Canada’s Immigration Plan 2025-27: Big Changes Ahead for Temporary & Permanent Residents

To boost economic growth and handle labor shortages, Canada is gearing up to reveal its 2019 immigration policy plan, with a record number of newcomers to be welcomed. The government’s commitment to promoting tolerance and diversity in Canadian society is reflected in this plan.

Introduction

The 2025–2027 immigration levels plan will be tabled by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) between now and November 1. Traditionally, the plan establishes a goal for the number of permanent residents to be admitted to Canada in the upcoming year, followed by arbitrary goals for the next two years, for a total of three years.

The initiative has an effect beyond Canada’s immigration goals. It establishes the rate of population growth in the nation, which impacts social institutions, taxes, housing costs, healthcare, and the expansion of the job market. However, this year will look different as Immigration Minister, Mark Miller indicated last March that temporary residents; those on work and study permits as well as visitor visas will be included in the plan for the first time.

Over 2,500,000 people were temporary residents in Canada in 2023, making up 6.2% of the total population. According to Miller, the proposed strategy aims to reduce the amount of temporary residents accepted over the next several years, reducing the number to 5% of Canada’s population during the following three years.

Although the precise number of temporary residents that Canada will accept in the following years has not yet been decided, by reviewing the announcements made throughout the year, it may be possible to discern some of the IRCC’s plans for the years to come and how they might affect the plan that will be implemented.

Study Permits

The IRCC declared in January of this year that it would only be processing a certain amount of study permits for students from other countries. According to the department, it planned to review 66,000 applications for study permits and anticipate a 360,000 approval rate. This represents a 35% decrease from the total number of permits issued in 2023.

Given that the minister had previously declared that he opposed caps and targets, particularly concerning Canada’s overseas student program, the statement was somewhat of a surprise. The minister stated that in 2023, 42% of Canada’s temporary residents were foreign students.

Additionally, the minister stated in September that Masters and PhD students who were previously exempt will now be included in the cap and that the government will be further reducing the number of permits processed in 2025 to 437,000.

Open Work Permits

Apart from imposing a cap on study permits, the IRCC has also expressed its intention to reduce the quantity of Post-Graduation Work Permits and Spousal Open Work Permits granted during the next three years. To be more precise, the department has added several new qualifying standards for PGWP candidates, including:

If they are university graduates, they must be able to show that they have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of at least seven; if they are college grads, it must be a CLB 5.

In his remarks last month, the minister stated he expected the modifications to PGWP eligibility to result in 175,000 fewer licenses being issued over the next 3 years.

Changes to the SOWP

SOWP is estimated to account for an additional reduction of about 50,000 temporary residents over the same timeframe. Currently, spouses of international Masters students may only be qualified for a SOWP if their spouse is participating in a program that the IRCC has identified as critical or in demand, or if their spouse’s Masters study lasts 16 months or more.

SOWP eligibility will also continue for spouses of highly skilled specialized workers. The minister claims that the additional 100,000 open work permits that will be awarded over the next three years should be accounted for by this new criterion. In summary, the IRCC anticipates issuing 325,000 fewer open work permits for the next three years.

Closed Work Permits

Announcements about the usage of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program by firms have also been made. The TFWP eligibility requirements have undergone multiple modifications as of late, according to Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages.

• Interestingly, companies can no longer use the TFWP to hire more than 10% of their workforce.
• Additionally, the two-year maximum employment term for workers hired through the low-wage stream has been lowered to one year.
• Also, the IRCC will not process low-wage labor market impact evaluations from employers in census metropolitan regions where the unemployment rate is greater than 6%, however, there are a few exceptions.

An estimate of how these reforms might lower the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada was not given by the minister. Although Minister Randy Boissonnault has discussed Canadian employers’ addiction to the TFWP extensively, he maintains that the program was never intended to be used unless in extreme cases.

Permanent Residence

The goal of the immigration levels plan 2024–2026 was to bring in 500,000 permanent residents by 2025 and to keep up this number by 2026. Economic immigration, family class sponsorship, refugee and protected person status, and humanitarian business ventures are among the avenues via which permanent residents might be accepted.

Regarding the number of permanent residents that Canada will accept in the upcoming years, Minister Miller recently stated that all possibilities are on the table and that there would be major adjustments.

He has said he is thinking about changing the kind of immigration that Canada supports; at the moment, 60% of immigration to Canada is concentrated on economic immigrants, or people who are thought to be skilled workers who would integrate into the workforce and boost the country’s economy.

Last summer, the minister stated to CTV News that this level is unheard of compared to many other nations.

Where is This Coming From?

Concerns about the influx of newcomers and the pressure they put on the shortage of affordable housing and an already burdened healthcare system have been raised by Canadians as the population continues to hit new heights. These two significant challenges were mentioned in the 2023 Ironic Institute assessment on Canadian support for immigration and are anticipated to have an impact on the upcoming federal election.

According to this survey, Canadians’ support for immigration has significantly decreased. In contrast to the results of 2022, Canadians expressed uncertainty about the anticipated large volume of immigration in the upcoming years. It was discovered that very few people had a problem with immigrants.

Minister Miller has also stated that there should be restrictions on the number of temporary residents, particularly international students, to stop unscrupulous individuals from preying on unsuspecting immigrants who frequently fall prey to fraud or lack the resources they need to succeed in Canada.

Despite these reservations, Miller and Boissonnault continually highlight the benefits of immigration for culture, that immigration accounts for nearly all of Canada’s labor force expansion, and the necessity for the government to exercise caution to avoid overcorrecting.

Final Thoughts

In summary, Canada’s impending immigration levels plan, which seeks to balance the country’s economic demands and the valuable contributions made by immigrants, is a big step forward. Anyone interested in the future of immigration in Canada or impacted by it must keep up with these developments.