The Trudeau government’s special immigration program for Hong Kong residents has received more applications than expected in its first three weeks of implementation, a spokesman for Canada’s immigration minister said Friday (April 16).
From Feb. 8 to 28, 503 people applied for a three-year open work permit designed for young, educated people from Hong Kong. It also shortens the time they are eligible to apply for permanent residency.
U.S. Immigration Secretary Marco Mendicino announced the new visa measure last November in response to China’s disqualification of lawmakers deemed insufficiently loyal and its crackdown on anti-government protests.
“Many young people in Hong Kong are now looking overseas, and we want them to choose Canada. That’s why we’ve made a significant effort to help them come to Canada,” press secretary Alexander Cohen said by email Friday.
Canada-China relations are now at their lowest point in the 50 years of diplomatic relations.
Two Canadians accused of espionage went on trial last month after more than two years in jail.
The two were jailed in China in December 2018, shortly after Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver in response to a U.S. extradition request.
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