CIMM – Permanent Resident Targets – March 23, 2026

Key Messages

The 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan takes a balanced approach that meets labour market needs, supports Canadian workers, considers needs to access housing and healthcare, while keeping immigration levels sustainable.
Targets for permanent residents have been stabilized at 380,000 across all three years and focus on economic immigration, with the economic category reaching 64% of admissions.
These targets support the government’s commitment to ensuring new permanent resident admissions do not exceed 1% of the population beyond 2027.
The Plan prioritizes economic immigration to support the government’s commitment to attract the best talent in the world and fill critical labour gaps in high-demand occupations that complement the domestic workforce, while maintaining our focus on humanitarian cases and family reunification.
As of January 31, 2026, Canada has welcomed 24 100 permanent residents against the 2026 target of 380,000.

Permanent Resident Targets 2026–2028

Permanent resident (PR) admissions in the Levels Plan are expected to represent 0.9% of the population in 2028.
The economic class represents the largest proportion of PR admissions each year, reaching approximately 63% of overall admissions in 2026, and 64% in both 2027 and 2028—the highest percentage in over a decade.
The overall proportion of family class admissions will remain relatively stable, between 21–22% in order to support family reunification, a cornerstone of Canada’s tradition as a welcoming country.
Canada will continue to be a global leader in refugee resettlement with 13% of overall admissions dedicated to programs in the Resettled Refugees and Protected Persons category.
Finally, 16,900 admissions over three years will be dedicated to the Humanitarian & Compassionate and Other category to help fulfill Canada’s humanitarian commitments (e.g., Sudan, Ukraine, Hong Kong), as well as for applications based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
The Government of Canada has also committed to a target of 12% Francophone PR admissions outside Quebec by 2029 to strengthen Francophone minority communities throughout Canada.
- In line with this commitment, the Levels Plan sets targets for French-speaking PR admissions at 9% of total admissions for 2026 (30,267), 9.5% (31,825) for 2027 and 10.5% (35,175) for 2028.
In 2025, Canada welcomed approximately 393,500 PRs, meeting the admissions target set out in the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan.
- Approximately 48% of these PR admissions had prior permit holder status.

Annex A: 2026-2028 Levels Plan Permanent Resident Targets

Immigration Category		Target	Low Range	High Range	Target^{Footnote 1}	Low Range^{Footnote 2}	High Range	Target	Low Range	High Range
		2026			2027			2028
Overall Planned Permanent Resident Admissions		380,000 (350,000‒420,000)^{Footnote 3}			380,000 (350,000‒420,000)			380,000 (350,000‒420,000)
Overall French-speaking Permanent Resident Admissions outside Quebec^{Footnote 4}		9% (30,267)			9.5% (31,825)			10.5% (35,175)
Economic	Federal High Skilled^{Footnote 5}	109,000	85,000	120,000	111,000	86,000	122,000	111,000	86,000	122,000
	Federal Business^{Footnote 6}	500	250	1,000	500	250	1,000	500	250	1,000
	Federal Economic Pilots: Caregivers;^{Footnote 7} Agri-Food; Community Immigration Pilots^{Footnote 8}; Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot	8,175	5,000	11,800	8,775	6,600	12,400	8,775	6,600	12,400
	Atlantic Immigration Program	4,000	3,000	5,000	4,000	3,000	5,000	4,000	3,000	5,000
	Provincial Nominee Program	91,500	82,000	105,000	92,500	82,000	106,000	92,500	82,000	106,000
	Quebec Skilled Workers and Business^{Footnote 9}	TBD			TBD			TBD
	Total Economic	239,800 (224,000–264,000)			244,700 (229,000–268,000)			244,700 (229,000–268,000)
Family	Spouses, Partners and Children	69,000	63,000	75,000	66,000	60,000	71,000	66,000	60,000	71,000
	Parents and Grandparents	15,000	13,000	19,000	15,000	13,000	19,000	15,000	13,000	19,000
	Total Family	84,000 (78,500–92,000)			81,000 (75,000–90,000)			81,000 (75,000–90,000)
Refugees and Protected Persons	Protected Persons in Canada and Dependents Abroad	20,000	17,000	30,000	20,000	17,000	30,000	20,000	17,000	30,000
	Resettled Refugees – Government Assisted^{Footnote 10}	13,250	10,000	15,500	13,250	10,000	15,500	13,250	10,000	15,500
	Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office Referred	50	-	100	50	-	100	50	-	100
	Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored	16,000	13,000	19,000	16,000	13,000	18,000	16,000	13,000	18,000
	Total Refugees and Protected Persons	49,300 (42,000–55,000)			49,300 (42,000–55,000)			49,300 (42,000–55,000)
Humanitarian & Compassionate and Other	Humanitarian and Compassionate^{Footnote 11}	1,100	1,000	3,000	1,000	700	2,900	1,000	700	2,900
	Other^{Footnote 12}	5,800	4,500	8,000	4,000	3,200	6,000	4,000	3,200	6,000
	Total Humanitarian & Compassionate and Other	6,900 (6,000–9,000)			5,000 (4,000–7,000)			5,000 (4,000–7,000)

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Notional targets and ranges for 2027 and 2028 will be confirmed or adjusted each year.

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Footnote 2

Ranges provide operational flexibility so that IRCC can remain responsive to evolving priorities and program pressures.

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Footnote 3

Program and category specific ranges do not equal the total range for each class.

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Footnote 4

The overall French-speaking permanent resident admissions outside Quebec indicated here represent the number of admissions required to meet the 9% target in 2026, 9.5% target in 2027, and 10.5% target in 2028 of overall permanent resident admissions that have been set. These targets are for admissions outside Quebec and are therefore calculated based on how many admissions within the Levels Plan would be necessary to meet the targets, based on the overall ranges for admissions outside of Quebec. Once Quebec tables its 2026 immigration levels plan, these numbers may require updating.

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Footnote 5

Includes the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class. Each year the Minister of IRC establishes categories in the Express Entry system, informed by labour market information and projections as well as input received from partners, including provinces and territories, and stakeholders across the country, to select eligible candidates with specific skills, training and language ability, to respond to labour-market needs.

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Footnote 6

Includes admissions from the Start-up Visa Program and the Self-employed Persons Program.

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Footnote 7

Includes the Home Care Worker Immigration: Child Care, and Home Care Worker Immigration: Home Support pilots which were launched March 31, 2025. Also includes applications from previous caregiver programming – Home Child Care Provider, Home Support Worker Pilots, Caring for Children, Caring for People with High Medical Needs, Interim Pathway for Caregivers, and the Live-in Caregiver Program – which are being processed to completion.

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Footnote 8

Includes admissions from the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, which replaced the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot for which applications are being processed to completion. Also includes admissions from the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot which targets Francophone minority communities.

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Footnote 9

Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec has responsibility for the selection of economic immigrants destined to the province. Targets can be found in Quebec’s immigration levels plan, to be tabled in fall 2025.

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Footnote 10

Includes streams for human rights defenders in need of protection, as well as LGBTQI+ individuals.

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Footnote 11

Includes admissions of persons selected on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, for reasons of public policy, and in the permit holder class.

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Footnote 12

Includes admissions from Canada’s responses to the situations in Ukraine, Sudan, and Hong Kong.

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