Immigration Minister Marc Miller will be officially releasing Canada’s new 2024–2026 immigration levels plan today, November 1, 2023, as we expected and provided our analysis on October 24.
As per the official IRCC media advisory, Minister Miller will hold a media scrum to address the 2024–2026 Immigration Levels Plan at 4:00 p.m. ET (Toronto time).
However, there is a possibility that actual annual immigration targets are released prior to that.
In an October 31st announcement and in an interview later in the evening, Marc has already indicated that immigrants are not the cause of the housing crisis.
Our expectations from the 2024–2026 immigration levels plan
Canada needs professionals who can help alleviate the labour shortage in the construction sector, which the country is not essentially in a position to fill domestically.
Canada already aims to welcome 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025.
Canada has been setting and being able to meet record immigration targets every year to support the country’s economy, although some critics now believe that immigration should be reduced given the ongoing housing crisis and affordability issues.
Since Canada is already on track to welcome a record number of immigrants this year, we anticipate that the immigration minister will raise the targets even further since they are easily achievable.
There are also chances of keeping the targets the same with the shuffling of numbers among the categories.
However, chances of reducing the annual targets are next to ‘0.’
Category-wise Canada’s 2024–2026 Immigration Levels Plan
Since the Canadian government reviews these goals every year, the immigration levels plan for 2024 is of utmost importance.
2023–2025 Immigration Levels Plan announced last year
| Immigration Class | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic | 266,210 | 281,135 | 301,250 |
| Family | 106,500 | 114,000 | 118,000 |
| Refugee | 76,305 | 76,115 | 72,750 |
| Humanitarian | 15,985 | 13,750 | 8,000 |
| Total | 465,000 | 485,000 | 500,000 |
Detailed numbers of the immigration levels announced last year.
| Immigrant Category | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Low Range | High Range | Target | Low Range | High Range | Target | Low Range | High Range | ||
| Overall Planned Permanent Resident Admissions | 465,000 | 410,000 | 505,000 | 485,000 | 430,000 | 542,500 | 500,000 | 442,500 | 550,000 | |
| Economic | Federal High Skilled | 82,880 | 67,750 | 88,000 | 109,020 | 89,500 | 115,750 | 114,000 | 93,500 | 121,000 |
| Federal Economic and Public Policies | 25,000 | 19,500 | 32,750 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Federal Business | 3,500 | 2,350 | 4,000 | 5,000 | 3,500 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 8,000 | |
| Economic Pilots: Caregivers; Agri-Food Pilot; Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot; Economic Mobility Pathways Project | 8,500 | 4,650 | 10,800 | 12,125 | 6,750 | 16,125 | 14,750 | 9,000 | 19,750 | |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 8,500 | 3,000 | 8,800 | 11,500 | 6,000 | 12,500 | 14,500 | 8,500 | 16,500 | |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 105,500 | 91,000 | 110,000 | 110,000 | 105,500 | 120,000 | 117,500 | 112,000 | 129,250 | |
| Quebec Skilled Workers and Business | See the Quebec immigration plan | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||
| Total Economic | 266,210 | 233,000 | 277,250 | 281,135 | 250,000 | 305,000 | 301,250 | 265,000 | 326,000 | |
| Family | Spouses, Partners and Children | 78,000 | 72,000 | 84,000 | 80,000 | 75,000 | 86,000 | 82,000 | 77,000 | 88,000 |
| Parents and Grandparents | 28,500 | 25,000 | 38,000 | 34,000 | 29,000 | 45,000 | 36,000 | 30,750 | 48,000 | |
| Total Family | 106,500 | 100,000 | 118,000 | 114,000 | 105,000 | 130,000 | 118,000 | 107,000 | 135,000 | |
| Refugees and Protected Persons | Protected Persons in Canada and Dependents Abroad | 25,000 | 22,000 | 35,000 | 27,000 | 24,000 | 38,000 | 29,000 | 26,000 | 35,000 |
| Resettled Refugees: Government-Assisted | 23,550 | 18,500 | 30,000 | 21,115 | 16,750 | 26,000 | 15,250 | 12,000 | 17,000 | |
| Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored | 27,505 | 20,000 | 29,000 | 27,750 | 22,000 | 29,500 | 28,250 | 23,000 | 30,000 | |
| Resettled Refugees: Blended Visa Office-Referred | 250 | – | 400 | 250 | – | 400 | 250 | – | 400 | |
| Total Refugees and Protected Persons | 76,305 | 66,000 | 93,000 | 76,115 | 66,000 | 93,000 | 72,750 | 64,000 | 80,000 | |
| Humanitarian compassionate, and Other | Total Humanitarian, Compassionate and Other | 15,985 | 11,000 | 16,750 | 13,750 | 9,000 | 14,500 | 8,000 | 6,500 | 9,000 |
What is Canada’s immigration level plan for 2023?
Canada’s immigration level plan for 2023 aims to welcome at least 465,000 new permanent residents.
What is the Immigration Levels Plan for Canada 2024?
By November 1, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. ET (Toronto time), the new immigration levels plan for 2024 will be announced.
