Maple News reports that Canada has unveiled new temporary immigration measures to assist temporary residents directly affected by natural disasters within the country, including international students, temporary foreign workers, and visitors. Disasters covered include wildfires, storms, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
Under the new measures, impacted residents can replace lost or damaged status documents and apply to restore or extend their temporary resident status. Eligible individuals may have up to six months from the date of direct impact to restore their status, compared with the usual 90 days. The measures took effect on April 1, 2026, and are expected to remain in place until November 30, 2028.
Temporary residents applying to extend their status before their current work or study permit expires can continue to benefit from maintained status while processing, allowing them to keep working during that period.
To qualify, applicants must have held valid temporary resident status as a student, worker, or visitor on the date they were impacted by the disaster and must have been directly affected by a disaster in Canada between April 1, 2026, and November 30, 2028. Those who held a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) and wish to extend their stay must apply for another TRP. IRCC has defined what counts as being directly affected under this policy.
Maple News will continue to monitor guidance from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and provide updates as the policy evolves.