International Legal Partners

Health-care Workers Permanent Residence Pathway

About the public policies:

This application process offers refugee claimants the option to apply for permanent residence if they:

• have worked a minimum number of hours in Canada’s health-care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic
• provided direct patient care as part of their job
• meet all other eligibility criteria

You can apply if you meet the eligibility requirements and you’re

• a pending or failed refugee claimant who made a refugee claim in Canada prior to March 13, 2020, and you still live in Canada
• the spouse or common-law partner of an eligible refugee claimant if
• the refugee claimant contracted COVID-19 and passed away from it
• you have been in Canada since before August 14, 2020

About the process:

If you meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply for permanent residence. Once we get your application, we’ll

• check that your application is complete and that you’re eligible to apply
• advise the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) that you’ve applied so they can put your pending refugee claim on hold
• refer your case to the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration du Québec (MIFI), if you plan to live in Quebec
• They will review your work experience and inform us of their decision.
• check that you meet the required work experience

If we confirm you’re eligible and that you have the work experience:

• any removal order you’re under will be stayed until we make a final decision on your application
• we’ll invite you and your family members to
• complete medical examinations
• pass our criminal and security checks
• we’ll inform you of our decision when we're done processing your application

Who can apply:

To be eligible to apply:

• You must be a pending or failed refugee claimant living in Canada.
• You must have made your claim before March 13, 2020.
• You must have been issued a work permit after you made your refugee claim.
• You must have the required work experience in specific jobs in Canada’s health-care sector.
• You and your family members must not be inadmissible to Canada.
• You must meet Quebec’s immigration and work experience requirements if you plan to live there.

If you’re the spouse or common-law partner of an eligible refugee claimant who worked in Canada’s health-care sector and died from COVID-19, you can apply for permanent residence under this process if

• you and your family members are not inadmissible to Canada
• meet Quebec’s immigration requirements, if you plan to live there
• you have been in Canada since before August 14, 2020

If you’ve already applied for humanitarian and compassionate considerations, you can ask us to assess your application under this process instead if

• your application is still pending ̶ this means we’re still processing it and haven’t made a decision yet
• you meet the eligibility and work experience requirements of this process