If you are planning permanent residence in Canada, or want to come first on a study or work permit, the new numbers are out. The federal government released the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan on 5 November 2026, and it sets a target of 380,000 new permanent residents for 2027. That is the same 380,000 that last year’s plan had pencilled in for 2027.
The same plan sets a separate target for new temporary arrivals: 370,000 for 2027. The first number counts people becoming permanent residents. The second counts new work and study permits for people arriving in Canada. They come from two different tables, and they are easy to mix up. The plan also adds a one-year measure outside the targets: up to 200,000 more permanent residence spaces for people already in Canada, described below.
The numbers at a glance
Permanent residence first. These are admissions targets: how many people the government plans to admit as permanent residents each year, with a planning range around each figure. The last two columns show the figures the 2026–2028 plan set for 2027 and 2028. Those were notional figures, so a change from them is a revision of the plan, not a cut or an increase from a settled number. The new plan marks its 2028 and 2029 figures as notional in the same way.
| Permanent resident admissions | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2027 (2026–2028 plan) |
2028 (2026–2028 plan) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall target: permanent residence | 380,000 | 380,000 | 380,000 | 380,000 | 380,000 |
| Planning range | 352,500–422,000 | 352,500–422,000 | 352,500–422,000 | 350,000–420,000 | 350,000–420,000 |
| Economic | 244,700 | 244,700 | 244,700 | 244,700 | 244,700 |
| Family | 81,000 | 81,000 | 81,000 | 81,000 | 81,000 |
| Refugees, protected persons, humanitarian and other | 54,300 | 54,300 | 54,300 | 54,300 | 54,300 |
| French-speaking admissions outside Quebec | 9.5% (31,825) | 10.5% (35,175) | 12% (40,200) | 9.5% (31,825) | 10.5% (35,175) |
The overall permanent residence target stays at 380,000 in each of the three years. Economic immigration includes Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program; the route-by-route section below picks out their lines.
Now the temporary side. These targets count new arrivals: new work permits and new study permits for people coming to Canada.
| New temporary resident arrivals | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2027 (2026–2028 plan) |
2028 (2026–2028 plan) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall target: new temporary arrivals | 370,000 | 370,000 | 370,000 | 370,000 | 370,000 |
| Planning range | 355,000–385,000 | 355,000–385,000 | 355,000–385,000 | 360,000–380,000 | 360,000–380,000 |
| Workers (new work permits) | 220,000 | 220,000 | 220,000 | 220,000 | 220,000 |
| Students (new study permits) | 150,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 |
The 2027 target for new temporary arrivals stays at the 370,000 the 2026–2028 plan set for that year. In the definitions used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), workers are people arriving under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or the International Mobility Program, and students are people coming for a program of six months or more at a designated learning institution.
Two tables, two different targets
The mistake to avoid is reading a figure from the temporary table as a permanent residence target. It happened in late September, when news coverage of an interview with Prime Minister Mark Carney described 385,000 and 370,000 as permanent residence targets. Those were the targets for new temporary arrivals; permanent residence in the 2026–2028 plan was 380,000 in every year. We covered it in our post on what Carney said.
So when you see a figure from this plan, check which table it comes from. The permanent residence table counts people becoming permanent residents. The temporary table counts only new work and study permits. As in the 2026–2028 plan, it does not cover visitors, permit extensions, in-Canada study or work permit applications, Post-Graduation Work Permits or asylum claimants.
Neither number is a cap. Each target comes with a range, and actual admissions can land on either side of the headline figure. In 2025, Canada admitted 393,770 permanent residents against a target of 395,000, and IRCC described that as meeting the target.
Under the 2026–2028 plan, IRCC also said that a one-time initiative for about 115,000 protected persons in Canada, running in 2026 and 2027, is in addition to that plan’s targets. The 2027–2029 plan says again that this initiative’s 2027 admissions are in addition to its targets. Our post on IRCC’s 2026–27 Departmental Plan covers that initiative. The 2027–2029 plan also announces a new time-limited measure for 2027: up to 100,000 additional permanent residence spaces for workers already in Canada and up to 100,000 more for specific humanitarian groups, up to 200,000 in all. IRCC says the spaces are for one year, sit outside the Levels targets, and are not a new pathway or a recurring increase in admissions. It also says applicants do not need to apply separately.
