Question Period Note: Immigration Levels Plan 2026-2028

Canada’s immigration levels for 2026-2028.

• We are restoring control to the immigration system and bringing immigration back to sustainable levels.
• This year’s Levels Plan focuses on a return to sustainable immigration levels through continued decreases to temporary resident arrivals and stabilized permanent resident admissions.
• The 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan prioritizes economic immigration to support the Government’s commitment to attract the best and brightest in the world and fill critical labour gaps in high-demand occupations.
• Our plan will help strengthen Canada’s economy by meeting long-term labour market and demographic needs, while aligning immigration targets with community capacity.

If pressed:
• These targets support commitments to:
o reduce Canadian temporary population to less than 5% of the population by the end of 2027
o stabilize permanent resident admissions under 1% of the population beyond 2027, and
o achieve 12% of francophone immigration by 2029.

• Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the Minister of IRC must table Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan (Levels Plan) in Parliament. As the Prime Minister announced on October 22, this year, the Plan was included in Budget 2025.

• Beginning with the 2025-2027 Levels Plan, IRCC expanded the Levels Plan to include targets for new temporary resident (TR) arrivals (i.e., international students and foreign workers) in addition to permanent resident (PR) admissions.

• The 2026-2028 Levels Plan presents an overall reduction to TR arrivals and a stabilization of PR admissions over the next three years:
2026 2027 2028
TR Targets 385,000 370,000 370,000
PR Targets 380,000 380,000 380,000

• Overall, targets aim to strike a balance between supporting Canada’s ambitious economic agenda, meeting labour market needs while prioritizing first and foremost the Canadian workforce, and reducing pressures on housing, healthcare and other services.

• One-time initiatives will also be implemented to transition some individuals in Canada who are already on a pathway to permanent residence: Protected Persons in Canada and some temporary workers.

Temporary Residents
• TRs play an important role in supporting Canada’s economy and shaping our cultural fabric. However, the number of people working and studying temporarily in Canada has to consider and align with the evolving needs of our labour market, housing supply, and welcoming capacity.

• TR reduction policy changes have already started to have an impact with 278,900 fewer new arrivals of workers and students to Canada between January and August 2025 compared to the same period last year, with the full impact still to come.

• Targets for workers, including those under the International Mobility Program (IMP) and Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, are set at 230,000 in 2026 and 220,000 in 2027 and 2028.

o Workers make up approximately 60% of all TR arrivals across all three years and are prioritized to help meet critical labour market needs and support Canada’s ambitious agenda for talent attraction.

• The Government recognises the role TFWs play in some sectors of the economy and in some parts of the country. To that end, the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan will consider industries and sectors impacted by tariffs and the unique needs of rural and remote communities.

• New student arrivals will decrease to 155,000 in 2026 and to 150,000 in 2027 and 2028, with students representing approximately 40% of new temporary resident arrivals.
Permanent Residents
• The economic class represents the largest proportion of PR admissions each year, reaching approximately 64% by 2027– the highest percentage in over a decade.

• The overall proportion of family class admissions will remain relatively stable, between 21.3-22.1% in order to support family reunification, a cornerstone of Canada’s tradition as a welcoming country.

• Canada will continue to be a global leader in refugee resettlement with 13% of overall admissions dedicated to these programs.

• An additional 16,900 admissions over three years will also be dedicated to fulfilling Canada’s humanitarian commitments (e.g., Sudan, Ukraine, Hong Kong), as well as for applications based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

• The 2026-2028 Levels Plan sets targets for French-speaking PR admissions at 9% of total admissions for 2026 (30,267), 9.5% (31,825) for 2027 and 10.5% (35,175) for 2028. These targets will support the broader goal of achieving 12% by 2029.

• Canada is on track to meet its 2025 target of 395,000 permanent resident admissions. Between January and August 2025, approximately 277,000 permanent residents have been admitted to Canada.

One-time Initiatives to Recalibrate our Immigration System

• As part of a broader recalibration effort to return our immigration system to sustainable levels, the Government is implementing one-time initiatives to streamline the transition of some individuals in Canada who are already on a pathway to permanent residence.

• The initiatives will focus on Protected Persons in Canada and some temporary workers on a pathway to permanent residency. These initiatives complement the broader objectives of the 2026–2028 Levels Plan and will help to restore control, clarity and consistency to the immigration system.

Protected Persons in Canada

• Protected persons have a recognized protected status in Canada and can reside in the country as long as they maintain this status. The Government will undertake a one-time initiative to streamline the transition of approximately 115,000 Protected Persons in Canada who are already on a pathway to permanent residence over the next two years (2026 and 2027).

