What IRCC published on November 5
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan on November 5, 2026, together with the 2026 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. The plan sets how many new workers and students Canada expects to admit, and how many people will become permanent residents, in each of the next three years. IRCC calls the 2028 and 2029 figures "notional": they will be confirmed or adjusted each year.
The totals are the ones last year's plan had already set out for 2027: 380,000 permanent resident admissions and 370,000 new temporary arrivals. What changed is how the permanent resident total is divided between programs.
Workers and students
| New temporary arrivals | Each year, 2027 to 2029 |
|---|---|
| Overall | 370,000 (range 355,000 to 385,000) |
| Workers, total | 220,000 |
| International Mobility Program | 170,000 |
| Temporary Foreign Worker Program | 50,000 |
| Students | 150,000 |
These targets count new arrivals only. Permit extensions, work and study permits applied for from inside Canada, post-graduation work permits, visitors and asylum claimants are not part of them. The 2026 targets were 385,000 overall, with 230,000 workers and 155,000 students.
Permanent residence by category
| Category | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall admissions (range 352,500 to 422,000) | 380,000 | 380,000 | 380,000 |
| Federal High Skilled (the Express Entry programs) | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 95,000 | 95,000 | 95,000 |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Rural Community Immigration Program | 5,500 | 6,000 | 6,500 |
| Federal economic pilots (home care workers, Agri-Food, Economic Mobility Pathways, Francophone pilots) | 7,900 | 6,175 | 7,400 |
| Federal Business (Start-up Visa, self-employed) | 1,500 | 2,725 | 1,000 |
| Economic, total | 244,700 | 244,700 | 244,700 |
| Spouses, partners and children | 66,000 | 66,000 | 66,000 |
| Parents and grandparents | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| Protected persons in Canada and dependants abroad | 20,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| Resettled refugees, government-assisted | 11,750 | 11,750 | 11,750 |
| Resettled refugees, privately sponsored | 17,550 | 17,550 | 17,550 |
| Humanitarian and compassionate and other | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
Quebec selects its own skilled workers and business immigrants. Those lines are marked "TBD" until Quebec tables its plan. The target for French-speaking admissions outside Quebec is 9.5% in 2027, 10.5% in 2028 and 12% in 2029.
What moved compared with last year's plan
Last year's plan already carried figures for 2027. Set side by side with the new ones:
- Federal High Skilled (Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class): 100,000, down from 111,000.
- Provincial Nominee Program: 95,000, up from 92,500.
- Atlantic Immigration Program: 6,000, up from 4,000.
- Federal Business: 1,500, up from 500.
- Resettled refugees: government-assisted 11,750, down from 13,250; privately sponsored 17,550, up from 16,000.
- No change: spouses, partners and children (66,000), parents and grandparents (15,000), protected persons (20,000).
The Rural Community Immigration Program has its own line for the first time. Last year it was counted with the federal pilots.
What this means for applicants
These are admission targets. They count people who become permanent residents in that year, including people already working or studying in Canada. They are not the number of invitations or of applications IRCC will accept.
For Express Entry candidates, the plan gives the federal programs fewer places than expected a year ago and gives the provinces more. IRCC has not said how the 100,000 will be split between types of rounds. If you have a connection to a province, look at its nominee streams as well as your Express Entry profile.
For families, the spousal and parent targets are the same as before. The plan does not say when the Parents and Grandparents Program will take new applications.
Outside these targets, IRCC also announced a one-year measure for 2027 to process applications from up to 200,000 people who are already in Canada. We cover it in a separate article.
Official sources
- IRCC: Supplementary Information for the 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan
- IRCC backgrounder: Building a stronger Canada through a well-managed, predictable immigration system
- IRCC: 2026 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration
- IRCC: Canada's immigration levels
- IRCC: Supplementary Information for the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan (last year's figures)