Canada’s immigration levels

Welcoming immigrants, workers and students is vital to Canada’s prosperity. At the same time, we need to balance the number of new people coming to Canada to avoid adding pressures on our housing, infrastructure and social services. This is why we have taken a more comprehensive approach this year. This plan will pause population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth for the long term.

This year, we’re not only reducing the number of permanent residents we invite to stay in Canada, but we are also expanding the levels plan to include temporary resident arrivals. Canada will work toward decreasing our temporary resident population to 5% of Canada's total population by the end of 2026.

See how Canada’s population is changing from 2014 to 2027

Impact of reduced levels on processing times

Our goal is to process 80% of new applications within our service standards. This allows for expected delays in complex cases or when we need more information from clients before we can finalize their files.

However, if there are more people who apply than available spaces, it may not be possible to achieve this goal and processing times may increase in some categories. In addition to the number of admissions allowed each year according to our levels plan, processing times vary due to a number of factors, like type of application, how complex it is, and if it’s complete.

We continue to digitize applications and use automation technologies to speed up processing, while protecting and prioritizing the safety and security of Canadians.

Learn about our application inventories and backlogs.

Many immigrants who become permanent residents are already living in Canada as temporary residents. These people are skilled, educated and integrated into our society. They will keep supporting the workforce and economy without placing additional demands on our social services as they are already established with housing and jobs.

We’re working on more options for temporary residents who would like to stay and become permanent residents. Over 40% of permanent resident admissions for 2025 are expected to be people who are already in Canada and contributing to our communities.

When temporary residents already in Canada decide to stay permanently, they help to

•  maintain a stable population
•  support our workforce and economy
•  reduce additional pressure on our infrastructure

Recent examples include:

• the 2025 permanent resident pathway for Francophone students in minority communities
• the Gaining experience category of our caregiver pilots
• the Canadian Experience Class of Express Entry that prioritizes people with a year or more of Canadian work experience

Immigration is vital to our economy, and immigrants are making important contributions across every sector. They not only fill labour gaps, but also help expand and grow new businesses in our country.

Learn more about how immigration directly affects Canadian sectors like

An effective, nimble and resilient immigration system is critical to our success and provides a clear and fair experience for newcomers . In 2023, we undertook a broader whole-of-society initiative to explore how Canada’s immigration policies and programs can support a shared vision for the future. Our path forward identified actions to transform our immigration system to better meet the needs of our country and of newcomers, while maintaining its safety, security and integrity. We’re listening to Canadians and making sure that the new levels plan reflects the important considerations that we heard.

As part of our report, An Immigration System for Canada’s Future, we committed to integrate housing, health care and infrastructure planning, along with other important services, into our levels planning.

Explore how we’re transforming Canada’s immigration system

Francophone immigration plays a crucial role in strengthening our national identity and supporting our economic prosperity. There is also a need to restore and grow our Francophone minority communities outside Quebec. Our plan continues support for these communities by making sure that 8.5% of overall permanent resident admissions are French-speakers in 2025.

We want to respect the equality of English and French so that communities and people who speak either of those languages benefit from immigration. French-speaking newcomers contribute to the economy, society and culture of their local community as well as the entire country. We have options for them to settle in vibrant and thriving Acadian and Francophone minority communities with infrastructure, services and activities that allow them to live their lives in French.

For example, we have recently

• launched the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot
• announced an upcoming Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.
• expanded our Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative.