Ottawa removes education requirement for Hong Kongers pursuing permanent residency in Canada
CBC
More people from Hong Kong will now be eligible for permanent residency (PR) in Canada with changes to immigration requirements amid China's tightening of civil liberties in the former British colony.
Starting Aug. 15, there will no longer be an education requirement for Hong Kongers with Canadian work experience who are applying for permanent residency in Canada through one of two pathways.
"Expanding Stream B will allow us to bring more talented and bright individuals from Hong Kong with valuable Canadian work experience into our workforce," said Paul Chiang, parliamentary secretary to the federal minister of housing and diversity and inclusion, in a Tuesday announcement in Markham, Ont., on behalf of immigration minister Sean Fraser.
"It allows us to welcome more Hong Kongers while also simultaneously helping Canadian businesses fill labour gaps."
Chiang said eliminating the education requirement would simplify the PR application process for Hong Kong citizens who are already working in Canada with an open work permit.
The changes come one week after the federal government condemned Hong Kong authorities for issuing arrest warrants for eight pro-democracy activists — who now reside in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia — on alleged national security offences.
In June 2021, Ottawa announced details for two new pathways exclusively for Hong Kong citizens and residents seeking Canadian permanent residency.
Those pathways apply to individuals who have graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution within the last three years, considered part of Stream A.
Stream B, meanwhile, pertains to those who have graduated from a Canadian or qualified foreign institution within the last five years, and worked in Canada full-time for at least one year or part-time for at least 1,560 hours within the last three years.
Currently, Stream B applicants need to have obtained their educational qualifications within five years, specifically, of applying for permanent residency — meaning those who graduated five years ago or more may not meet the cutoff by the time they have completed the required duration of work in Canada.
The revised Stream B pathway no longer requires educational qualifications to have been obtained within a certain time frame.
Instead, applicants only need to have at least one year of full-time work experience or 1,560 hours of part-time work experience in Canada within the last three years to apply for permanent residency — expanding the number of people eligible to apply.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as of April 30, 2,358 Hong Kong residents have become Canadian permanent residents through Stream A, while 764 have gone through Stream B.
The pathways are set to expire on Aug. 31, 2026.
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