Canada Immigration IRCC -2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, released by on October 24 2025
| Good day ladies and gentlemen, this is IRC news, I am Joy Stephen, a certified Canadian Immigration practitioner, and I bring to you this Federal News Bulletin from CIC news release. This recording originates from the Polinsys studios in Cambridge, Ontario. |
| 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan Each year, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship tables the Immigration Levels Plan, a forward-looking snapshot of immigration targets for the next three years. The plan provides permanent resident admissions targets for 2025, with notional commitments for 2026 and 2027. For the first time, we’re extending our levels plan to also include targets for temporary residents, taking into account the full scope of all newcomers and helping reduce temporary resident volumes to 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2026. Development of the levels plan When developing the Levels Plan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) considers priorities and objectives for immigration, including those set out in the Immigration Refugee and Protection Act economic and regional needs international obligations and commitments processing capacity the capacity to settle, integrate and retain newcomers Throughout the year, IRCC engages with a broad range of stakeholders and partners, including provinces and territories, to help inform our plan. IRCC also conducts public opinion research through surveys and focus groups with newcomers, Canadians living in rural areas, Francophones living in communities outside of Quebec, as well as Indigenous Peoples. Findings from these consultations and public engagement initiatives informed the Immigration Levels Plan and are published in the Levels Consultation Report. Permanent resident targets Permanent resident programs include economic streams, family reunification, refugees and protected persons, and humanitarian and compassionate admissions. This year’s levels plan reduces permanent resident targets starting in 2025 and forecasts decreases for the following two years, resulting in a pause in population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth and economic prosperity for the long term. The plan represents an overall decrease of 105,000 admissions in 2025, as compared to projected 2025 levels prioritizes in-Canada applicants and pathways for those already here More than 40% of anticipated permanent resident admissions in 2025 will be from those who are already in Canada as temporary residents. Research has demonstrated that newcomers with in-Canada experience have positive long-term success. These skilled, educated newcomers can continue to support the workforce and economy, without placing additional demands on our social services. Adjustments will be made to our economic immigration streams to prioritize transitions of workers already here to permanent residents and to be responsive to labour market needs—our in-Canada focus. We will put emphasis on our federal economic priorities in programs, including the Canadian experience class and regional immigration programs, to attract workers we need, such as in health care and trades occupations. focuses on economic immigration, with approximately 62% of total permanent resident admissions that will be dedicated to the economic class, in key sectors such as health and trades, by 2027 continues to reunite families and loved ones, including spouses, children, parents and grandparents. In 2025, nearly 24% of overall permanent resident admissions will be allocated to the family class upholds Canada’s long-standing commitment to resettle the world’s most vulnerable, including human rights defenders, LGBTQI+ refugees, religious and ethnic minorities, and women and children in precarious situations strengthens Francophone communities outside Quebec and supports their economic prosperity. Of the overall permanent resident admission targets, Francophone immigration will represent 8.5% in 2025 9.5% in 2026 10% in 2027 These targets are augmented from last year’s plan and allow for a continued increase in volume year-over-year of Francophone admissions outside Quebec, despite decreased permanent resident levels. Temporary resident targets In March 2024, Canada announced a plan to decrease the number of temporary residents to 5% of the total population over the next three years, including temporary foreign workers and international students. Starting in 2025, Canada will have targets for temporary residents that will capture the number of new workers and students arriving in Canada: Student arrivals are aligned with the previously announced cap. Worker arrivals are those under the International Mobility Program and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Given temporary resident reduction measures announced in September this past year, Canada’s temporary population will decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to permanent residents or leave Canada compared to new ones arriving. Specifically, compared to each previous year, we will see Canada’s temporary population decline by 445,901 in 2025, and 445,662 in 2026, and will be followed by a modest increase of 17,439 in 2027 Temporary resident targets were calculated by assessing a number of factors, such as the number of individuals expected to depart Canada in each program (such as when a permit expires), individuals transitioning to permanent residents, approval rates for each program, estimated renewal rates and other factors. As such, categories excluded from the temporary resident targets, but included in the stock of temporary residents are as follows: Work or study permit extensions or change of status from within Canada (since we would be counting an individual’s status more than once). This is factored into the outflows. Seasonal workers who enter and leave Canada within the same year (since they aren’t a part of our year-end population count). Asylum claimants who are seeking protection in Canada (since they are entitled by law to have their claim assessed so we can’t control the volumes as we do with other programs). Measures designed to achieve the 5% target International student cap: IRCC introduced an annual cap on international student study permits, including a further 10% reduction in 2025 relative to 2024 targets. Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP) reform: IRCC tightened eligibility requirements for the PGWPP to better align the program with immigration goals and labour market needs. Temporary Foreign Worker Program reform: Employment and Social Development Canada introduced a 10% cap on employers hiring temporary foreign workers under the low-wage stream, and announced an increase to the starting hourly wage for temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream by 20%. Limiting work permits for spouses of temporary residents: IRCC is tightening work permit eligibility for spouses of international students and temporary foreign workers. For more information, please consult our latest news release on strengthening temporary residence programs for sustainable volumes. The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to result in a marginal population decline of 0.2% in both 2025 and 2026 before returning to a population growth of 0.8% in 2027. The plan will reduce the housing supply gap by approximately 670,000 units by the end of 2027. Continued robust GDP growth and enable GDP per capita growth to accelerate throughout 2025 to 2027, as well as improve housing affordability and lower the unemployment rate. |
| You can always access past news from the Canadian Federal Government by visiting this link: https://myar.me/tag/fed/. Furthermore, if you are interested in gaining comprehensive insights into the Provincial Express Entry Federal pool Canadian Permanent Residence Program or other Canadian Federal or Provincial Immigration programs, or if you require guidance after your selection, we cordially invite you to connect with us through https://myar.me/c. We highly recommend participating in our complimentary Zoom resource meetings, which take place every Thursday. We kindly request you to carefully review the available resources. Should any questions arise, our team of Canadian Authorized Representatives is readily available to address your concerns during the weekly AR’s Q&A session held on Fridays. You can find the details for both of these meetings at https://myar.me/zoom. Our dedicated team is committed to providing you with professional assistance throughout the immigration process. Additionally, IRCNews offers valuable insights on selecting a qualified representative to advocate on your behalf with the Canadian Federal or Provincial governments, which can be accessed at https://ircnews.ca/consultant. |