• This practical step delivers on Canada’s international humanitarian obligations, and will help provide greater stability and accelerate their full integration into the Canadian society and their path to citizenship.

• This practical step is a reflection of the fact that these people cannot return to the country of their origin. Admissions under this initiative are in addition to the above PR admission targets.

In-Canada Workers

• The Government will also undertake a one-time measure to accelerate the transition of up to 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residency in 2026 and 2027.

• This initiative will target individuals who are already contributing to Canada’s economy across a wide range of in-demand sectors, including in rural areas with known labour gaps, acknowledging the strong roots in their communities and their contributions to Canada’s economy.

Economic Impacts of Immigration

• PRs admitted through federal economic pathways under Express Entry consistently demonstrate higher average earnings than the median Canadian employment earnings (source: IMDB, Statistics Canada).

• PRs admitted through regional economic immigration pathways – such as the Provincial Nominee Program, Atlantic Immigration Program, and the Rural and Francophone Community Immigration Pilots – are selected by provinces, territories, and participating communities based on their ability to address specific local labour market needs. These programs fill critical labour market needs ensuring that the benefits of economic immigration are distributed across all regions of Canada.

• In 2024, core working age (25–54) immigrants (non-permanent residents (NPRs) and PRs) represented 35.4% of the Canadian labour force, and all labour force growth between 2023 and 2024 (source: LFS 2024).

• In 2024, immigrants (NPRs and PRs) of all ages represented:
o 23% of people working in construction;
o 40% of those working in professional, scientific and technical services;
o 44% of those working in the transportation and warehousing sector; and
o 43% of those working in accommodation and food services.

• Immigration plays an important role in healthcare—One in four healthcare sector workers are immigrants. Moreover, immigrants’ share in the healthcare sector is on par with their presence in the overall labour market.

• International students have a direct positive impact on the Canadian economy, including indirect support for jobs in the education sector, domestic tuition rates and domestic student opportunities (program choice and access to education facilities).

Levels Plan Development and Consultation

• The annual Immigration Levels Plan sets targets and ranges for each immigration category in line with the Government’s economic, social, and humanitarian priorities.

• To support the development of the 2026–2028 Levels Plan, IRCC analyzed updated demographic projections from Statistics Canada, including how the Levels Plan could affect workforce composition and regional labour supply.

• Macroeconomic modelling from other federal departments also contributed to the analysis, providing assessments of broader economic indicators – such as real GDP, GDP per capita, household formation, and labour force growth.

• Levels planning enables the Department and its partners to allocate resources appropriately for the review and management of applications and plan settlement supports.

• Each year, the Levels Plan is developed following extensive consultations, including engagement with provinces and territories (PTs), partners, stakeholders, and the public.

• More specifically, engagement includes:
o Provinces and Territories (PTs): Engagement with PTs is conducted bilaterally and multilaterally, guided by the Joint Federal-Provincial-Territorial Immigration Levels Consultation Framework, as approved through the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration (FMRI).
o Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec has responsibility for the selection of immigrants destined to the province (except Family Class and in-Canada refugee claimants). The Accord commits the federal government to take into consideration Quebec’s desired levels in all categories. Quebec’s immigration levels plan is established annually.

o Stakeholder consultations: The Department conducts an annual consultation survey, which is shared with key stakeholders (e.g., business representatives, educational institutions, multicultural or ethno-cultural associations, municipalities, urban planners, settlement or resettlement organizations, etc.).
o For the 2026–2028 Levels Plan, a total of 840 stakeholders and partner organizations completed the survey as well as 18,135 individual respondents.

o The Department also held thematic conversations with a number of stakeholders to explore key elements of the upcoming Levels Plan. Participants included urban planners, municipalities involved in welcoming newcomers, economists from Canadian banks, small and medium-sized businesses, Francophone organizations, as well as experts who shared insights on how Canada can strategically attract global talent.

o Indigenous peoples: IRCC prioritizes engagement with Indigenous peoples and makes efforts to increase response rates from Indigenous organizations.
o For the 2026–2028 Levels Plan, the Department invited 530 individuals from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit serving and/or representing organizations to provide feedback.

o Public opinion: While public opinion research shows that Canadians still believe that immigrants make important contributions to Canada's economy and society, the proportion of Canadians who believe there are too many immigrants coming to Canada has risen substantially over the last two years. In fall 2025, 56% of Canadians believe the country accepts too many immigrants. On the other hand, some employers, post-secondary institutions, and small/medium sized communities are calling for more immigrants to meet their specific regional, economic and labour needs.

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