THE federal government announced on Thursday that the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan builds on its progress toward sustainable immigration while supporting Canada’s near- and long-term economic needs. It focuses on three priorities:
* Increasing collaboration with provinces and territories to meet their workforce needs by attracting and retaining the talent and skills that support our country’s long-term prosperity
* Maintaining control of the immigration system by setting a target of 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals and 380,000 permanent resident admissions for each of the next three years, aligning with what was promised in the previous levels plan
* Ensuring fairness by fulfilling previous humanitarian commitments
The levels plan stabilizes targets for new temporary resident arrivals at 370,000 per year. This includes 220,000 new workers and up to 150,000 new international students in 2027, 2028 and 2029.
This plan also stabilizes levels for permanent resident admissions at 380,000 per year, with an emphasis on economic immigration. These admissions include those who are already working or studying in Canada, not just new arrivals. Permanent resident admissions in the economic class will be maintained at more than 64% of total admissions over the next three years.
To inform the development of the levels plan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) consults with provinces, territories, industry and other partners to understand their needs. Temporary and permanent resident targets allow employers across Canada to fill critical labour gaps and help educational institutions attract the best students to Canada. The levels plan supports Canada’s goals to attract top global talent to complement the Canadian workforce in key sectors that benefit Canadians and our economy.
The targets also support the government’s commitment to reduce the temporary resident population and keep permanent resident admissions at less than 1% of Canada’s total population beyond 2027. These goals support Canada’s efforts to slow population growth to allow our housing and services to catch up.
According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, Canada’s population is growing at the slowest annual rate in over a century and the number of non-permanent residents has declined over the last two years.
With the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, the federal government says it is ensuring the efficiency and integrity of the immigration system and providing greater certainty for applicants and Canadian businesses.
