Immigration | November 09, 2026 Canada unveils 2027–2029 immigration plan: 380,000 PRs a year

1. Canada unveils 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan: 380,000 permanent residents and 370,000 temporary residents a year

Source: Canada.ca

The federal government released its 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan alongside Budget 2026 this week. The backgrounder published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sets targets of 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals and 380,000 permanent resident admissions in each of the next three years, in line with the commitments made in the previous plan. It lists three priorities: maintaining control of the immigration system, honouring previous humanitarian commitments, and working more closely with provinces and territories to meet labour market needs.

The temporary resident target includes 220,000 new workers and up to 150,000 new international students in 2027, 2028 and 2029. On the permanent side, economic immigration will stay above 64 per cent of total admissions, and the government notes that admissions include people already working or studying in Canada, not only new arrivals. Ottawa also repeated that permanent resident admissions will be kept below one per cent of the total population beyond 2027, to slow population growth while housing and services catch up.

The plan also increases planned admissions under the Provincial Nominee Program and the Atlantic Immigration Program, and sets out Francophone targets outside Quebec: 9.5 per cent of permanent resident admissions in 2027, 10.5 per cent in 2028 and 12 per cent in 2029. Citing the latest Statistics Canada data, the document says Canada's population is growing at the slowest annual rate in more than a century and that the number of non-permanent residents has fallen over the past two years.

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2. Ottawa details 200,000 in-Canada permanent residence spaces, split into worker and humanitarian cohorts

Source: CIC News

On November 5, the federal government published details of how the 200,000 additional in-Canada permanent residence spaces for 2027 will be allocated, on a new government web page titled "Managing a responsive and predictable immigration system." The spaces sit on top of the annual target of 380,000 permanent residents and are a one-time measure; eligible foreign nationals do not need to apply or take any action to be considered.

The spaces are divided into two cohorts of up to 100,000 each. The economic cohort is for skilled workers who can obtain permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program, and for foreign nationals waiting on decisions under selected economic programs that are now closed to new applications. These include the Atlantic Immigration Program, the Start-up Visa Program, the Self-Employed Persons Program, the Agri-Food Pilot and the home care worker programs. Provinces and territories will receive additional allocations through increases to their PNP quotas to nominate workers who meet regional labour needs.

The humanitarian cohort is aimed at clearing backlogs: the goal is to process all remaining applications under the Hong Kong permanent residence pathways and the Ukraine Family Reunification Pathway, and to finalize applications from people already found eligible on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. It will also cover permanent residence applications from spouses, common-law partners and dependent children of Canadians and permanent residents already in Canada, which Ottawa hopes will bring wait times for the spouse or common-law partner class outside Quebec closer to 12 months.

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3. Canada overhauls asylum claims: one online application and 60 days to file documents

Source: Canada.ca

Amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that took effect this week change how asylum claims are made inside Canada. Under the new process described by IRCC, claimants first answer questions in the IRCC Portal to indicate their intention to make a claim, then are invited to an in-person appointment with an officer where the claim is formally made. The same process applies to claims made inside Canada or at a port of entry, with the aim of cutting duplication and administrative burden.

Claimants whose cases can be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) have 60 days to submit a completed application and required documents, with a one-time 30-day extension available on request. The regulations also set a time limit for government reviews on security, criminality, admissibility and program integrity before a claim is referred, so that only claims ready for a hearing reach the IRB. They clarify when a withdrawn claim can be reinstated and how a claim is treated when the IRB finds it was not abandoned, and set clearer rules on appointing designated representatives for vulnerable claimants, including people under 18 or those who cannot fully understand the proceedings.

On the Canada–US Safe Third Country Agreement, officials say practice is unchanged; the regulations simply clarify that the 14-day period under the Additional Protocol starts when a person submits the online application indicating intent to claim. Eligible claimants can still receive work permits after submitting a complete claim, an approach now made permanent. Exceptions to the new ineligibility rules cover unaccompanied minors and people who register through the online portal within their first year in Canada.

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4. New Express Entry rules take effect November 3: up to 150 points for high-wage experience, no LMIA requirement

Source: Immigration.ca

Canada has made major changes to Express Entry, effective November 3, 2026, after IRCC announced the measures on October 16. Candidates can now receive up to 150 CRS points for eligible Canadian work experience in high-wage occupations, or up to 100 points for a qualifying job offer. The requirement for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) has also been removed when assessing qualifying job offers.

The revised system introduces a Labour Market Integration factor with two possible routes: one awards points for eligible Canadian work experience, with extra points for experience in occupations that meet specified wage thresholds; the other awards points for a qualifying job offer in a high-wage occupation. Candidates are scored under both routes and receive whichever is higher, but cannot combine experience points with job offer points. The maximum under the factor is 150 points for candidates without a spouse or partner and 140 for those with one. The change also restores CRS points for qualifying job offers, which Canada removed in March 2025.

Eligibility for the high-wage designation depends on the typical earnings of the occupation rather than the salary offered to an individual, so a generous salary in a lower-wage occupation does not automatically qualify. Candidates need at least 12 months, or 1,560 hours, of qualifying Canadian work experience to earn the high-wage points; the experience can come from more than one occupation, need not be continuous, and generally must be in TEER 0 to 3 occupations within the previous 10 years. A qualifying job offer must generally be full-time and continuous for at least one year after the candidate becomes a permanent resident.

