Canada announces immigration plan for over a million new residents in 2026, faces Conservative criticism
The federal budget outlines a plan to grant permanent and temporary residency to more than one million people in 2026, prompting Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to question the country’s capacity to absorb the newcomers.
Canada’s 2026 budget sets a target of granting permanent residency to 380,000 people and temporary residency to 370,000 each year for the next three years, bringing the combined total of new residents for next year to over one million. The plan also includes a one-time pathway that would convert 200,000 current temporary workers into permanent residents in 2027, with roughly half selected through the Express Entry and Provincial Nominee programs and the remainder on humanitarian and family-reunification grounds.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said the numbers exceed Canada’s ability to provide jobs, housing and health care, adding that “our youth are desperate. They can’t find homes. They can’t find jobs and now [Prime Minister] Mark Carney wants to bring in more temporary foreign workers to make it even harder.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney defended the levels, describing them as “in line with sustainable immigration” and noting that the government has “taken back control of immigration.” He highlighted recent declines in international students (-71 %), temporary foreign workers (-57 %) and asylum seekers (-68 %) since 2024, and emphasized that many of the new permanent residents are already living and working in Canada.
The budget also allocates $302 million over four years, starting in 2027-28, to support the transition of temporary workers to permanent status, and commits to completing a two-year initiative that will add almost 80,000 permanent residents in 2027. The projected increase represents about 0.9 % of Canada’s population based on the latest Statistics Canada estimate, rising to roughly 1.5 % when the temporary-to-permanent boost is included.