Canada's Immigration Levels Plan 2025-2027

On 24 October 2024, in Ottawa, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released details of the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan.

The plan sets out permanent resident targets along with a series of targets across the economic immigration, family reunification, refugee and protected person, humanitarian and compassionate, and other categories.

For the first time, the plan includes temporary residence targets for international students and temporary foreign workers, forming a new comprehensive approach to migration management. Temporary residents and permanent residents both play a pivotal role in supporting economic growth, addressing labour shortages and contributing to the diversity of communities across Canada, including French-speaking minority communities outside Quebec.

In recent years, Canada has welcomed immigrants to support the economy and meet labour market needs. In the period following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada has had to adjust immigration levels, both temporary and permanent, to align them more closely with the capacity of communities.

The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan takes a whole-of-society approach in responding to the needs of newcomers and Canadians alike, including through consultations with federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories, municipalities, Indigenous peoples, stakeholders, communities and Canadians.

To ensure a well-managed migration system, the Government is reducing the proportion of temporary residents to 5% of the total population by the end of 2026.

A series of measures was announced over the past year to achieve this objective, including an intake cap on most applications forstudy permitand revised cost-of-living requirements for students, changes to the eligibility criteria forPost-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP)and for work permits issued to the spouses of international students and foreign workers under bothInternational Mobility Program (IMP)andTemporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

Additional measures for the low-wage stream of the TFW Program have also been introduced to align the programme more closely with current labour market conditions.

The new temporary residence targets are set at 673,650 in 2025, 516,600 in 2026 and 543,600 in 2027. These figures representwork permitand study permits in Canada.

The 2025 target for international students reflects the previously announced study permit cap (for new arrivals only) and represents 45% of all temporary residents.

In 2026 and 2027, international students will make up the majority of new temporary residents at 59% and 56% respectively, with the remainder allocated to temporary workers under both the IMP and the TFWP. These targets support the needs of the labour market and of Canadian employers, particularly in sectors that depend on temporary workers.

The temporary and permanent residence targets were developed in parallel. More than 40% of all permanent residents in 2025 are expected to be students or workers already in Canada.

The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to reduce overall permanent resident numbers to 395,000 in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.

Growing the Canadian economy remains the central priority of this plan, with the economic category accounting for the largest share of annual admissions, reaching almost 62% by 2027. Most economic immigration is allocated under “Federal Economic Priorities” for workers in critical occupations such as healthcare and the trades.

The plan also emphasises easing the transition to permanent residence for those already in Canada, such as students and workers, under the “In-Canada Focus” category.

Support for family reunification is maintained at 22% of all permanent resident admissions.

Canada’s strong and proud tradition of offering protection to “vulnerable” communities is reflected in a plan that allocates 15% of all permanent resident admissions to this stream. A total of 21,200 places is set aside on humanitarian grounds over the 3 years.

Compared with IRCC’s 2024 francophone immigration plan, this year’s plan increases the allocation for French speakers to 8.5% in 2025, 9.5% in 2026 and 10% in 2027 (against the 2024-2026 plan targets of 7% and 8% in 2025-2026), improving demographic diversity across Canada.

The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan for students and temporary workers

Year	2025	20261	2027
Total2	673,650 (604,900 – 742,400)3	516,600 (435,250 – 597,950)	543,600 (472,900 – 614,250)
Total temporary workers	367,750	210,700	237,700
IMP4	285,750	128,700	155,700
TFWP567	82,000	82,000	82,000
Total international students8	305,900	305,900	305,900

1. The projected targets and ranges for 2026 and 2027 will be confirmed or adjusted on 1 November each year.
2. The temporary residence targets cover the temporary work programmes (for example the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP)), as well as new arrivals under the International Student Program (ISP). No targets are set for visitors orelectronic travel authorisation (eTA), permit extensions, in-Canada study or work permit applications, or asylum seekers. The number of asylum seekers and of in-Canada study and work permit applications is counted in the overall methodology used to reach the 5% target.
3. The ranges reflect variation in the distribution of expiring permits and other factors.
4. The IMP covers a range of categories that do not require anThe Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)and work permits issued under agreements with trading partner countries or under public policy in the economic, family or humanitarian categories.Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP)is also counted within this programme.
5. The TFW Program is administered jointly withEmployment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)on the basis of an employer’s hiring needs when no Canadian or permanent resident is locally available to take the job. An LMIA is required in order to issue a restricted work permit under this programme, which includes both seasonal and non-seasonal agricultural streams.
6. This includes all non-seasonal workers remaining in Canada for more than 1 year. Primary agricultural workers under the TFW Program who do not leave Canada during the year will be prioritised within these targets in order to limit adverse effects on Canada’s economy and food supply chain.
7. The TFW Program targets exclude seasonal workers who enter and leave Canada within the same year (for example, certain seasonal agricultural sectors and seasonal low-wage occupations in Canada lasting less than 270 days).
8. Study permits are issued to international students staying 6 months or longer in Canada at aDesignated Learning Institution (DLI)approved by the provincial or territorial government to host international students.

