Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced its 2025 Immigration Levels plan. A press release for the announcement can be found here.
Consistent with the measures released in the past several months, and also consistent with speculation around numbers for 2025, we expect to see significant reductions in the number of Temporary Residents (workers, students, etc.) and new Permanent Residents in Canada throughout 2025 and beyond.
Impact
The Levels Plan announcement does not address how these reductions will be achieved. However, based on the numbers, here is our initial understanding:
- Permanent Resident targets: The 2025-27 Levels Plan projects a decrease in overall permanent resident admissions to 395,000 in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027. The breakdown can be found in the supplementary information, Permanent Residents Table.
- The number of PRs admitted through Provincial Nominee programs will drop from 110,000 in 2024 to 55,000 in each of 2025-2027.
- The Express Entry program will continue to favour targeted draws, to support:
- “Federal Economic Priorities”: category-specific draws, and the 2025 priority categories will be health care occupations, trade occupations, and French-language proficiency.
- “In-Canada Focus”: primarily CEC (Canadian experience class) draws.
- The Canadian government intends that 40% of PRs come from Temporary residents (i.e., students, and workers) who are already in Canada. This measure aims to reduce the number of temporary residents inside Canada by converting them into permanent residents.
- Temporary Resident Targets:The 2025-2027 Levels Plan projects 673,650 in 2025, 516,600 in 2026, and 543,600 in 2027 temporary residents. The breakdown can be found in the supplementary information, Temporary Residents Table.
- The drop in Temporary Resident admissions will come largely from measures already announced, such as:
- reforming the International Student Program
- tightening eligibility requirements for
- The drop in Temporary Resident admissions will come largely from measures already announced, such as:
Erickson Insights & Analysis
Based on these new and revised targets, it may become increasingly difficult to obtain these residency statuses. Erickson Immigration Group will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions.