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TL;DR
Immigration lawyers and consultants are warning temporary residents not to pay for unofficial "waitlists" to Canada's one-time TR-to-PR pathway, which lacks public eligibility criteria or an application portal as of late April.
Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said on March 6 that the 33,000-spot program had "already launched," but subsequent comments suggested the criteria had not been finalized.
The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association has formally criticized the minister's "sporadic communication" for fuelling misinformation.
Private waitlists are held by immigration practitioners, not IRCC, and do not improve an applicant's chance of qualifying.
The pathway may exclude all Census Metropolitan Areas, meaning workers in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and other major cities could be ineligible.
Immigration professionals are warning temporary residents in Canada not to pay for spots on unofficial "waitlists" for the federal government's one-time TR-to-PR pathway, a 33,000-place program that still has no published eligibility criteria or open application portal, weeks after Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab told the Toronto Star on March 6 that it had "already launched."
The gap between that public claim and the absence of operational details has created an opening for unauthorized agents and some immigration practitioners to charge advance fees for rosters that carry no weight with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association has formally criticized the minister's "sporadic communication" for fuelling misinformation.
What the minister said, and what followed
The TR-to-PR measure was set out in the federal 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan as a one-time initiative to transition up to 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residence over 2026 and 2027. On March 6, Diab told the Toronto Star, "We have launched it already. I am not in a position to tell you specifically how many so far, but we will in the month of April be able to provide more clarity and more detail on them."
Those comments were reported at a moment when more than 2.1 million temporary residents had permits expiring in 2025, with another 1.9 million expected to expire in 2026, according to the Toronto Star's reporting.
In an April interview, Diab said further details would come "in the next coming weeks" but indicated the eligibility requirements had not been finalized. When asked whether the program would be sector-specific, she said the detailed criteria would come out soon. As of late April, no portal, forms, or full criteria had been released.
And then the waitlists showed up
The waitlists being marketed to temporary residents are not IRCC queues. They are rosters held by individual immigration practitioners, Moving2Canada reported on April 23. Applicants place their name on a practitioner's list and express interest in hiring that person to file an application if and when the pathway opens.
Some practitioners are charging a token fee or partial prepayment to hold a spot. The stated rationale is to be "first in line" when the program launches. But being on a private list does not affect IRCC's selection decisions and does not improve an applicant's chance of qualifying.
Rebecca Major, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, said she hears from applicants multiple times a week who view the pathway as their only option to stay in Canada. "Many people have no other options, and are desperate for any and all information," Major said. "I do not think IRCC fully appreciates how high the stakes are here. This TR to PR program feels make-or-break for many applicants. And when that level of desperation sets in, people will do almost anything to get ahead."
If eligibility rules later exclude a person who prepaid, they may not be able to recover the fee.
Major cities may be excluded from the yet-to-be formalized program
CIC News reported that in an April 18 interview, Diab said the program would exclude all Census Metropolitan Areas. Statistics Canada defines a CMA as a metropolitan area with at least 100,000 people, including at least 50,000 in the urban core. Canada has 41 CMAs that contain roughly 84% of the population.
If the exclusion holds, temporary workers in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, and dozens of other cities would fall outside the program, regardless of their work experience or time in Canada.
The broader policy conversation driving the TR-to-PR program
The TR-to-PR measure sits inside a federal plan to reduce temporary residents to less than 5% of Canada's population by the end of 2027. The same levels plan holds permanent resident admissions at 380,000 per year through 2028 while targeting new temporary resident arrivals at 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in both 2027 and 2028.
Diab has described the pathway as one way to reduce the risk that departing temporary residents become undocumented. The government is managing two competing pressures: a large cohort of workers and students whose permits are expiring, and a commitment to shrink the temporary population overall.
What this means for you
If you're a work permit holder in Canada, lawyers and consultants say, do not pay for a private waitlist. These rosters are not connected to IRCC, and no practitioner can guarantee eligibility for a program whose rules have not been published.
If you live or work in a major city (any CMA), the reported geographic exclusion may mean this pathway is not available to you. Check whether your location qualifies before making any decisions based on this program.
Keep your language test results current, request employment letters from your employers, and have documents translated into English or French.
If you hire a representative, confirm they are a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant or an immigration lawyer authorized to practise in Canada. You can verify this through the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.
Monitor IRCC directly for official announcements. Until full criteria are published, no one outside the government can tell you whether you qualify.
