- Temporary-resident arrivals from January through July 2026 were 66% lower than during the same months of 2024.
- Canada welcomed 99,148 immigrants in the second quarter of 2026, down 4.2% from a year earlier.
- Ottawa’s plan keeps permanent-resident targets at 380,000 annually and lowers temporary-arrival targets to 370,000 in 2027 and 2028.
Donald Trump accused Canada of “destroying itself” through immigration on September 23, 2026, even as recent figures and federal targets point to lower arrivals. The numbers are moving down.
In a Truth Social post, he said the country was allowing “millions and millions of people” in “essentially unchecked and unvetted.” He also described immigration as “a Liberal takeover that will end very badly.”
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He added that the effects were “Already showing up in their numbers. Big unemployment.” The post targeted Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government amid wider tensions over tariffs and trade.
Recent measures do not show a continuing rise across the categories cited. Temporary-resident arrivals from January through July 2026 were 66% lower than in the same months of 2024, when the reduction measures began.
A separate quarterly count also declined. The country welcomed 99,148 immigrants in the second quarter of 2026, 4.2% fewer than in the second quarter of 2025.
The non-permanent resident population fell by 154,614 year over year, reaching 2.78 million on July 1, 2026. That was 6.7% of the population. The count had reached 2.98 million, or 7.2%, on October 1, 2024.
Ottawa has capped permanent admissions and cut temporary-resident targets
The federal government’s 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan holds annual permanent-resident admissions at 380,000, while lowering targets for new temporary residents.
| Year | Permanent-resident admissions target | New temporary-resident arrival target |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 380,000 | 385,000 |
| 2027 | 380,000 | 370,000 |
| 2028 | 380,000 | 370,000 |
The temporary-arrival target fell from 673,650 to 385,000 for 2026. It then drops to 370,000 in each of the following two years.
The permanent-resident figure is a target, not a count of admissions already completed. The country welcomed approximately 393,500 permanent residents in 2025. By February 28, 2026, it had welcomed 53,400 toward that year’s 380,000 target.
The government’s plan followed earlier proposals to admit 500,000 permanent residents annually, which Ottawa later abandoned. Officials also tightened targets for international students and temporary workers after sharp increases in both groups.
The plan aims to lower temporary residents’ share of the population
Ottawa says it wants permanent-resident admissions to remain below 1% of the population beyond 2027. It also aims to bring the temporary-resident population to under 5% by the end of 2027.
Those goals address the scale of the non-permanent population, which stood at 6.7% on July 1, 2026. The 2026–2028 targets set out a gradual reduction in temporary arrivals while keeping annual permanent-resident admissions level across all three years.
The recent data measure different things: quarterly immigrant arrivals, temporary-resident entries over seven months and the population of non-permanent residents on a particular date. None shows the millions of newly admitted people suggested by the post’s wording; the temporary-resident measures instead record declines.
Federal screening rules cover visitors, students and workers
The immigration department says visitors, temporary foreign workers, students, immigrants and refugees face “comprehensive security screening protocols.” Authorities can find applicants inadmissible for security concerns, human or international rights violations, or organized criminality.
Trump’s post offered no evidence for its assertions about unchecked entry or unemployment. The federal plan sets out a specific population objective: reducing temporary residents to under 5% of the population by the end of 2027.