The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan for permanent residents

	2025	20261	2027
Total permanent residents	395,000 (367,000 – 436,000)2	380,000 (352,000 – 416,000)	365,000 (338,000 – 401,000)
French speakers (outside Quebec)3	8,5% (29,325)	9,5% (31,350)	10% (31,500)
Total economic category	232,150 (215,000 – 256,000)	229,750 (214,000 – 249,000)	225,350 (207,000 – 246,000)
Federal Economic Priorities4	41,700	47,400	47,800
In-Canada Focus5	82,980	75,830	70,930
Federal Business6	2,000	1,000	1,000
Federal Economic Pilots: Caregivers7, AF, CIP8, EMP	10,920	9,920	9,920
AIP	5,000	5,000	5,000
PNP	55,000	55,000	55,000
Quebec9	34,500	TBD	TBD
Public policy10	50	100	200
Total family category	94,500 (88,500 – 102,000)	88,000 (82,000 – 96,000)	81,000 (77,000 – 89,000)
Spouses and children	70,000	66,500	61,000
Parents and grandparents	24,500	21,500	20,000
Total refugee category	58,350 (55,000 – 65,000)	55,350 (50,000 – 62,000)	54,350 (50,000 – 60,000)
Protected persons	20,000	18,000	18,000
Refugee resettlement11	15,250	15,250	15,250
Refugee referral visas	100	100	100
Refugee sponsorship	23,000	22,000	21,000
Total humanitarian and other categories12	10,000 (8,500 – 13,000)	6,900 (6,000 – 9,000)	4,300 (4,000 – 6,000)

1. The projected targets and ranges for 2026 and 2027 will be confirmed or adjusted on 1 November each year.
2. The ranges help IRCC maintain the ability to respond to shifting priorities and programme pressures.
3. These totals represent the admissions needed to reach the target of 8.5% in 2025, 9.5% in 2026 and 10% in 2027 of all permanent residents. The targets count admissions outside Quebec only and are calculated on the basis of the admissions range outside Quebec. When Quebec publishes its 2026 immigration plan, these figures may need to be updated.
4. This covers eligible candidates with the specific skills, training and language ability needed to meet labour market demand. The priority categories for 2025 are: healthcare occupations, trade occupations and French-language ability. The categories are determined each year, based on labour market information and input from partners, including the provinces, territories and stakeholders.
5. Mainly immigrants from theCanadian Experience Class (CEC)and regional immigration pathways, but it may also includeThe Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)andThe Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).
6. This covers immigrants from theStart-up Visa programmeandSelf-employed Persons Program.
7. This covers immigrants from the Home Child Care Provider Pilot and the Home Support Worker Pilot, together with earlier caregiver programmes. Those programmes are: Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs, the Interim Pathway for Caregivers and the Live-in Caregiver Program. The pilots provide a direct pathway to permanent residence for workers as soon as they arrive in Canada.
8. This replaces the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot and includes the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot aimed at French-speaking minority communities.
9. Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec is responsible for selecting economic immigrants to the province. On 1 November 2023, Quebec published its 2024-2025 immigration plan, setting a target of 56,500 permanent residents a year in 2024 and 2025. When Quebec publishes a new immigration plan in autumn 2025, these figures will be updated.
10. This includes cases granted permanent residence under regularisation initiatives, focused on people working in essential service sectors.
11. This includes streams for people in need of protection and for the LGBTQI+ community.
12. This includes immigrants selected on humanitarian grounds, for public policy reasons or under the temporary permit category. It also includes some immigrants arriving through Canada’s responses to the political situations in Ukraine, Sudan and Hong Kong.

Find out more about the Government of Canada’s official announcement of the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan athere.