Canada’s 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, explained
Permanent-resident admissions stabilise at 380,000 while temporary residents are trimmed. What the plan signals for economic applicants.
Canada’s 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan sets permanent-resident admissions at 380,000 per year through 2028, with the economic class as the largest share. Notably, the plan pairs stable PR targets with sharper reductions to temporary residents — students and workers.
That combination is the whole story, and it is widely misread. Headlines about “cuts” mostly refer to the temporary side. Permanent residence dips from 395,000 in 2025 to 380,000 and then holds steady, while the route into permanent residence gets narrower. For anyone currently in Canada on a study or work permit, that distinction determines how much time they realistically have.
What the plan actually sets
The Levels Plan is Canada’s multi-year statement of how many people it intends to admit as permanent residents, broken down by class. It is a planning target rather than a quota, but it drives everything downstream: how many invitations Express Entry issues, how large provincial allocations are, and how processing capacity is distributed.
Holding admissions flat at 380,000 through 2028 signals stability after several years of revision. For applicants, predictable targets are genuinely useful — they make timelines easier to plan against than a rising or falling trajectory would.
The numbers, category by category
IRCC’s supplementary information for the plan breaks the 380,000 down by program. The economic total also includes Quebec’s own skilled worker and business admissions, which Quebec sets under the Canada–Quebec Accord, so the federal economic lines do not add up to it. The 2027 and 2028 figures are notional: IRCC confirms or adjusts them each year, and the next plan is due by November 1, 2026.
| Category | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permanent residents | 380,000 | 380,000 | 380,000 |
| Express Entry (Federal High Skilled) | 109,000 | 111,000 | 111,000 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 91,500 | 92,500 | 92,500 |
| Economic pilots: caregivers, agri-food, community pilots, EMPP | 8,175 | 8,775 | 8,775 |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Federal business (Start-up Visa, self-employed) | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Economic total | 239,800 | 244,700 | 244,700 |
| Spouses, partners and children | 69,000 | 66,000 | 66,000 |
| Parents and grandparents | 15,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| Family total | 84,000 | 81,000 | 81,000 |
| Refugees and protected persons | 49,300 | 49,300 | 49,300 |
| Humanitarian, compassionate and other | 6,900 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
Economic focus
Economic immigration — Express Entry and the PNP — carries the plan: 63% of admissions in 2026 and 64% in 2027 and 2028. The Provincial Nominee Program target is 91,500 admissions in 2026, rising to 92,500, and the plan flags continued emphasis on transitioning in-Canada temporary workers to permanent residence.
That last point is the most actionable line in the entire document. The federal preference is for candidates who are already here, already working, already integrated — people with Canadian work experience, established employers and provincial ties. If you are in Canada on a permit, you are in the group the plan is designed around.
The temporary-resident squeeze
The other half of the plan reduces temporary resident admissions: 385,000 new arrivals in 2026 (230,000 workers and 155,000 students) and 370,000 in each of 2027 and 2028, with the aim of bringing temporary residents below 5% of the population by the end of 2027. We explain what those targets count, and what they do not. In practice this means tighter study permit allocations, more restrictive rules around post-graduation work permits, and closer scrutiny of employer-driven work permits.
The consequence for individuals is a compressed window. A student who once had a comfortable runway from graduation to permanent residence now has less room for a false start. Practically, that means treating the post-graduation work permit period as the core of your permanent-residence plan rather than a grace period after studies, and knowing well in advance whether a bridging open work permit will be available if your PR application is still in progress when your permit expires.
It also raises the cost of status gaps. If a permit lapses, restoration is possible but time-limited and never guaranteed; our extensions and work permit extension pages set out the deadlines that matter.
What it means for applicants
If you are already in Canada
You are the priority group, and the practical instruction is to convert status early rather than late. Accumulate qualifying Canadian work experience in a correctly coded occupation, keep language test results current, and enter the Express Entry pool as soon as you are eligible rather than waiting for a score you consider respectable. A provincial nomination remains the strongest single addition to a profile.
If you are applying from outside Canada
Overseas candidates are not excluded, but they face a pool weighted toward people with Canadian experience. The realistic routes are a category-based Express Entry draw where you genuinely qualify, a provincial stream where you have a real connection or job offer, or an employer-supported work permit that builds the experience the system rewards. Our analysis of category-based selection covers the first of those in detail.
If your route is family
Family reunification retains a substantial share of admissions. Spousal sponsorship and parent and grandparent routes are unaffected by the economic-class arithmetic, and for many families they remain the most direct option. The super visa continues to serve parents and grandparents who need extended visits rather than permanent status.
Two one-time measures on top of the targets
The plan also announced two one-time initiatives for 2026 and 2027 that sit outside the 380,000: permanent residence for up to 115,000 protected persons already in Canada, and the In-Canada Workers Initiative, which accelerates up to 33,000 work permit holders who have already applied. IRCC counts both in addition to, not as part of, the plan’s targets. Who each one covers, and how far it has got.
Where 2026 stands so far
IRCC publishes approximate admissions against the targets. As of August 31, 2026, about 216,600 people had become permanent residents under the plan, against the 380,000 target for the year: 127,100 economic (target 239,800), 59,100 family (84,000), 25,500 refugees and protected persons (49,300) and 4,900 humanitarian and other (6,900). About 16,500 of the new permanent residents outside Quebec were French-speaking.
Reading the plan without over-reading it
A levels plan sets direction, not entitlement. It does not guarantee that any particular stream will draw at a given size, and it does not override program eligibility. Be sceptical of any advice that promises outcomes on the strength of a target number.
What it reliably tells you is where effort is best spent: on Canadian experience, on provincial connection, on occupations that appear on shortage lists, and on maintaining continuous status. Those four factors are rewarded across every route the plan funds.
What to do next
Map your own position against the plan — whether you are inside or outside Canada, how long your current status runs, and which class you realistically fall into. Then work backwards from your permit expiry, not forwards from today. Rounds and program changes are published as they happen on our draw dashboard, and our resource library collects the guides in one place.
If you want that mapped out properly, a licensed RCIC at our Brampton or London office will review your status and set out the routes that genuinely fit. Request a consultation. General information only, not legal advice; IRCC makes all final decisions.
Sources: IRCC, Supplementary Information for the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan; IRCC, Understanding permanent residence numbers in Canada (approximate figures, data as of August 31, 2026). Updated October 27, 2026.
