90k PR by Canada, Indian students to benefit

Indian students will be the major beneficiaries of Canada`s new one-time immigration program which opened for applications on 5th May 2021. Under the program, over 90,000 international students and temporary essential workers, already in Canada, will be given permanent residence. Under it, 40,000 international students, 30,000 temporary workers in selected essential occupations and 20,000 temporary workers in health care will get permanent residence. Indian students will benefit proportionately more than others as they – numbering 220,000 last year – make up more than a third of all foreign students currently in Canada.

Before the pandemic closed international travel, Canada had planned to admit 341 thousand immigrants in 2020. The new PR program aims at making up for the shortfall in immigration numbers in 2020 by prioritizing those already in Canada. Moreover, a record 401 thousand new immigrants will be admitted in 2021.