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Canada is expected to unveil its next Immigration Levels Plan in early November, setting new targets for permanent residents and temporary residents for 2027 to 2029.
The plan will cover permanent resident admissions as well as temporary resident arrivals, including international students and temporary foreign workers. The figures are expected to shape Canada’s immigration policy over the coming years.
According to Immigration News Canada, the forthcoming plan will establish Canada’s first official permanent resident target for 2029 and confirm or revise the indicative figures for 2027 and 2028 contained in the existing 2026–2028 plan.
Why The November Announcement Matters
Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan provides the government’s targets for permanent resident admissions and, since the 2025–2027 plan, targets for new temporary resident arrivals.
The current 2026–2028 plan set permanent resident admissions at 380,000 annually for 2026, 2027 and 2028. It also set temporary resident arrival targets of 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in both 2027 and 2028.
The temporary resident figures include international students and workers. For 2027 and 2028, the existing plan provides for 150,000 student arrivals and 220,000 worker arrivals annually.
The new 2027–2029 plan will determine whether those indicative figures remain unchanged or are revised.
Parliament Sets Deadline For Immigration Plan
Under Section 94(1) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the immigration minister is required to table the annual immigration report containing the levels plan in both Houses of Parliament on or before November 1.
Where Parliament is not sitting on November 1, the legislation provides for the report to be tabled within the next 30 days on which the House is sitting.
The current 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan was released in November 2025.
Temporary Resident Numbers Remain A Key Issue
The forthcoming plan comes as the Canadian government continues efforts to reduce temporary resident numbers.
Under the existing plan, Canada aims to reduce its temporary population to less than 5 per cent of the total population by the end of 2027.
The government has also set permanent resident admissions below 1 per cent of Canada’s population beyond 2027 under its existing framework.
The 2026–2028 plan reduced temporary resident arrival targets substantially compared with the previous plan, including a reduction in planned student arrivals to 150,000 annually in 2027 and 2028.
Carney Signals Possible Future Population Increase
The direction of future immigration levels has also attracted attention following comments by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In an interview with The New York Times reported on September 29, Carney said Canada’s immigration system was back under control and raised the question of when the country could resume a “controlled increase” in population.
However, the government has not yet announced the specific targets for 2027–2029.
Immigration Categories To Watch
Beyond the overall permanent resident figure, the distribution of admissions among immigration categories will also be closely watched.
The plan is expected to set figures across areas including:
Economic immigration
Express Entry
Provincial Nominee Programmes
Family reunification
Refugees and protected persons
Francophone immigration
Temporary resident targets for international students and temporary foreign workers will also be important.
Canada’s existing plan includes a growing target for Francophone permanent residents outside Quebec, with the government aiming for Francophone immigrants to represent 12 per cent of permanent resident admissions outside Quebec by 2029.
For people considering Canada for work, study or permanent residence, the 2027–2029 figures will provide a clearer indication of the number of spaces available across the various immigration pathways.
