IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2025-05

Introduction to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship: the Landscape

Introduction

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) selects and welcomes permanent and temporary residents, and foreign nationals whose skills contribute to Canadian prosperity. It reunites family members, maintains Canada’s humanitarian tradition by welcoming refugees and other people in need of protection, and facilitates the travel, work, study, and stay of visitors, international students and foreign workers. In collaboration with IRCC’s partners (notably Public Safety and the Canada Border Services Agency), the Department conducts the screening of potential permanent and temporary residents to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians.

IRCC is also responsible for granting and providing proof of citizenship as well as the issuance and control of Canadian passports and other travel documents that facilitate the travel of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons. The Department builds a stronger Canada by helping newcomers to settle and integrate into Canadian society, and by encouraging and promoting the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Finally, IRCC works internationally to advance global migration policies in a way that supports Canada’s immigration and humanitarian objectives.

The impact of the Department’s work is far-reaching, with important implications for various Cabinet portfolios, other levels of government, domestic and international stakeholders, communities, and for Canadians as a whole. Canada works with international and domestic partners to adapt and respond to complex and changing global migration trends that create both pressures and opportunities.

Overall, the Department’s work is integral to achieving a stronger Canada—a safe and secure country with a shared bond of citizenship and values; a country that draws the best from the world to help build a nation that is economically, socially and culturally prosperous.

Our Current Context

Changes that have had a large impact on our immigration landscape include growing numbers of temporary and permanent residents and people seeking asylum; more frequent and complex humanitarian crises; and a constantly evolving geopolitical and security environment.

Changes in Canada that impact immigration include our aging population (and workforce); economic pressures and changing labour market needs; differences in local and regional needs; innovations in technology; and growing pressures on Canada’s social infrastructure, including housing and healthcare.

IRCC is recalibrating its operational capacity, which has grown in recent years in tandem with the growth in immigration volumes. In 2024, Canada welcomed the largest number of permanent residents (484,135) in Canadian history. The 2025–2027 Levels Plan reduces immigration targets to better align both temporary and permanent immigration levels with community capacity. In 2025, Canada plans to welcome 395,000 permanent residents, a 21% reduction from 2024 target levels. Permanent resident admissions are projected to decrease further to 380,000 in 2026, and 365,000 in 2027. The 2025–2027 Levels Plan also includes targets for new arrivals of workers and students entering Canada each year. The targets are set at 673,650 in 2025, 516,600 in 2026 and 543,600 in 2027.

Immigration volumes have been of particular interest to Canadians in recent years as growth in population has led to concerns that Canada’s infrastructure, notably housing, is not keeping pace. Immigration is now the overwhelming determinant of population change. Canada’s population grew by over 1.2 million in 2023 and is estimated to have reached 41 million people in 2024. Recent statistics support a trend of slowing population growth due to a reduction in immigration volumes, notably in temporary arrivals. The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to result in a modest reduction in Canada’s population for 2025 and 2026.

Partly a reflection of Canada’s success in settling and integrating permanent residents, more than 368,000 people took the oath of citizenship and became citizens in 2024. Over five million passports were issued to Canadians in 2024. Over two thirds of the population holds a valid Canadian passport, which is internationally recognized for its integrity and provides Canadians with safe, secure, visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 185 countries.

Owing in part to the strengths of Canada’s managed migration system, Canadians have previously expressed relatively strong support for immigration – but it is fragile. Public opinion research in recent months show that a majority of Canadians now believe Canada should accept fewer immigrants for the coming year. As of November 2024, 54% of respondents to the IRCC Telephone Tracking Survey responded that too many immigrants are coming to Canada. The top reasons cited were lack of housing and lack of infrastructure and social services or other resources to support higher numbers.

The Importance of Immigration

In the face of an aging population and a low birth rate, Canada increasingly looks to immigration as a means to grow the labour force and sustain economic growth. Immigration is essential for increasing Canada’s working age population (aged 15 to 64 years old). In the 2021 Census, nearly one in four people reported being, or having been, immigrants, the highest proportion of the population in more than 150 years. In 2022, Statistics Canada projected that immigrants could represent from 29.1% to 34% of the total population by 2041. This does not account for the reduction to immigration growth planned in the 2025–2027 Levels Plan. The proportion of the population represented by immigrants is expected to continue to vary widely by region.

Immigrants contribute to the strength of communities across the country, as well as to Canada as a whole. On the economic side, these individuals help meet temporary and longer-term labour market and skills gaps that could otherwise stall economic growth in a sector or region. Within the economic immigration programs, some individuals are nominated by a province or territory for their ability to help meet regional economic needs; many others are sponsored by Canadians or permanent residents through the family reunification programs, or arrive in Canada through different humanitarian programs and pathways.

Immigrants also contribute to the economy through taxes, entrepreneurial endeavours, and established trade connections, helping to sustain the social safety net for Canadians and revitalize communities across the country. Success for newcomers and Canadians requires working collaboratively with other federal departments, provinces and territories, Indigenous communities and the private sector to ensure communities have the capacity to welcome and integrate newcomers.

