Canada’s updated immigration plan offers more chances to stay permanently

Canada plans to welcome 370,000 new temporary residents each year from 2027 through 2029 and set annual permanent resident admissions at 380,000. The immigration measures were outlined in the federal budget released Nov. 5, 2026. They include a new initiative that would give up to 200,000 temporary residents already in Canada an opportunity to become permanent residents by the end of 2027. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government says the plan aims to meet labour market needs while keeping immigration at manageable levels for housing affordability and supply, health care and other public services. It also places more emphasis on helping people already living and working in Canada settle permanently.

The plan continues the federal government’s shift toward reducing immigration from the higher levels recorded earlier this decade. The budget says new international student arrivals from January to August 2026 were 71 per cent lower than in the same period of 2024. New worker arrivals fell 57 per cent, and new asylum claims dropped 68 per cent.

The earlier population surge added demand to already constrained housing markets in Canada’s largest metropolitan areas. Housing completions did not keep pace, putting further upward pressure on home prices, rents and living costs. The initial strain was especially apparent in rental markets, where most newcomers first seek housing. High construction costs, restrictive zoning and lengthy approval processes continued to limit supply.

The population increase also intensified existing pressures on health care, education and social services. Meanwhile, more people seeking work coincided with weaker hiring. The Bank of Canada said last year that strong population growth during 2023 and much of 2024, combined with reduced demand for workers partly resulting from earlier interest rate increases, had contributed to rising unemployment, particularly among young people and newcomers.

Earlier federal immigration cuts have also helped cool the housing market. Much slower population growth and more rental housing have helped lower asking rents in Metro Vancouver and Greater Toronto, giving renters more choice. Home sales have weakened considerably as well, alongside high borrowing costs and economic uncertainty. More opportunities in 2027 for temporary residents already in Canada to become permanent residents could remove a barrier to homeownership for some newcomers, since permanent residents are not covered by the federal foreign homebuyer ban. Carney also intends to extend that ban on purchases of existing and resale homes to Jan. 1, 2029, while exempting new residential properties to encourage investment in new housing.

The overall targets for 2027 and 2028 carry forward figures from the previous immigration plan, now extended through 2029, but the government is changing allocations in some categories. The annual target for new temporary residents falls from 385,000 in 2026 to 370,000 in 2027. The annual permanent resident target remains at 380,000, the same level set for 2026.

For each of the three years covered by the plan, the temporary resident target includes 150,000 international students and 220,000 workers. The corresponding 2026 targets were 155,000 students and 230,000 workers. The annual worker allocation includes 170,000 arrivals through the International Mobility Program and 50,000 through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

These figures cover specified categories of new student and worker arrivals. They exclude visitors, asylum claimants, permit extensions, and study or work permit applications made from within Canada. Post-graduation work permits are excluded because they represent a change or extension of status rather than a new arrival. Some seasonal workers are also outside the targets. The figures therefore do not represent everyone entering Canada temporarily or the total number of temporary residents living in the country.

The planned levels remain well below earlier peaks. The annual temporary resident target of 370,000 is about 602,000 below the 971,815 new arrivals recorded in 2023. The annual permanent resident target of 380,000 is about 104,000 below the peak of 483,655 admissions in 2024. Permanent resident admissions can include people already in Canada who obtain permanent status, as well as newcomers arriving from abroad.

Economic immigration will account for 244,700 permanent resident admissions annually, or about 64 per cent of the overall target. Family immigration will account for 81,000 admissions each year: 66,000 spouses, partners and children, and 15,000 parents and grandparents. The plan allocates a further 49,300 spaces annually to refugees and protected persons, alongside 5,000 in the humanitarian, compassionate and other category.

The plan sets rising targets for French-speaking immigrants as a share of permanent resident admissions outside Quebec: 9.5 per cent in 2027, 10.5 per cent in 2028 and 12 per cent in 2029.

Alongside the annual targets, the new temporary-to-permanent residency initiative would transition 100,000 workers eligible for Express Entry or the Provincial Nominee Program by the end of 2027. The government says it will work with provinces and territories to address local labour needs. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says the measure will provide additional processing space in 2027 for workers already in Canada and their accompanying family members, as well as people with longstanding humanitarian cases who are also in the country.

The department will also continue initiatives announced in the 2025 federal budget to accelerate permanent residency during 2026 and 2027 for up to 115,000 protected persons and their dependants in Canada, and 33,000 work permit holders.