Canada to cut intake of temporary residents by nearly 43%

Toronto: Canada is acutely reducing its inlet of temporary residents, including workers and international students, by nearly 43%, according to the in-migration levels contrive proclaimed by the government as part of the Federal Budget that was presented on Tuesday.

There will be decrease in the total numbers in these categories between 2026 and 2028. In its previous levels plan, the government had looked at admitting 305,000 international students each year. However, the plans on Tuesday showed the target at 155,000, reducing further to 150,000 in 2027 and 2028. That means the 2025 target has been nearly halved by the government.

The government is also planning to launched an accelerated pathway to attract talent affected by the $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas imposed by the United States this year.

The projections for workers and students in 2026 is 385,000, going down to 370,000 over the next two years. The number of new work permits to be issued under the Temporary Foreign Worker Programme (TFWP), International Mobility Program (IMP), including those issued under humanitarian public policies, will total 230,000 next year, and drop to 220,000 in 2027 and 2028.

The 2025 target for temporary residents admitted to the country was 673,650, including 367,750 foreign workers and 305,900 students. The projected figures in the 2024 levels plan were at 516,600 in 2026 and 543,600 in 2027.

Indians form the largest cohorts in the impacted areas. They comprised 39,790 or 20.8% of the TFWP source country, and 209,505 or 29.2% under the International Mobility Plan in 2024. Indians also accounted for 188,465 or 36.5% of the study permits issued.

“We will balance the number of new arrivals with the planned departure of international students and temporary workers as their status expires in 2025 and 2026. We have committed to reduce temporary resident volumes through departures, program limits, and lower immigration levels to less than 5% of the population by the end of 2027,” Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab noted in the introduction to the plan which was tabled in Parliament.

The numbers for permanent residents will not be impacted as much. While the target was 395,000 in 2025, it will fall marginally to 380,000 over the next three years. However, the government plans to focus on the economic immigration class for PRs. “Canada will continue to prioritise economic immigration, with nearly 65% of new permanent residents supporting our labour market needs and growth by 2027,” Diab said. That will rise from the current level of around 59%.

“We are taking back control over the immigration system and putting Canada on a trajectory to bring immigration back to sustainable levels — allowing us to fulfillthe promise of Canada to those who call it home,” the document released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stated.

The Government of Prime Minister Mark Carney was under pressure to drastically pare intake of newcomers, particularly temporary residents, amid growing anti-immigration sentiment in the country. The latest levels plan addresses that political imperative.

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