Changes in Canadian Immigration Levels Plan: Key Updates for Settlement Organizations

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has released its Immigration Levels Plan for 2025-2027. The Levels Plan includes permanent resident targets and ranges under immigration categories of Economic, Family, Refugees and Protected Persons, and Humanitarian & Compassionate and Other.  

For the first time, this plan includes both permanent and temporary resident targets. The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to result in a marginal population decline of 0.2% in both 2025 and 2026, before returning to a population growth of 0.8% in 2027.  

Major Changes 

1. The overall reduction of 105,000 permanent residents in 2025 compared to the previous Levels Plan. 
2. New targets introduced to reduce temporary residents to 5% of Canada’s population by end of 2026. 
3. There is an emphasis on transitioning current temporary residents to permanent status, with over 40% of 2025 permanent resident admissions coming from those already in Canada.  

Overall Immigration Targets 

In comparison to the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan, there is a reduction in overall targets. 

1. 2025 Target Adjustment: Decreased from 500,000 to 395,000 (reduction of 105,000) 
2. 2026 Target Adjustment: Decreased from 500,000 to 380,000 (reduction of 120,000) 
3. 2027 Target: Set at 365,000, continuing the gradual decrease 

Key Points of the 2025-2027 Levels Plan 

Permanent Resident Priorities 

• Economic Immigration: Will represent 62% of total permanent resident admissions by 2027  
• Family Reunification: Nearly 24% of 2025 admissions allocated to family class  

Emphasis on already-present Temporary Residents 

• Over 40% of permanent resident admissions in 2025 will focus on transitioning temporary residents already in Canada
• Priority given to those with established housing and employment
• Focus on students and workers already integrated into Canadian society
• The plan includes significant reductions in temporary resident numbers:
  • 2025: Decrease of 445,901
  • 2026: Decrease of 445,662
  • 2027: Slight increase of 17,439 

Economic Immigration Priorities 

• Increased focus on economic class admissions, reaching 61.7% of total admissions by 2027  
• Targeted recruitment in key sectors: Healthcare, trades and other high-demand areas 

Francophone Immigration Targets 

• Progressive increases in Francophone immigration outside Quebec:
  • 2025: 8.5% of total admissions
  • 2026: 9.5% of total admissions
  • 2027: 10% of total admissions 

Category-Specific Changes 

These changes will have an impact on newcomer serving organizations across the province. AAISA will continue to monitor any changes made and will provide a deeper analysis of the impacts of these changes in the coming weeks.