Stabilizing Canada’s immigration targets to support sustainable growth

November 1, 2023—Ottawa—Immigration drives Canada’s economy and fuels its future growth. As we continue to face an aging population and critical labour shortages in key sectors like health care, transportation and home building, newcomers are critical to help spur innovation, grow the economy, and support local businesses and communities.

The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, today tabled the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan. This plan is tailored to support economic growth while balancing with the pressures in areas like housing, healthcare and infrastructure. It charts a responsible course for sustainable and stable population growth.

With this Levels Plan, the Government of Canada is maintaining its target of 485,000 permanent residents for 2024 and completing the final step to reach 500,000 in 2025. Starting in 2026, the government will stabilize permanent resident levels at 500,000, allowing time for successful integration, while continuing to augment Canada’s labour market. The government also plans to take action over the next year to recalibrate the number of temporary resident admissions to ensure this aspect of our immigration system also remains sustainable.

The Government of Canada will continue to work closely with the provinces and territories, employers, stakeholders and Indigenous peoples to help Canada adapt to the realities of immigration-driven population growth. This approach is also guided by An Immigration System for Canada’s Future—a report that lays out a pathway to strengthen our immigration system for newcomers, businesses, and communities. Together, these measures will continue to put people at the heart of our immigration policy and ensure that newcomers have the resources they need, including settlement support and access to housing, to succeed in their new lives.

Highlights of the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan include:

• A continued long-term focus on economic growth, with over 60% of permanent resident admissions dedicated to the economic class by 2025.
• A commitment to uphold the Government of Canada’s humanitarian tradition support effort by responding to humanitarian and geopolitical crises around the world.
• New ambitious Francophone immigration targets to support Francophone communities outside of Quebec. The targets represent 6% of total immigration in 2024, 7% in 2025, and 8% in 2026. This is to strengthen Francophone communities outside of Quebec and ensure the economic prosperity of Francophone minority communities across Canada.

The new Levels Plan also considers important progress IRCC has made in the past year through new digital systems and improved client service, which have increased processing capacity and reduced application backlogs.

Through immigration, Canada will continue to help families stay together, bring the skills and talent we need to help companies grow their businesses, and maintain our humanitarian tradition, so that the country continues to benefit from the strength and diversity that newcomers bring to our communities.