The 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan sets permanent resident admissions at 380,000 per year through 2028, holds new temporary resident arrivals to 385,000 in 2026, and commits to reducing Canada’s temporary population to under 5 percent of the total by the end of 2027. Beneath the headline numbers are two shifts that matter for real files.
Economic class dominance
Economic immigration will make up 64 percent of all admissions by 2027 and 2028, the highest share in decades. In practice this means Express Entry, the PNP, and targeted economic pilots keep their processing priority, while other lines, notably parents and grandparents, compete for a smaller share of a fixed total.
The in-Canada advantage
The plan includes one-time initiatives to transition roughly 148,000 people who are already in Canada as temporary residents to permanent residence over 2026 and 2027. Combined with category draws favouring Canadian experience, the message is consistent: being in Canada with status, work experience and language results is the strongest position an applicant can hold.
Students and workers: tighter front door
Study permit issuance is planned at 155,000 for new students in 2026, and temporary worker admissions at 230,000 across the LMIA-based and international mobility streams. Both numbers continue the post-2024 tightening. Expect provincial attestation letters, employer compliance scrutiny, and category-based selection to keep doing the sorting.
Planning against the plan
If you are outside Canada, realistic pathways increasingly run through a category such as French, healthcare, trades, STEM or physicians, or through a provincial nomination. If you are inside Canada, protect your status above all else; the system is being redesigned to reward exactly the people who keep their paperwork clean while building Canadian experience.
Official source: IRCC: 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan supplementary information.
This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Immigration rules change frequently and every case is different. For advice about your situation, book a consultation.
About the author
Miguel Martins Pereirinha is a Canadian immigration lawyer and partner at Slayen Immigration Law in Vancouver, British Columbia. He practises Canadian immigration law exclusively — work permits, permanent residence, family sponsorship, citizenship and inadmissibility — and works with clients in English and Portuguese.
