Canada plans to reduce its targets for admission of permanent residents in the next three years, reaching a 27 percent reduction by the year 2027.
Through a statement, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, has unfolded the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, VisaGuide.World reports.
The Minister said the Plan will pause population growth in the short term in order to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth in the long term.
According to him, for the first time ever, the level plan consists of controlled targets for temporary residents, in particular for foreign students and workers, as well as permanent residents.
Immigration is essential to our country’s economic success and growth…We took decisive measures to attract some of the world’s best and brightest to study and work in Canada and to integrate them into the economy quickly. This meant a faster economic recovery. It also meant that robust immigration helped prevent a recession while contributing to Canada’s workforce.
2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan Expected to Lead to Population Decline in 2025
The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said that the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan expects to result in a marginal population decrease of 0.2 per cent during the next year and in 2026 before returning to population growth of 0.8 per cent in 2027.
As part of the Plan, Canada plans to reduce permanent resident targets as follows:
- The number of permanent residents in 2025 is to be reduced to 350,000 from 500,000.
- The number of permanent residents in 2026 is to be reduced to 380,000 from 500,000.
- The target for 2027 is 365,000 permanent residents.
Through a statement, the Government of Canada said in response to the country’s needs, the transitional levels plan reduces pressures on housing, social services and infrastructure so that in the long term, the country can grow the economy and social prosperity through immigration.
This unprecedented Plan offers a comprehensive approach to welcoming newcomers—one that preserves the integrity of our immigration programs and sets newcomers up for success. Canadians also expect a well-managed immigration system from the Government of Canada.
The Plan also supports efforts to decline temporary resident volumes to five per cent of Canada’s Population by the end of 2026.
According to the Plan, Canada’s temporary Population could decline by 445,901 next year, 445,662 in 2026, and then experience an increase of 17,439 in 2027.
These reductions emerge from several changes applied by authorities in Canada in the past year. Such measures were implemented as part of efforts to decrease volumes and strengthen the quality of Canada’s temporary resident programs.