The new time-limited measure for 2027
Alongside the targets, IRCC introduced a measure that works outside them. It makes additional permanent residence space for one year, 2027, for specific groups of people who are already in Canada. IRCC says the measure is not a new pathway and will not increase admissions on a recurring basis, and that applicants do not need to apply separately or take any additional steps to be considered.
There are two groups, with up to 100,000 additional spaces for each:
- Workers already in Canada, and their families, outside Quebec: up to 100,000. The worker must be waiting for a decision on a permanent residence application under a program that is now closed to new applications (the Start-Up Visa Program, the Self-Employed Persons Program, the Agri-Food Pilot or the home care worker programs), or be eligible to apply for permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program.
- Specific humanitarian groups already in Canada: up to 100,000. This covers spouses, common-law partners and children of Canadians and permanent residents who have already applied and are awaiting a final decision; the remaining applications under the Hong Kong residents’ pathways (closed on 31 August 2026) and the Ukrainian family-members pathway (closed on 22 October 2024); and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate applications already approved in principle.
“Up to” matters: 100,000 is the most extra space IRCC is making for each group, not a promise of 100,000 approvals. People outside Canada, and people who have not yet applied, are not covered.
What this means for you
A levels plan sets how many people Canada aims to admit. The targets themselves do not change any program’s requirements, and they are not a promise to any applicant. Your application is still decided on the requirements of the program you apply under. Here is where the plan touches each route.
- Express Entry. The plan’s line for the three Express Entry programs is 100,000 for 2027, against 111,000 in the 2026–2028 plan. The plan does not set the size, date or cut-off score of any round. A separate change does affect scores: from 3 November 2026, a job offer in an occupation on IRCC’s high-wage list earns CRS points again, and Canadian work in those occupations earns extra points. To see where you stand, work out your CRS score.
- Provincial nominees. The Provincial Nominee Program has its own line in the economic target: 95,000 for 2027, against 92,500 in the 2026–2028 plan. Each province nominates within the share IRCC gives it and announces its own draws, so your province’s announcements will show what this means for its streams. Our guide explains how the Provincial Nominee Program works.
- Study permits. The student target, 150,000 new study permits in 2027, is one total for students from every country, not a quota per country. Our study permit guide covers what your own application needs.
- Work permits. The worker target, 220,000 new work permits in 2027, counts people arriving on a new permit. If you are already in Canada, extending your permit is not a new arrival, and your next step, permanent residence, sits in the other table. Our work permit guide covers the main permit types.
- Family sponsorship. Family has its own target: 81,000 for 2027, against 81,000 in the 2026–2028 plan. It covers spouses, partners and children as well as parents and grandparents; intake for the Parents and Grandparents Program is announced separately. Our page on family sponsorship explains who can sponsor whom.
- French speakers. The plan’s target for the French-speaking share of permanent resident admissions outside Quebec is 12% for 2029. That matches the government’s commitment for 2029. Our guide covers French, CRS points and French-language draws.
What to watch next
The plan sets totals. What reaches individual applicants comes after it:
- Express Entry rounds. IRCC publishes the size and cut-off score of every round, and our Express Entry draws page lists them.
- Provincial announcements. Each province publishes its own nomination plans and draw results.
- The population goals. The government has said it aims to bring temporary residents below 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2027, and to keep permanent resident admissions below 1% of the population after 2027.
- Next year’s plan. Section 94 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires the Minister to table an annual report to Parliament, including the projected number of permanent residents for the following year, on or before 1 November each year, or within the next 30 sitting days if a House of Parliament is not sitting then. The 2028 and 2029 figures above can change in that next plan: the 2025–2027 plan had 365,000 permanent residents for 2027, and the 2026–2028 plan raised it to 380,000.
Sources
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan (5 November 2026)
- Supplementary Information for the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan (4 November 2025), for last year’s figures
- 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration (4 November 2025), for the combined refugee, humanitarian and other row
- Supplementary Information for the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan (24 October 2024), for the 365,000 figure for 2027
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, section 94
- Meeting our population commitments and building our future (IRCC), for the 5%, 1% and 12% goals
- 2026 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration (5 November 2026), for 2025 admissions
- Managing a responsive and predictable immigration system (IRCC, 5 November 2026), for the 2027 time-limited measure
This article is general information, not legal advice, and it describes published official rules rather than any individual case. Hadi Imani is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, licence R522575, practising in Toronto; that licence covers Canadian immigration only.
