CIMM – Temporary Resident Targets – March 23, 2026

Key Messages

• Temporary residents (TRs) play an important role in supporting Canada’s economy and shaping our cultural fabric. However, the number of people working and studying temporarily in Canada has to align with the evolving needs of the country’s labour market, housing supply, and welcoming capacity.
• The 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan takes a balanced approach that meets labour market needs, supports Canadian workers, protects access to housing and healthcare, while keeping immigration levels sustainable.
• Overall arrival targets for new TRs have been reduced from
  673,650 in 2025 to 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in 2027 and 2028.
• These targets support the government’s commitment to reduce the share of non-permanent residents (NPR) in Canada to less than 5% of the population by the end of 2027.
• Canada’s non-permanent resident population has reduced from a peak of 7.6% down to 6.5% of the total population.
• Across all three years, close to 60% of new arrivals will be workers with the remaining 40% being international students. This reflects a focus to support the labour market while also attracting the best talent in the world to complement Canada’s workforce and help build our economy.

Key Facts and Figures

• TR targets under the 2026–2028 Levels Plan have been set to achieve the government’s commitment of reducing the Canada’s temporary population to less than 5% by the end of 2027.
• To advance this important commitment, overall arrival targets for new TRs have been reduced from 673,650 to 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in 2027 and 2028.
• In 2026, targets for workers under the 2026–2028 Levels Plan include:
  • 170,000 in the IMP; and
  • 60,000 in the TFWP.
• Student arrivals decrease from 305,000 to 155,000 in 2026 and 150,000 in 2027 and 2028.
• The balance between workers and students reflects the need to support the labour market while attracting top talent from across the world to help build Canada’s economy.
• Across 2026, 2027 and 2028 workers make up close to 60% of all TR arrivals and are prioritized to help meet critical labour market needs and to support Canada’s ambitious agenda for talent attraction.
• In recognition of the role temporary workers play in some sectors of the economy, the Plan will also consider industries and sectors impacted by tariffs and the unique needs of rural and remote communities.
• Actions to reduce arrivals for TRs have been successful—in 2025 new temporary foreign worker arrivals declined approximately 47% and new international student arrivals declined by approximately 61% compared to 2024.
• These measures, combined with reduced TR targets, mean that Canada is on track to achieve the less than 5% commitment by the end of 2027—this was confirmed in a report released by the Parliamentary Budget Office in February 2026.
• We continue to monitor progress against this commitment. However, success is contingent on many factors, including client behaviour which can be difficult to accurately predict. As such, we are currently reviewing progress against the latest Statistics Canada release of the NPR population in Canada which was recently released.

Who is included in TR Targets?

• The Levels Plan sets targets for new TR arrivals, and more specifically, for international students and temporary workers admitted under the TFWP or the IMP.
• Targets are set for new study and work permits only (i.e., new people arriving as TRs each year). They do not include those who stay through a permit extension or change their status while in Canada to a different permit, to avoid double counting individuals.
• Targets exclude short term visitors with temporary resident visas and electronic travel authorizations, and seasonal workers (who remain in Canada for less than 270 days) because these workers do not remain in Canada for a long period of time or at the end of the calendar year, and are not included in Statistics Canada’s year-end population estimates.
• Asylum claimants are not part of the Levels Plan, as the government cannot control admissions volumes in the same manner as it does for most immigration programs. To achieve the less than 5% commitment, estimated asylum claimant numbers are taken into account as part of the methodology and calculations used to set targets for students and workers.
• To set the TR target and achieve the less than 5% goal, the Department developed a methodology to assess a number of variables. These include exit rates such as when permits expire or when people transition to permanent resident status (i.e. NPR outflows), permit renewal rates, approval rates, and other factors.
• International student targets for new arrivals align with the 2026 international student permit issuance target.

Temporary Resident Reduction Measures

• Throughout 2024 and early 2025, a series of measures were introduced to decrease the number international students and temporary foreign workers coming to Canada.
• Under the IMP, the following program changes were introduced. As of January 21, 2025:
  • For family members of international students, access to open work permits was limited to spouses of those enrolled in master’s programs of 16 months or more, doctoral programs, certain professional or pilot programs.
  • For family members of temporary workers, access to open work permits is now limited to spouses of temporary workers employed in management or professional occupations (e.g., C‑suite executives, scientists), or in sectors or jobs linked to government priorities.
• In fall 2024, the eligibility criteria for Post-Graduation Work Permits was also updated to better align the program with economic objectives. Changes included introducing minimum language requirements for all applicants and a field of study requirement for all graduates except those completing bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree programs.
• To stabilize the international student population, an intake cap was also established on most study permit applications in January 2024. A further 10% reduction from the 2024 study permit issuance target was introduced in 2025, decreasing the cap from 485,000 to 437,000 permits issued.
• To improve program integrity and ensure the TFWP remains responsive to Canada labour market needs, Employment and Social Development Canada also introduced a number of tightening measures, including:
  • expanding employer recruitment obligations to include asylum seekers;
  • reducing Labour Market Impact Assessment validity periods and limiting employment durations;
  • reducing the cap from 20% to 10% of low-wage temporary workers that can be employed at a worksite;
  • refusing to process applications in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher; and
  • raising the minimum wage threshold to access the High-Wage Stream, which has stricter requirements.

Progress Achieved in 2025:

• 2025 saw significant progress in reducing TR arrivals compared to 2024. Overall, new arrivals of workers and students fell by 53% or 361,935.
• Arrivals for international students fell by 61% or 177,595, while arrivals for temporary workers fell by 47% or 184,340.
• In 2025, 34% fewer people submitted an asylum claim compared to 2024.
• Total permit holders in Canada as of December 31, 2025 include:
  • 461,565 people who hold a study permit;
  • 1,463,805 people who hold a work permit;
  • 229,650 people who hold a both a work and study permit.
• These reduced arrivals have begun to result in meaningful declines to Canada’s NPR population. Between
  October 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026, the NPR population fell by over 170,000 or from 6.8% to 6.5% of the population.
• This progress is continuing into 2026 – in January, total arrivals of workers and students fell by 4,600 compared to the same period in 2025. Asylum claims also declined by 3,830 in that same period.