IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Relations

Context

Immigration is a shared jurisdiction between the federal and provincial governments under Section 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867. Both orders of government can legislate on immigration matters, with federal paramountcy.

The federal government engages provinces and territories on an ongoing basis multilaterally through the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration (FMRI). FMRI meets at various levels including the Minister and Deputy Minister levels. The provincial co-chair of FMRI is presently Saskatchewan, but Newfoundland and Labrador will assume the co-chair role on April 1, 2026.

Bilateral engagement with provinces and territories often occurs on an issues-specific basis, including with Quebec in accordance with the Canada-Quebec Accord.

Background

Bilateral Immigration Agreements

• Bilateral engagement with provinces and territories is guided by legally binding bilateral agreements that outline broad immigration objectives and roles and responsibilities between both orders of government.
• All provinces and territories, except for Quebec and Nunavut, have Canada–Provincial/Territorial Immigration Agreements in place. Most importantly, bilateral immigration agreements provide authority to provinces and territories to operate what is known as provincial and territorial nominee programs, which jurisdictions use to select permanent immigrants to fill key regional labour market needs.
• These agreements also include program-specific annexes that set out key federal and provincial objectives in certain domains (e.g., foreign workers, international students, Francophone immigration).
• Immigration in Quebec is governed by the Canada–Quebec Accord, which gives Quebec authority to select most permanent immigrants to Quebec, as well as a say over certain temporary residents. Quebec is also compensated annually by Canada for settlement services it provides. (See separate background brief on Quebec).

Multilateral Relations

• The FMRI is a joint federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) decision-making body with the goal of collaborating on shared immigration goals and addressing emerging priorities.
• The FMRI has decision-making tables at the minister, deputy minister, assistant deputy minister, and director general levels, in addition to a number of issues-specific working groups. Quebec remains an observer of the FMRI tables and working groups.
• The last ministerial meeting of the FMRI took place in December 2025, with a focus on immigration levels planning. For reference, five Ministerial FMRIs (one in person) and seven Deputy Minister FMRIs (one in person) were held in 2025. Discussions with provinces and territories are underway to hold an in-person FMRI Ministerial in June 2026.

Key Issues in Federal-Provincial-Territorial Relations

To guide engagement for 2026, a Forward FMRI Engagement Plan has been developed on joint priorities, which are outlined further below:

Immigration Levels

• The Immigration Levels Plan, which is tabled annually in Parliament, sets out the number of permanent residents and temporary residents that Canada will welcome in the coming years.
• Each year, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) consults extensively with provinces and territories on the levels plan, both multilaterally and bilaterally.
• In recent years, all orders of government have recognized the need to better align temporary and permanent resident immigration levels with the absorptive capacities of the communities who welcome them.
• Accordingly, many provinces and territories have welcomed the stabilization of immigration levels, although some have criticized what they perceived to be a “one size fits all” approach to levels that fail to account for jurisdiction-specific labour market or population needs.

Economic Immigration/Provincial Nominee Program

• The Provincial Nominee Program allows provinces and territories to nominate for permanent residence individuals who have the skills, education, and work experience to contribute to their local economy.
• Provinces and territories state they are best placed to determine how to meet their regional labour market needs and have objected to adjustments in the number of available levels spaces for provincial and territorial nominee programs.
• Some provinces are also concerned with what they perceive as duplication between federal and provincial/territorial immigration programs, whereby federal programs select candidates that are of interest to provinces and territories (e.g., Express Entry Category-based selections, or the 5,000 federal spaces for physicians announced in 2026).

Settlement

• Through its Settlement Program, IRCC works with partners to support the delivery of settlement services to newcomers to help them integrate into Canadian communities.
• The reduction in overall immigration levels in recent years, as well as decisions from the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, have meant a reduction in available federal settlement funding. Provinces and territories are concerned decreases in federal funding will disadvantage newcomers and place pressure on their jurisdictions to increase their own settlement offerings.

Foreign Credential Recognition

• Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) remains a challenge for internationally trained immigrants seeking to work in their chosen profession when they come to Canada.
• In October 2025, FMRI Ministers tasked the creation of a joint FCR Task Force with the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM), to build on work that was already being conducted within the FMRI structure. The joint FMRI–FLMM Task Force will begin meeting in March 2026 to identify shared FCR priorities across the immigration and labour continuum.

Francophone Immigration

• To help meet its obligations under the Official Languages Act, the Department is working with provinces and territories to advance policies that support francophone immigration. Provinces and territories generally support federal francophone objectives, but emphasize the need for flexibility in setting provincial targets and selection policies that take regional specificities into account. In October 2025, FMRI Ministers directed officials to revise the 2018 FPT Action Plan on Francophone Immigration; this work is underway.

Key Takeaways

• Provinces and territories have expressed interest in exploring opportunities for enhanced engagement across FMRI tables and working groups and improved cooperation and transparency on shared immigration priorities.
• IRCC has committed to strengthen collaboration with provinces and territories, which will be guided by a FMRI 2026 Forward Engagement Plan—currently circulating for approval among FPT Deputy Ministers and Assistant Deputy Ministers.