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5. Rural immigration pilot becomes a permanent program with 14 communities

Source: Canada.ca

On November 9, Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced that the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, launched in January 2025, is becoming a permanent program called the Rural Community Immigration Program. The government says rural and remote communities face population decline, an aging workforce and persistent labour shortages, and that the program will continue to give skilled workers and international graduates in priority sectors a pathway to permanent residence.

IRCC says the 14 communities that took part in the pilot are expected to join the permanent program: Pictou County in Nova Scotia; North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay in Ontario; Steinbach, Altona/Rhineland and Brandon in Manitoba; Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan; Claresholm in Alberta; and West Kootenay, North Okanagan Shuswap and Peace Liard in British Columbia. Communities interested in applying must have a population under 200,000 and score 0.20 or higher on Statistics Canada's Index of Remoteness.

The program keeps the employer-community partnership model built during the pilot, with three core elements. Communities set priorities, identifying priority sectors and occupations based on local labour market needs. Employers must be vetted and designated by communities, and only designated employers in priority sectors can access the program. Stronger integrity measures include mandatory employer training and ongoing monitoring and reporting to track outcomes and support compliance.

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6. Canada extends its 150,000 international student target through 2029

Source: The PIE News

With the release of the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, the Canadian government confirmed it will keep welcoming 150,000 international students a year in 2027, 2028 and now 2029. The extension, announced on November 5, is part of IRCC's plan to admit 370,000 new temporary residents annually over the next three years, including 220,000 workers each year. Last year's plan had already set the 150,000 figure for 2027 and 2028; this year's version leaves the numbers unchanged and adds 2029.

The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) welcomed the plan, saying it provides the "stability and predictability" the organization and its member institutions have long sought after years of upheaval and rapid policy changes. CBIE president and CEO Larissa Bezo said stable targets let institutions plan ahead, set recruitment strategies and shape program offerings, and give them the longer-term certainty needed to work with government, industry and communities. She also noted that, based on the most recent 2026 data, Canada is far from meeting its current targets, making cross-sector collaboration essential.

Universities Canada also welcomed keeping the 150,000 target through 2029, saying predictable immigration policy is essential to rebuilding confidence in Canada's international education system and attracting global talent. President and CEO Gabriel Miller said universities are helping meet the country's economic goals through the talent they develop, the research they advance and the partnerships they build. The article notes the target continues after a series of restrictions on international education, including study permit caps and tighter eligibility for post-graduation work permits.

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7. Canada in talks to join Erasmus+, opening exchanges to undergraduates and apprentices

Source: CBC

Canada is negotiating to join Erasmus+, the European student and skills exchange program, which could give Canadians more opportunities to study, work and live in Europe. Prime Minister Mark Carney reaffirmed the government's interest in expanding Canada's participation at last month's Canada–EU summit and in the 2026 budget. At the summit in Montreal, he said that through the program "a Canadian student can pursue their studies in Barcelona just as easily as they could at McGill."

Erasmus+ gives students in the EU and selected other countries direct access to funding, institutions and grants that help cover travel and living costs during exchanges. Participants are also exempt from the tuition, registration and exam fees a Canadian exchange student might normally pay to study in Europe. Benefits extend beyond students to trainees, apprentices, youth workers and academic staff; Carney gave the example of an apprentice welder in Manitoba completing a placement with an employer in Italy and bringing new skills home.

Many Canadian universities already partner with Erasmus+ through independent agreements, but mostly for master's students and faculty. Fuller participation could expand funding to undergraduates as well as youth, training and sport exchanges. Oliver Schmidtke, a University of Victoria professor specializing in European integration, called the plan "a lot of ambition" and noted that education is largely provincial in Canada, leaving open questions about how Ottawa would work with the provinces. Provinces and the EU would also have to settle credit transfers, he said, noting that even transfers between institutions within one Canadian province are inconsistent. He added that the United Kingdom, which rejoins in January, will pay over $1 billion in its first year, and Canadian institutions would have to spend substantially and provide housing and staff support.

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8. As international enrolment falls, northern Ontario colleges see domestic numbers rise

Source: CBC

With the federal study permit cap still in force, colleges in northern Ontario are reporting a sharp drop in international enrolment this fall, while domestic enrolment has risen. Statistics Canada projected earlier this year that colleges in Ontario would lose more than a third of their international students because of the strict caps introduced in Ottawa in 2024. The cap was originally meant to last two years but has been extended, with plans to admit 155,000 students in 2026 and 150,000 in each of 2027 and 2028.

At all four of the largest campuses in the northeast, international enrolment fell by more than half between the fall of 2025 and the fall of 2026: Sault College in Sault Ste. Marie, Cambrian College in Sudbury, Canadore College in North Bay and Northern College in Timmins. Canadore saw the biggest drop, with 64 per cent fewer international students this year. Jeannette Miron, Canadore's vice-president of student access, success and Indigenous engagement, said intercultural learning is valuable and some programs that once had a strong international presence now lack it, adding that the college is working to expose students to international perspectives through learning outcomes.

Cambrian College has 816 fewer international students than a year ago but nearly 300 more domestic students, which it says has softened the blow. Dan Lessard, the college's communications manager, said domestic growth is key because domestic enrolment is a substantial factor in provincial operating funding, and the college added 480 seats in "high priority" programs including nursing, heavy equipment technician and HVAC technician. At Sault College, international enrolment fell by about 54 per cent and the school shut several programs, hit hardest in business and information technology, president Sherri Smith said; the campus has about 200 more domestic students, boosting skilled trades and health care, and has added paramedic and plumbing programs.

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