Canada has received more than 5,700 applications after Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that Hong Kong residents will be able to apply for new open work permits beginning on February 8, 2021.

Alexander Cohen, press secretary to Minister Mendicino, said that Canada typically received about 1,500 to 2,000 work-permit applications from Hong Kongers annually. This means that the outstanding amounts of applications submitted in the first three months after the launch of the program, roughly triple the number that usually applies in a full year.

The Hong Kong Pathway will attract recent graduates and skilled workers with faster permanent residency, Hong Kong residents must have graduated with a Canadian post-secondary diploma or degree in the last 5 years, or hold an equivalent foreign credential. A post-secondary diploma program must be a minimum of 2 years.