The federal government is giving Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion another year to apply for work permit extensions.

Ukrainians who came to Canada before March 31, 2024, will now have until next year to apply to extend their work permits by up to three years.

The government created an emergency program to allow Ukrainians to come to Canada in 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country began.

The Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel visa offered three-year work and study permits to those fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Some 300,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the country on those temporary permits.

The government previously said applicants had until March 31 to apply for new work or study permits, or to renew their work permits for up to three years. The one-year extension was announced on Tuesday.

As the war has dragged on, many visa-holders and advocates like the Ukrainian Canadian Congress have pushed for a path to permanent residency, saying the people who fled the war have now established lives in Canada.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress said in a media statement on Wednesday that its president met with Immigration Minister Lena Diab last week.

“The UCC will continue to advocate for a pathway to permanent residence for displaced Ukrainians, but this extension will allow people some predictability and the ability to continue to support their families and contribute to Canada’s economy,” said Alexandra Chyczij, the group’s president.

Thousands of people have applied for permanent residence, and about 2,500 have been granted permanent resident status.

The federal government has reduced the number of permanent residents it will admit in the coming years as it reconfigures the immigration system and attempts to tackle a backlog of applications.

According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data, it has applications for permanent residence from more than 995,500 people from all countries, and more than half of those are considered to be in a backlog.

Around 25,000 Ukrainians who hold the emergency visas have applied for permanent residency through a temporary program for people whose family members are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. That stream closed in October 2024.

The federal government said in a press release on Wednesday the new measures are meant to be temporary, since many Ukrainians will eventually go home to help rebuild the country.

— With files from David Baxter