Canada is expected to table its 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan in the first days of November, setting targets for permanent-resident admissions and temporary arrivals. The schedule follows a statutory reporting requirement.
Section 94(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act sets November 1 as the usual deadline. Because that date falls on a Sunday in 2026, the law allows the report to be tabled within the next 30 days on which the House is sitting. The plan is expected when Parliament next meets, likely in early November.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in committee material dated April 30, 2026: “Work is underway to develop the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, which will be tabled in fall 2026.” No new targets have been announced.
The current plan appeared on November 5, 2025. Its successor will set the first official permanent-resident admissions target for 2029 and may confirm or revise the provisional figures for 2027 and 2028.
The plan will set targets for permanent and temporary residents
Free toolCanada Express Entry Points CalculatorThe plan covers permanent-resident admissions and temporary-resident arrivals, including international students and temporary foreign workers. Its categories are expected to include economic immigration, family reunification, refugees and Francophone admissions.
| India | China | ROW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EB-1 | Feb 01, 2023 | Aug 01, 2023 ▲31d | Current |
| EB-2 | Nov 01, 2013 | Oct 01, 2021 | Apr 01, 2025 ▲90d |
| EB-3 | Jan 22, 2014 ▲21d | Jan 22, 2022 ▲14d | Jun 15, 2024 ▲31d |
| F-1 | Jan 22, 2021 ▲366d | Jan 22, 2021 ▲366d | Jan 22, 2021 ▲366d |
| F-2A | Oct 22, 2026 ▲30d | Oct 22, 2026 ▲30d | Oct 22, 2026 ▲30d |
Applicants and institutions should not treat the existing forward-year figures as final. The department describes those numbers as indicative, and the coming plan can change them.
The current 2027 allocations put economic immigration at 64%
The existing 2027 breakdown is provisional. It allocates the largest share to economic immigration, which the department says will reach its highest proportion in more than a decade.
| 2027 category | Notional admissions |
|---|---|
| Economic total | 244,700 |
| Federal High Skilled | 111,000 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 92,500 |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 4,000 |
| Federal Business | 500 |
| Federal Economic Pilots | 8,775 |
| Family total | 81,000 |
| Spouses, Partners, Children | 66,000 |
| Parents and Grandparents | 15,000 |
| Refugees & Protected Persons | 49,300 |
| Humanitarian & Other | 5,000 |
Economic immigration would account for 64% of the mix in 2027. That share reflects the current plan, not a confirmed allocation for the next one.
The current framework sets permanent-resident admissions at 380,000 in each of its three years, with a range of 350,000–420,000. Temporary-resident arrival targets fall from 385,000 in 2026 to 370,000 in both 2027 and 2028. The latter figure comprises 220,000 workers and 150,000 students in each year.
Ottawa is trying to lower temporary numbers without closing other pathways
Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to bring temporary workers and international students to 5% of the population by the end of 2027. He has also pledged to keep permanent-resident admissions below 1% of the population annually after 2027. The Speech from the Throne committed the government to the temporary-resident goal.
The department’s briefing says permanent residents are expected to represent 0.9% of the population in 2028. It also records a fall in the temporary-resident share from a peak of 7.6% to 6.5% in April 2026. October reporting put the share at 6.7% of a population approaching 42 million.
The government has used pathways for people already in Canada as part of its approach. Last year, it introduced one-time initiatives for 115,000 people with protection status and 33,000 foreign workers in small communities over two years. Those groups were counted on top of the permanent-resident target for 2026.
The policy language describes the approach as “controlled, balanced, sustainable,” with the economy and labour market alongside pressure on housing, health care and other services. The plan must also preserve humanitarian commitments.
French-language targets rise through 2028
The current plan sets a rising share of permanent-resident admissions for French speakers. The targets are 9% (30,267) in 2026, 9.5% (31,825) in 2027 and 10.5% (35,175) in 2028.
Those figures support a broader goal of reaching 12% of Francophone permanent-resident admissions outside Quebec by 2029. The next plan can confirm or revise the two later targets.
Economists and immigration groups disagree on how far targets should move
Calgary immigration lawyer Mark Holthe expects the government to stay close to its existing permanent-resident projection. He said the temporary-resident pledge is driving much of the plan and added: “They made a campaign promise and they are going to hit it no matter what.”
A published assessment by a licensed Canadian immigration consultant suggested a possible increase toward 390,000–400,000 permanent residents, alongside adjustments to temporary immigration. That is an estimate, not a government target. The C.D. Howe Institute recommended a different path: 380,000 in 2027, 350,000 in 2028 and 340,000 in 2029. It also urged the government to treat its temporary-resident goal as a ceiling and lower it to 3% over the medium and long term.
The temporary-resident population is difficult to manage, in part because officials must monitor people whose permits expire. Governments can limit new study and work permits and offer transitions to permanent status, but tracking and removing people also requires resources.
Parisa Mahboubi, an economist who chairs C.D. Howe’s immigration targets council, said: “The government hasn't been able to reduce this (population) significantly. We are going to see a large share of transitions from TR to PR … The government has greater control over that.”
Larissa Bezo, president and CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, said Ottawa may not need to increase student admissions because it did not fill the quotas it set. She described the challenge as rebuilding confidence, and warned that fewer arrivals could eventually mean fewer graduates, researchers and workers.
Public opinion forms part of that pressure. The Environics Institute, which has tracked views since 1977, found support for immigration levels had declined after 2022 and reached its lowest point in 2024. A majority then said Canada had accepted too many newcomers.
Admissions results and service funding will shape the next plan
Canada admitted approximately 393,500 permanent residents in 2025, meeting the target set in the previous plan. Arrivals of international students and temporary workers fell by 53%, or 361,935, compared with 2024, and the decline continued into 2026.
The department planned approximately $935M for settlement services in 2026–2027, distributed through service-provider organizations outside Quebec with provinces and territories. High demand in humanitarian and compassionate cases and parents-and-grandparents applications can also lengthen processing times when admissions must remain within the plan.
The next plan will determine whether those provisional targets hold, and set the country’s first official permanent-resident admissions figure for 2029.
