Canada to Keep Immigration Numbers Steady, Offer Path to Permanent Residency for Up to 200,000 Temporary Residents
The federal budget maintains immigration targets at 380,000 permanent residents for the year and proposes a pathway for up to 200,000 temporary residents to obtain permanent status.
Ottawa announced that immigration levels will remain unchanged for the coming fiscal year, with 380,000 new permanent residents slated for admission, matching last year’s figure. The budget also sets the number of temporary residents, including students and workers, at 370,000 for the next three years and creates a pathway for as many as 200,000 current temporary residents to apply for permanent status.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said, “We are attracting the talent that our growing industries need, supporting communities and families, and retaining the Canadian tradition of welcoming those fleeing conflict, while ensuring we keep immigration levels at a sustainable level.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Immigration Minister Lena Diab have described the approach as a “controlled increase” aimed at balancing public concerns, labour market needs, and pressures from business and post-secondary institutions. The Liberal government noted that the policy follows a previous year’s grant of permanent residence to 148,000 foreign workers and asylum recipients.
The Conservative opposition called for stricter tracking of temporary residents and a further reduction in permanent residency admissions. Conservative MP and immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner wrote on social media, “Conservatives will vigorously oppose any attempt by Mark Carney to raise immigration levels and will push him to decrease them.”
The plan comes after a 2024 reduction in immigration targets that followed a decade of higher intake under the previous administration, which critics said contributed to housing shortages and strained public services. The current government argues that lower immigration has eased pressure on the housing market and improved per-capita GDP, while acknowledging ongoing backlogs in the immigration system.
Statistics Canada reports that temporary residents make up 6.7 % of Canada’s roughly 42 million population. As of August 2026, the Immigration Department listed 715,340 pending permanent-residence applications and 365,425 pending temporary-resident applications, highlighting the scale of the system’s backlog.