Canada has announced its Immigration Levels Plan 2024-2026 and is choosing to keep its targets for the next two years unchanged to focus on stabilizing newcomer intake from 2026 onwards.
The goal is to help support the country’s economic growth while balancing it out with the pressures on services such as healthcare, housing, and infrastructure. At the same time, the government will also recalibrate the number of temporary resident (TR) admissions to ensure immigration levels are sustainable.
Immigration Levels Plan 2024-2026
Canada will maintain its target of 485,000 permanent residents (PRs) in 2024 and increase that number to 500,000 by 2025. From 2026 onwards, the number of PRs is expected to be stable at 500,000.
Also read: Highlights of the targets set by Canada in the 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, who tabled the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan in Parliament on November 1, shared: “By stabilizing the number of newcomers, we recognize that housing, infrastructure planning, and sustainable population growth need to be properly taken into account. Through this plan, we are striking the appropriate balance to grow Canada’s economy, while maintaining our humanitarian tradition, supporting Francophone immigration, and developing a more collaborative approach to levels planning with our partners. Canada will continue to welcome newcomers and ensure that they are supported in their new lives.”
Today, we announced our 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan: https://t.co/i4usZhd8Ev
We are maintaining targets of 485,000 permanent residents for 2024 and completing the final step to reach 500,000 in 2025. For 2026, we will stabilize permanent resident levels at 500,000 allowing… pic.twitter.com/rgxoUAYh5A
— IRCC (@CitImmCanada) November 1, 2023
Canada will continue to work closely with its provinces, territories, employers, stakeholders, and Indigenous peoples to help adapt to the realities of immigration-driven population growth.
Highlights from the 2024-2026 Levels Plan:
- Over 60% of newcomers who aim to come to Canada in 2025 through its economic class of immigration will do so as permanent residents.
- A commitment to uphold the Canadian government’s humanitarian support effort by responding to humanitarian and geopolitical crises around the world.
- Canada has also set Francophone immigration targets to support French-speaking communities outside Quebec, representing six percent of total immigration in 2024, seven percent in 2025, and eight percent in 2026.
How does Canada’s Levels Plan aim to stabilize PR arrivals?
The Levels Plan identifies permanent resident targets in four categories: economic immigration, family reunification, refugees and protected persons, and the humanitarian and compassionate class.
It is a projection of how many PRs will be admitted to Canada each year and sets targets for overall admissions per immigration category.
The Levels Plan takes into account extensive engagement with provincial and territorial representatives, as well as public opinion research and consultations with various stakeholders, including businesses, community organizations, and educational institutions.
Also read: Supplementary information for the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan
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