Whereas immigrants to Canada once hailed primarily from Europe, today’s top three immigration source countries—India, China and the Philippines—are all in Asia. Each wave of immigrants contributes to the growing ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of Canada’s population, providing social benefits to Canada and Canadian communities. IRCC recognizes the importance of ongoing public education to support social cohesion and promote the benefits of immigration to local communities.

Immigrant Outcomes

At the individual level, the economic outcomes of immigrants are relatively strong. The wages of economic principal applicants, who are selected primarily for their skills and experience, surpass their Canadian-born counterparts soon after arrival. And while refugees, family class immigrants and economic class spouses and dependents report lower participation and employment rates, their economic contribution increases over time. In addition, sponsored family relatives can provide many indirect economic supports to their households, including child care, which in turn supports labour force participation; further, they make direct economic contributions and are well represented in some occupations.

Importantly, the children of immigrants consistently achieve high levels of education and employment, benefiting Canada through future generations. A 2024 report from the Parliamentary Budget Office found that economic outcomes of immigrants in Canada have continued to improve. The median total income of immigrants the year after they become permanent residents has been steadily increasing: it went from about 55% of all tax-filers in 2014, to about 78% in 2018 and has continued to improve. There remain some areas for improvement, for example, the unemployment rate for recent immigrants was 11.1% in 2024, compared to 6.4% in the overall population.

Francophone Immigration

Supporting Francophone minority communities is part of IRCC’s mandate. The Official Languages Act recognizes the need to address the demographic decline faced by Francophone minority communities and includes new obligations for IRCC. In 2023, Canada surpassed its target of welcoming 4.4% French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec. In order to boost Francophone minority communities, restore their demographic weight and support national workforce needs through collaboration with provinces, territories and French-speaking partners, this target was increased to 8.5% in 2025, 9.5% in 2026 and 10% in 2027. These French-speaking and bilingual newcomers bring economic, social and cultural benefits to communities across Canada and contribute to upholding bilingualism.

Settlement and Integration

Underpinning much of Canada’s success in this area is the managed migration model and investment in settlement and integration services. Together, these approaches enable selection and control over the volume of foreign nationals who enter Canada on a permanent basis, and help ensure strong supports are in place to assist newcomers in adapting to life in Canada, and to set them on a path to integration and full citizenship. Internationally, Canada continues to be held up as the standard for its approach.

Once in Canada, all permanent residents and protected persons are eligible for IRCC-funded settlement and integration services that help newcomers prepare for the Canadian labour market, improve their language skills and build ties to their new communities. IRCC invests significant resources in funding settlement and integration services. In 2023–2024, about $1.1B in settlement funding was invested in settlement service provider organizations in provinces and territories (except Quebec, which receives a grant as per the provisions of the Canada-Quebec Accord—see below under Federal-Provincial/Territorial Context).

The most recent Call for Proposals closed in early 2024, and new three-year agreements with service provider organizations came into effect April 2025. Settlement services delivered to eligible clients by service provider organizations include language training, information and orientation, and other programming to help immigrants find employment, learn about life in Canada, and connect with their communities. IRCC works closely with provinces and territories (which contribute some settlement funding), municipalities, employers, civil society and other partners to ensure newcomers are well supported throughout their immigration journey. Recent cohorts of new settlement clients sometimes have increasingly complex, and sometimes higher, settlement needs, particularly given immigration responses to large-scale humanitarian movements (e.g., Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza).

As a complement to settlement services, through the Resettlement Assistance Program, IRCC helps ensure the successful settlement and integration of Government-Assisted Refugees and other eligible clients. This program operates in all provinces outside of Quebec, provides clients with direct financial support and also funds service provider organizations to deliver immediate and essential services, such as reception at the airport, provision of temporary accommodation and assistance finding permanent housing, orientation to life in Canada, and registration and referrals to other government and community services.

To further complement settlement services, the Interim Federal Health Program provides temporary healthcare coverage to refugees, asylum claimants and other vulnerable populations in Canada until they are eligible for provincial/territorial health insurance or they leave Canada. In conjunction with IRCC’s health screening activities, the program supports better integration of beneficiaries into the healthcare system, the economy, and society, while protecting public health in Canada.

The Federal-Provincial/Territorial Context

Because immigration is a shared responsibility between federal and provincial/territorial governments, engagement with provincial and territorial partners is critical to the effective delivery of the Department’s mandate. IRCC engages with provinces and territories multilaterally through the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration, while bilateral engagement is guided by legally-binding bilateral agreements. The federal government is responsible for federal economic immigration, family class immigration, refugees, protected persons, and assessing the admissibility of all cases.

