The 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan: what to remember

The plan holds permanent resident admissions around 380,000 per year across the three years covered. Economic immigration — including Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program — keeps the largest share, followed by family reunification and humanitarian streams.

The supplementary information published with the plan details the targets and ranges by immigration category: it is the reference document for understanding the system's priorities.

For the first time at this scale, the plan includes arrival targets for temporary residents: roughly 385,000 new student and temporary worker arrivals are targeted for 2026, down from previous years.

This direction explains several recent measures: the study permit cap, tighter eligibility for post-graduation work permits and spousal work permits. Temporary pathways have become more selective.

The plan emphasizes moving people already in Canada from temporary to permanent status: skilled workers in the country and Canadian graduates are among the groups the system aims to retain.

For candidates abroad, the practical consequence is stiffer competition in the Express Entry pool: profile quality — language, category, experience — weighs more.

The levels set each year influence the pace of draws, processing times and applied criteria. An immigration project is planned with these directions in mind, keeping in mind that targets are neither an individual quota nor a guarantee of admission.