Canada Reduces Immigration Targets by 20% Over the Next Two Years
On October 24, 2024, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, introduced Canada’s 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan, which focuses on controlling population growth by reducing immigration targets by 20%. These updates ensure long-term benefits for the country.
Why is immigration important for Canada?
After the pandemic in 2020, it was hard for many businesses to start working as before. That’s why Canada took action, aiming to attract skilled workers from all over the world to compensate for any loss for business owners, and in return, they have the opportunity to live, work, and study in Canada. That’s why immigration was very important to developing Canada’s economy.
The importance of immigration hasn’t decreased as it is still important for Canada’s economy, but as a result of these actions after COVID-19, the government realized that the number of immigrants has to be limited to avoid putting too much pressure on the country as they have to offer immigrants infrastructure, housing, and social services. The new level plan for 2025-2027 aims to keep the economic growth going while balancing the number of immigrants in the country.
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How does Canada reduce immigration targets by 20%?
The new immigration levels plan 2025-2027 aims to control the population growth in Canada so that the country can handle the current population. Canada plans to reduce the number of immigrants by 0.2% for the next two years and start growing its population again by 0.8% in 2027.
New targets for the next 2 years
As for Canada’s efforts to do this, it has set lower targets for permanent residents by the next 2 years compared to the previous years as follows:
| Year | New permanent residents target |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 395,000 |
| 2026 | 380,000 |
| 2027 | 365,000 |
The previous years’ target was 500,000 new permanent residents. This reduction came to give Canada time to get ready to start raising the target again in 2027 by building more houses, improving infrastructure, and strengthening social services to guarantee a better life for new immigrants.
Reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada
Temporary residents in Canada are international students or foreign workers who are staying in Canada for a limited time. The target for the temporary resident population is to decrease from 7% to 5% of the country’s total population by the end of 2026.
The expected number of temporary residents will be reduced by 445,901 in 2025, 445,662 in 2026, and 17,439 in 2027.
These changes in the new policies include limiting the number of international students and stricter rules for foreign workers, aiming to filter those who come to Canada with the best skills, and also controlling the number of immigrants in the Canadian population.
Supporting Canada’s economic growth
Canada has introduced the new 2025-2027 immigration levels plan to support the long-term growth of the Canadian economy. As for this plan, Canada aims to support foreign workers and international students who are currently in Canada by transitioning them from temporary residents into permanent residents as they are already settled in the country and working or studying to support the Canadian economy without being a pressure on the country by needing more services.
By 2025, new permanent residents will come from these groups by more than 40%, and it will reach 61.7% by 2027 for the new admission of permanent residents.
Strengthening Francophone Communities
Canada also supports French-speaking communities outside Quebec, as it sets higher targets for the next 2 years as follows:
- By 2025, 8.5%.
- 9.5% for 2026.
- And by 2027, 10% of new permanent residents.
All of this is to support French communities and encourage them to contribute to Canadian economic growth.
Balancing regional needs with immigration
The government is doing its best to keep an eye on regional immigration and ensure it supports all the needs of newcomers, such as housing, social services, and jobs. This is to balance the number of immigrants between provinces, territories, and local communities to be sure all newcomers get the support they need without putting any pressure on the country and to ensure long-term economic growth.
What are the recent updates to strengthen the immigration process?
In the following, we’ll discuss the latest updates that you need to know:
- Updating the international student program to ensure that students get the needed support and also high-quality education.
- New rules for the spouses of international students and temporary foreign workers guarantee that they will match Canada’s job market.
- Stricter rules for foreign workers, international students, and those applying for Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP).
These updates came to ensure balancing the number of immigrants yearly and also exploiting skills all over the world to keep developing Canada.
Ensuring a balanced immigration system for Canada’s future
Minister Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, has clarified that he listens to citizens and cares about their future. Immigration is important for the Canadian economy, but citizens are also important, and they are the priority to contribute to economic growth, so it is important to strike a balance between immigrants and citizens.
“Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to address the evolving immigration needs of our country. While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly. These changes will make immigration work for our country so everyone can access the quality jobs, homes, and support they need to thrive. We have listened to Canadians, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our system and grow our population responsibly.”
– The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship
To sum up, Canada’s 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan focuses on long-term economic growth by reducing the number of immigrants for the next 2 years and also focuses on reducing the number of temporary residents in Canada, such as temporary foreign workers and international students, by transitioning them into permanent residents.
Also, Canada welcomes skilled workers and Francophone immigrants aligning with the regional communities to balance immigration in Canada between provinces, territories, and communities to ensure fair immigration for all newcomers. With all these updates, Canada will remain a top destination for skilled workers from all over the world to have a new life in Canada.
