Comparing the two immigration plans presented to Congress last year and this year: Why is Immigration Year 2026 a turning point?
Below is a detailed comparison of the 2026 Immigration Plan as presented in two official IRCC reports: the Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration 2024 and the Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration 2025.
This paper focuses on comparing the same year (2026) , but described within two different planning periods, highlighting the shift in the Canadian government's direction between the two reporting periods.
You can read more about what the Immigration Levels Plan is - Canada's annual plan.
🇨🇦 Policy overview for 2026 in two reports
| Element | 2024 Report (issued in 2024 - submitted to the 2025-2027 plan) | Report 2025 (issued in 2025 - submitted to the 2026-2028 plan) |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic thinking | "Stabilization after growth" - maintaining high immigration levels after a period of rapid post-COVID growth. | "Reducing the burden and adjusting the size of the temporary resident population" - a response to the housing and infrastructure crisis. |
| Main message | Continue to promote economic immigration to address labor shortages and maintain the role of immigrant populations. | Maintain high levels of economic settlement while strictly controlling temporary residency, aiming for social sustainability. |
| PR targets for 2026 | 380,000 (approximately 352k-416k) | 380,000 (approximately 350k-420k) - maintaining the target but with a more flexible range. |
🧮 Detailed quantitative comparison for 2026
| Category | 2024 Report (2025-2027 Plan) | 2025 Report (2026-2028 Plan) | Differences & Explanations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total PR in 2026 | 380,000 (352k-416k) | 380,000 (350k-420k) | Keep the overall target unchanged. |
| Economics | 229,750 | 239,800 | ▲ +10,050 → IRCC increased its economic share from 60% to ~63% of total PR. |
| Family Reunification | 88,000 | 84,000 | ▼ -4,000 → The "Parents & Grandparents" intake is temporarily postponed until early 2025 to address outstanding issues. |
| Refugees & Protected Persons | 62,250 | 56,200 | ▼ -6,050 → Reduce intake, instead converting a portion into “protected persons in Canada → PR” through the legalization policy. |
| Francophone outside Quebec | 9.5% (31,350 people) | 9% (30,267 people) | ▼ -0.5% → Maintain the gradual increase policy, but shift the focus to the “Francophone Community Immigration Program” (launching December 2024). |
| Temporary Residents (TR) total) | 516,600 | 385,000 | ▼ -131,600 → Drastic cuts to bring the TR rate down to ≤5% of the Canadian population. |
| MI - Workers | 210,700 | 230,000 | ▲ +19,300 → Increase to meet essential labor needs in agriculture, healthcare, and engineering. |
| TR - Students | 305,900 | 155,000 | ▼ -150,900 → Nearly 50% reduction, stricter student visa regulations and provincial intake limits. |
🇨🇦 Start-Up Visa 2026: A Comparison Between Two Reports
| Topic | 2024 Announcement | 2025 Announcement | Actual impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministerial Instruction (MI) | There is no official limit yet. | MI issued, effective April 11, 2024: “Start-Up Visa and Self-Employed Persons Cap”. | From 2025-2026, only a maximum of SUV applications per year will be accepted. |
| Self-Employed Program (SEPP) | Normal intake, no limit. | Completely close the new intake. | The entire "Business Immigration" area is now only served by SUVs. |
| Designated Organizations (DOs) | No limit on the number of LOSs issued. | IRCC began reviewing and limiting DOs : retaining only those with genuinely operational projects in Canada. | Significantly reduce the amount of LOS issued for 2026. |
🇨🇦 Work Permit 2026 - Overview in Two Plans
| Content | 2024 Report (2025-2027 Plan) | 2025 Report (2026-2028 Plan) |
|---|---|---|
| Program team | Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) + International Mobility Program (IMP). | Keep these two groups, but separate them more clearly: “Essential Worker Streams” and “High-Skill IMP Streams”. |
| Strategic objectives | Addressing post-COVID labor shortages, especially in agriculture, services, and healthcare. | Stabilize the size of the temporary resident population, reduce the total number of active Work Permits, and retain only "essential & highly skilled" workers. |
| Main message | “Labour mobility as an economic driver.” | “Labour mobility within sustainable population targets.” |
Explanation:
- In the 2024 forecast, IRCC no longer considers SUVs a high-risk segment – the target is to continue slight growth.
- However, in the 2025 version, IRCC shifted SUVs from the “expansion stream” to the “capped stream” due to the excessively large backlog and signs of abuse of LOS (Land Use Status) by Designated Organizations (DOs).
| Estimated target for 2026 | 2024 Report | 2025 Report | Differences & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newly issued Work Permit Number (workers admitted) | 210,700 (2026 target) | 230,000 (2026 target) | ▲ +19,300 - Although the total number of temporary residents decreased, the number of workers increased slightly due to the prioritization of essential industries. |
| Total number of people with valid Work Permits (stock) | ~950,000 people (estimated) | Approximately 870,000 people (estimated) | ▼ -8% of total is active, due to a reduction in open spaces (open WP). |
| Overall TR proportion | 40% of total Temporary Residents | 60% of total Temporary Residents | Although overall TR decreased sharply, labor still makes up the majority of the remaining group. |
| Expected TR level for the entire population (Non-PR Residents) | 5.1% of Canada's population | 5.0% of the Canadian population | Stability is maintained by reducing study permits and selectively increasing work permits. |
🇨🇦 Study Permit
| Key indicators | 2024 Publication (2025-27) | 2025 Publication (2026-28) | Differences & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of students granted permission to study abroad (2026) | 305,900 | 155,000 | ▼ 50% off , the biggest cut in IRCC's history. |
| Expected price range | 275,000 – 335,000 | 150,000 – 160,000 | Reduce the amplitude, limiting the possibility of sudden increases in intake. |
| Proportion in total TR intake | 60% | 40% | International students no longer make up the majority of temporary residents. |
| The goal is to reduce the temporary resident population. | ≤ 5.1% of the Canadian population | ≤ 5.0% of the Canadian population | Achieved by cutting deep into the Study Permit group. |
| Average processing time | 8 weeks | 9-10 weeks (due to additional LOA and attestation checks) | Longer but more transparent, focusing on real records. |
Conclusion
Comparing the two plans reveals that 2026 will be a turning point in Canada's immigration policy.
While the 2025-2027 plan (2024 version) still focused on stability after growth, viewing immigration as a tool for population and economic expansion, the 2026-2028 plan (2025 version) has shifted the focus to managing both scale and quality.
IRCC maintains the number of permanent residents at 380,000 but tightens restrictions on temporary residency, especially for student visas (Study Permit) and start-up visas - two categories that saw significant growth between 2021 and 2023.
The year 2026 therefore marks a shift from “scaling up” to “sustainable growth,” bringing Canadian immigration policy to a more mature stage, balancing economic, demographic, and infrastructure capacity.
Download the original versions of both plans here:
Official source:
- Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration 2024, IRCC.
- Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration 2025, IRCC (Annex 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan).
Immigration Event Calendar and Live Stream
