Number of Hongkongers applying for Canadian open work permits drops by 50% amid ‘gloomy’ job market
- Canadian immigration authorities received 2,000 work permit applications in first four months of this year, down from over 4,200 logged for same period in 2023
- Immigration consultant says drop in applications partly due to challenges of finding work, deterring Hongkongers from taking work route on bespoke migration pathway
The number of Hongkongers applying for work permits under a bespoke Canadian migration pathway over a four-month period has dropped more than 50 per cent from a year ago, with an expert partly attributing the fall to the country’s gloomy job market.
Canadian immigration figures from Tuesday also showed that 60 per cent of those applying for permanent residency (PR) under the pathway’s work and study routes were still waiting on approval as of April.
The country rolled out the policy in 2021 in the wake of the Beijing-imposed national security law, with those holding an open work permit able to qualify for PR status if they work full-time for at least a year or chalk up 1,560 hours of employment.
The documents allow graduates to apply without first securing a job, while their spouses and dependents can also move to Canada.
The data showed immigration authorities received about 2,000 applications for work permits in the first four months of this year, down from the more than 4,200 logged over the same period in 2023.
Authorities have received a total of 45,146 such applications as of April this year.
Willis Fu Yiu-wai, a senior immigration consultant at Goldmax Associates, partly attributed the drop in work permit applications to Canada’s gloomy job market.