Ottawa's New Measure to Address Hong Kong Immigration Backlog Amid Uncertainty: Experts View Positive Development

The South China Morning Post reports that experts and Canadian parliamentarians view Ottawa's recent one-off measure to finalize more than 30,000 applications as a positive development, which adds more quota spaces to address the backlog in Hong Kong immigration pathways. This measure, which adds more quota spaces to address the backlog in Hong Kong immigration pathways, is intended to alleviate the uncertainty experienced by tens of thousands from the city awaiting permanent residency.

Advocates and immigration experts have described the Canadian objective of resolving a backlog exceeding 30,000 applications from Hong Kong residents as encouraging, while simultaneously noting that doubts persist regarding the feasibility of achieving this by 2027, and experts view this as a positive development.

Furthermore, Canada’s 2027-29 immigration levels plan, announced alongside the budget on Thursday, introduced a “time-limited measure” to allocate up to 100,000 additional spaces for permanent residency for specific humanitarian groups, including those under the Hong Kong pathways, which is intended to address the backlog.