Canada: 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan Maintains Overall Targets and Adds Permanent Residence Spaces

Maintaining permanent resident admissions. 

• Annual permanent resident targets remain at 380,000 through 2029. 

• Economic immigration accounts for 244,700 admissions annually, or 64.4% of the total. 

• Annual targets remain at 81,000 for family admissions, 49,300 for refugees and protected people and 5,000 for humanitarian and compassionate admissions. 

• These overall category targets match last year’s projections for 2027 and 2028. 

Stable overall targets provide greater predictability for employers’ long-term workforce planning, while economic immigration remains a priority. 

Adjusting economic immigration allocations.  

Compared with last year’s projections for 2027: 

• Provincial Nominee Program admissions increase from 92,500 to 95,000. 

• Atlantic Immigration Program admissions increase from 4,000 to 6,000. 

• Federal High Skilled admissions, covering the programs managed through Express Entry, decline from 111,000 to 100,000. 

• These revised targets remain the same across all three years of the new plan. 

Modest adjustments across economic categories may shift permanent residence opportunities toward provincial and regional pathways. The practical impact on employers and applicants remains to be seen as allocations and selection priorities take shape. 

Transitioning more people already in Canada to permanent residence. 

• A new time-limited measure provides up to 200,000 additional admissions in 2027 beyond the annual target of 380,000. It allocates up to 100,000 spaces to eligible workers and their families and up to 100,000 to certain family and humanitarian applicants through existing immigration pathways. 

• The government will also continue the initiatives announced last year to accelerate permanent residence for 33,000 work permit holders and up to 115,000 eligible protected persons during 2026 and 2027. 

• According to the government, these measures aim to improve processing efficiency and support the economy without adding pressure on services and infrastructure, as they cover people already living in Canada. 

• Depending on how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada allocates processing resources, prioritizing these applications could lengthen processing times for other applicants. The effect remains uncertain. 

Stabilizing temporary resident arrivals. 

• Annual targets are 370,000 new arrivals, comprising 220,000 workers and 150,000 international students - approximately 60% and 40%, respectively. 

• Worker targets include 170,000 under the International Mobility Program and 50,000 under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. 

• These figures maintain last year’s projections for 2027 and 2028 and extend them through 2029. Last year’s plan already provided for a decline from the 2026 targets of 385,000 total arrivals, including 230,000 workers and 155,000 students. 

• Targets cover new arrivals and exclude permit extensions and in-Canada work or study permit applications. 

According to the government, stable arrival targets provide greater predictability for provinces, territories, employers and educational institutions while supporting short-term labor needs tied to major investments and attracting global talent. 

Strengthening Francophone minority communities.  

• Targets for Francophone admissions outside Quebec are 9.5% in 2027, 10.5% in 2028 and 12% in 2029.  

• The plan maintains the previously established targets for 2027 and 2028 and incorporates the broader 12% goal for 2029. 

The continued emphasis on Francophone immigration may support employers seeking to recruit and retain French-speaking workers outside Quebec.