On October 16, 2025, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Lena Metlege Diab, announced a significant policy shift: the federal government will restore additional nomination slots for the provincial/territorial nomination stream of immigration known as the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for 2025. What Was Announced The federal allotment for PNP nominations under the 2025 immigration plan had been reduced from about 110,000 slots in 2024 to 55,000 in 2025. After consultation with provincial and...

Date:  October 15, 2025 Type:  Express Entry — Category-based selection (Healthcare & Social Services) IRCC has invited 2,500 candidates  to apply for permanent residence in a category-based Express Entry draw targeting Healthcare and Social Services occupations (Version 2) . The CRS cut-off was 472  for this round. This continues Canada’s 2025 trend of prioritizing critical health and social-care roles through targeted draws. Key numbers at a glance Invitations to Apply (ITAs):  2,500 CRS...

According to recent reports, H&C applications now face wait times ranging from 12 to 600 months (up to 50 years) . IRCC has confirmed a backlog of ~49,900 cases . The annual admissions target for H&C in the 2025 immigration levels plan is only about 1,100 spots . For Hong Kong applicants specifically , reports indicate approximately 21,000 pending cases , but only 1,800 admissions  are allocated in 2025. H&C backlogs demonstrate how discretionary programs become overwhelmed when demand...