Temporary immigration affords critical economic benefits to Canada as thousands of people visit, study, or work temporarily in Canada each year. The government does not plan for and set quotas for temporary immigration in the same way as it does for permanent immigration; instead, it processes applications according to demand. According to the 2019 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, Canada issued more than six million visas and electronic travel authorizations to visitors, international students, and temporary workers in 2018, increasing more than 5 percent from the previous year. Statistics Canada has previously observed that "the number of individuals admitted annually temporarily has been growing faster than the number of permanent immigrants."

Temporary residents are foreign nationals permitted to enter and remain in Canada for a specified brief period and must leave by the end of the period authorized for their stay. There is no definition of "temporary immigration," "temporary residence," or "temporary resident" in the IRPA. Instead, the IRPA stipulates that all foreign nationals must apply for a visa or for any other document required by the regulations before entering Canada (s 11); the regulations set out the specific criteria that must be met. For example, section 7 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations4 states, "A foreign national may not enter Canada to remain temporarily without obtaining a temporary resident visa."

The officer who assesses an application must be satisfied that the foreign national will depart Canada at the end of the authorized period for their temporary stay (IRPA s 20(1)(b)). The officer considers a variety of factors, including

• whether the applicant has family or economic ties to their country of residence;
• whether the applicant has sufficient funds to support self and family members in Canada;
• the applicant’s immigration status in their country of residence;
• the economic and political conditions in the applicant’s country of residence; and
• the applicant’s obligations or responsibilities in their country of residence.