CIMM – International Mobility Program – November 25, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• From January to October 2024, 627,460 work permits were issued under the International Mobility Program (IMP), including both new work permits and extensions.
• The 2025-2027 Levels Plan sets the IMP target at 285,750 entries into Canada in 2025, inclusive of 5,000 crisis/humanitarian arrivals.

Key Messages

• Consistent with the government’s aim to reduce temporary residents to 5% of Canada’s overall population by the end of 2026, Canada’s foreign worker programs – the Temporary Foreign Workers Program and the IMP – are being recalibrated to ensure that they align with economic needs, community capacity, and international commitments.
• The IMP is delivered solely by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and allows employers to hire temporary workers without a Labour Market Impact Assessment in support of broader economic, social and/or cultural goals or reciprocal benefits for Canada. The IMP includes streams for international trade, spouses of workers and students, performing arts, Francophone immigration, youth mobility, post-graduation work permits (PGWP), and prospective permanent residents.
• On September 18, 2024, IRCC announced that in the coming months, open work permit eligibility would be limited to the spouses of:
  • international students in master’s programs 16 months or more in duration, doctoral programs, certain professional programs, and select pilot programs; and
  • temporary foreign workers employed in a high-skilled management or professional occupation, in critical sectors like health care and construction, or in a job linked to government priorities (e.g., military).

Supplementary Information

• Effective August 28, 2024, IRCC ended a temporary public policy that allowed visitors to apply for a work permit from within Canada. This is part of the Department’s overall efforts to recalibrate the number of temporary residents in Canada and preserve the integrity of the immigration system.

Temporary residents targets will capture new arrivals only, which will provide the number of new workers and students entering Canada each year. Excluded categories include: work or study permit extensions, change of status from within Canada (e.g., PGWP) and seasonal workers.