The Guardian Angels temporary public policy was put in place during the pandemic, to provide a permanent residence pathway for pending and failed refugee claimants who worked in direct patient care, and their family members.
If pressed:
Guardian Angels: As of October 1, 2022, over 8,500 individuals have received permanent residence.
Background
In response to media reports and stakeholder interventions that drew attention to a number of pending and failed asylum claimants working in Canada’s health care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government put in place a pathway to permanent residence from December 14, 2020 to August 31, 2021 for these individuals who worked in direct patient care.
The designated occupations that were included in this special measure were orderlies, nurses, nurses’ aides and patient service associates, assistant orderlies, and certain home support workers who provided direct care to patients.
Individuals must have met a specific set of criteria to be eligible, including having been authorized to work in Canada and time working in the health-care sector during the pandemic. Individuals must also have met admissibility requirements, including those related to medical and security screening.
Two temporary public policies were developed – one for refugee claimants wishing to reside outside Quebec, and the other for refugee claimants intending to reside in Quebec. Under the Canada–Quebec Accord, Quebec has sole responsibility for the selection of economic immigrants and resettled refugees destined to the province.
IRCC worked closely with the CBSA to ensure appropriate security screening measures were completed and to minimize the risk of applicants being removed from Canada while their application was being considered.
Eligible applicants with a pending claim could have their claim or appeal put on hold at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada until a decision on their permanent residence application was rendered.
