Protected persons in Canada are people who've already been deemed, by either the IRB or another process, to warrant Canada's protection. Their cases have been reviewed and they've been determined to warrant our protection.
Because of the limited space we have in the levels plan, converting people from that category—the protected persons in Canada category—to permanent residents takes a long time. This one-time initiative will basically offer the opportunity to address the backlog of people who are waiting for PR in that specific category and bring a resolution to their situation in a more expedited way.