Canada to Transition 33,000 Work Permit Holders to Permanent Residence Over 2026–2027
According to Budget 2025, Canada will introduce a new program to transition up to 33,000 work permit holders to permanent residence between 2026 and 2027, as part of its upcoming Immigration Levels Plan.
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Key Highlights from the Upcoming Immigration Levels Plan
Major changes outlined in Budget 2025 include:
- Temporary resident admissions target for 2026 set at 385,000, a 43% decrease from the 2025 target of 673,650.
- International student admissions target reduced to 155,000 for 2026, down 49% from 305,900 in 2025.
- Temporary foreign worker admissions target set at 230,000 for 2026—a 37% reduction from the 2025 target of 367,750, but 8% higher than the 210,700 outlined for 2026 in last year’s Plan.
- Permanent residence to be granted to eligible Protected Persons in Canada over the next two years.
- The 2026 permanent residence admissions target remains at 380,000, unchanged from last year’s Plan.
The federal government plans to allocate 64% of 2026’s permanent residence admissions to economic immigration, up from 59% previously.
For 2027, the notional annual target for permanent resident admissions will be 380,000, a 4% increase from the 365,000 figure set for 2027 in last year’s Plan.
The Plan will also account for industries impacted by tariffs and the unique needs of rural and remote communities.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority Liberal government tabled Budget 2025 in Parliament on November 4, 2025. More details on the immigration strategy are expected when the Minister tables the 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration.
Reduction in Temporary Residence Targets
The drop in temporary residence targets for 2026 represents a shift in planning priorities rather than a practical reduction.
Although the 2026 target is substantially lower than 2025’s, actual admissions in 2025 have already fallen short of existing goals:
- From January to August 2025, Canada admitted 154,515 temporary foreign workers—only 42% of its annual target of 367,750.
- Over the same period, only 89,430 international students were admitted—just 29% of the annual target of 305,900.
Changes to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
Prime Minister Carney has indicated that reforms to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are forthcoming.
“The TFWP must have a focused approach that targets specific, strategic sectors and needs in specific regions,” Carney told the Liberal caucus in Edmonton on September 10, 2025.
While Budget 2025 does not include a breakdown of work permit admissions between the TFWP and the International Mobility Program (IMP), historically the IMP has represented the majority of work permits issued.
In 2025, the targets were:
- IMP: 285,750
- TFWP: 82,000
Last year’s Plan set 2026 targets at 128,700 (IMP) and 82,000 (TFWP)—a combined total of 210,700.
Under the upcoming Plan, the combined 2026 target of 230,000 reflects a modest increase over last year’s projections.
Permanent Residence Admissions Targets
The upcoming Plan makes only minor adjustments to permanent residence targets for 2026 compared to last year’s Plan:
- Total permanent residents: 380,000 (unchanged)
- Economic immigration: 239,800 (up from 229,750)
- Family reunification: 84,000 (down from 88,000)
- Refugee and Humanitarian stream: 56,200 (down from 62,250)
About the Immigration Levels Plan
Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan outlines annual targets for both temporary and permanent resident admissions over a three-year period.
- Targets for the upcoming year are firm, while those for subsequent years are notional and subject to change.
- The 2024–2026 Plan was the first to include temporary resident targets, and reduced top-level permanent resident targets by 20% from the earlier 2024–2026 Plan (which had set 500,000 per year).
Under the upcoming Plan, top-line permanent resident targets will be:
- 2027: 380,000 (up from 365,000 in last year’s Plan)
- 2028: 380,000
Notional temporary resident targets for 2027 and 2028 will each be 370,000, including 220,000 foreign workers and 150,000 international students.
These represent a significant reduction from last year’s projections, which set total temporary residence targets at 516,600 for 2026 and 537,700 for 2027—largely due to steep cuts in international student admissions (down from 305,900 per year for both 2026 and 2027).
