(Ottawa) Refugees and undocumented migrants working in the health sector – like the “guardian angels” of CHSLDs – want to be able to benefit from a federal program that would grant them permanent residence in Canada.
The “Pathway from Temporary to Permanent Residence” program, announced last April, aims to retain skilled essential workers in the country, with an emphasis on staff in hospitals and long-term care facilities. .
Although the federal government has already received the maximum number of applications from recent university graduates and other “essential workers,” few applications have been filed in the health care stream.
The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change explains that refugees and undocumented migrants cannot apply and that many categories of health jobs are excluded from the federal program.
Ottawa will no longer accept applications on November 5, and so far, nearly 15,000 places in the health care stream remain vacant. About 5,420 requests were received on Wednesday, while Ottawa could accept 20,000.
Quebec exercises significant control over its immigration criteria, particularly language requirements: it is the province that selects candidates eligible for the federal program who wish to reside in Quebec.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.