Canada Plans Up to 45,000 Family PR Admissions in 2027

Canada plans up to 45,000 2027 permanent residence admissions for eligible spouses, partners and dependent children already in the country with pending applications. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) set out the allocation as part of a wider time-limited measure.

The family members must have applied and still be waiting for a final decision. Their Canadian citizen or permanent-resident relatives must reside in Canada. The allocation is for existing applicants.

People applying from outside Canada are not covered by this measure. It does not create a new route for family applicants abroad.

Officials discussed the plan at a technical briefing on November 6, 2026. The department later published a breakdown of the planned admissions.

Only pending in-Canada family files fall within the allocation

The covered relationships are spouses, common-law partners and dependent children of Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Applicants must already be in Canada, have filed for permanent residence and be awaiting a final decision.

A relative’s relationship to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident alone is not enough. The family member must also meet the in-Canada and pending-application conditions.

The measure does not extend a new opportunity to people seeking to apply from another country. It concerns family files already in the processing system, rather than a new intake of applications.

The 45,000 is a planned upper amount within a wider 2027 measure

The figure is a planned maximum for family admissions, not a tally of decisions already made. IRCC’s breakdown lists up to 45,000 places for spouses, partners and dependent children in 2027.

Those places sit within a broader package of 200,000 additional permanent residence spaces for 2027. They are on top of the 380,000 annual target set out in the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan.

The wider allocation includes a separate stream for in-Canada workers and their family members. Up to 100,000 spaces in that stream are to be allocated with provinces and territories through the Provincial Nominee Program. Other groups in the overall measure include applicants in the Hong Kong and Ukraine pathways, along with people approved on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

The family allocation is one part of the plan, not the entire measure. The government says the people covered are already living and contributing in Canada, so the additional admissions would not represent net new arrivals.

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab described the broader plan as a way to meet existing commitments:

“Canada is building on its progress to return sustainability to our immigration system while honouring the commitments we made to those in need”

Pending applicants do not need to submit another file

The allocation does not establish a new immigration program or reopen pathways that previously stopped accepting applications. The department has indicated that the initiative brings no new application procedures or fees.

Applicants with pending files do not need to submit another application, contact IRCC or take another step to have their cases considered for accelerated processing. Their existing applications are the ones considered under the measure.