refugees.