As set out in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s. 3(1)(c), a key objective of immigration in Canada is “the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions of Canada.” In this respect, provinces and territories share the federal government’s interest in increasing immigration outside of Canada’s major urban centers (i.e. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver). Since 1998, the Provincial Nominee Program has complemented federal immigration programs by allowing provinces and territories to nominate for permanent residence those foreign nationals who demonstrate their intention to reside in the jurisdiction and the potential to help meet local labour market demands and economic needs. This has been further enhanced by the implementation of the Atlantic Immigration Program in the Atlantic provinces and the Rural and Francophone Community Immigration Pilots in 18 small to medium-sized communities. In the case of Quebec, immigration-related matters are governed by the Canada-Quebec Accord, which specifies that Quebec is responsible for establishing economic immigration programs, as well as the selection of immigrants under its programs and resettled refugees.

In addition to the distribution of the benefits of immigration, provinces and territories are focused on a broad range of issues, including economic immigration and processing times, asylum volumes and the growing pressure placed on social services such as health and housing, and funding for settlement services.

The Global Context

The Department’s work is set against a broader global context where the number of international migrants and forcibly displaced populations is substantial and many countries have witnessed a growing backlash against migration. The drivers of displacement include shifting economic opportunities and advances in communication and transportation technologies, as well as political instability, humanitarian crises, and climate change. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates the number of people forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order at the end of 2024 at 130.8 million people. This outpaces the 2023 total of 117.3 million. Ten years prior, this number was 59.2 million. Both international and domestic stakeholders have high expectations for Canada’s role in helping to address the global displacement crisis.

In addition to the global humanitarian context the international competition for talent and high human capital is increasing, and Canada now faces competition from other nations vying for “destination of choice” status.

Canada-United States

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The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) is a collaboration between Canada and the U.S. to manage our shared border and promote the compassionate, fair and orderly handling of asylum claims in our two countries. It requires asylum claimants to seek protection in whichever of the two countries they enter first, unless they meet an exception. In March 2023, the STCA was amended to remove a loophole that allowed migrants crossing from the U.S. to make asylum claims at unofficial ports of entry. A Supreme Court decision in June 2023 declared the STCA constitutional under s. 7 (life, liberty and security)—but sent a related challenge under s.15 (discrimination), back to the Federal Court.

Asylum

Although Canada’s geographic location has kept Canada relatively buffered against migratory shocks that present outside the managed migration model, the country is not immune to the impact of changing global mixed population flows and shifting geopolitical dynamics. In 2024, approximately 173,000 people made asylum claims in Canada, up from approximately 145,000 in 2023.

It is the responsibility of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada to review asylum claims and determine whether protected person status should be granted. While Canada has a strong humanitarian tradition and has international and domestic legal obligations to provide protection for those with a well-founded fear of persecution, increased volumes in this area are associated with considerable operational and resource pressures. There are also downstream cost implications for the provinces and municipalities where asylum claimants settle. Program integrity measures such as removing the visa lift and bringing Mexico into the electronic visa authorization expansion regime have helped address asylum claim volumes from certain countries, however inland and Port of Entry claims from visa and permit holders from a range of countries continue to be historically high.

Recently, there has been an increase in asylum claims being made at the Canada/U.S. border. [Redacted]

In addition to asylum claimants, Canada is one of the top refugee resettlement countries in the world. Refugee resettlement involves working with international organizations as well as civil society partners and private sponsors to identify refugees abroad and resettle them in Canada, including by providing them appropriate integration support and services. IRCC is working to further diversify overseas referral partners while continuing to support in-Canada resettlement and settlement service providers, which will enable the Department to provide humanitarian responses that are better tailored to different needs.

International Engagement

Because effectively managed global migration ultimately contributes to a safer and more prosperous Canada, and because Canada upholds the fulfilment of its international obligations to refugee protection, international engagement is an important component of the Department’s mandate.

IRCC conducts multilateral, bilateral and regional international engagement through various fora to identify collective solutions to global challenges and crises; to address country-specific issues related to migration and refugee protection, such as labour mobility and travel facilitation; to maintain the integrity of migration and refugee protection systems, to exchange best practices and promote a balanced narrative on migration and refugees; to enhance global protection efforts; and to protect the safety and security of Canadians.

IRCC also provides support for international capacity building to help other countries develop tools and policies to manage migration, support immigrant integration and strengthen refugee protection systems. IRCC has two key programs for building capacity: the International Migration Capacity Building Program and the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative.

The Minister of IRCC plays a critical role on multiple fronts in the international context. This includes leading Canada’s engagement with the International Organization for Migration and, together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, co-leading Canada’s engagement at the United Nations on issues relating to international migration governance and refugee protection. The Minister of IRCC and the Minister of Public Safety also represent Canada in the Five Country Ministerial group, which includes counterparts from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This group traditionally meets annually to discuss public safety and migration issues. Finally, given Canada’s leadership role in migration, the Minister of IRCC is often invited to key United Nations events, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development meetings, and numerous bilateral engagements.