The federal government has released its Immigration Levels Plan 2024-2026.
On October 1st, 2023, Canada announced its highly anticipated 2024-2026 immigration targets – revealing that the Government will stick to its previous target of welcoming 485,000 permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. Starting in 2026, the government plans on stabilizing permanent resident levels at 500,000, allowing time for successful integration, while continuing to strengthen Canada’s labour market.
The Immigration Levels Plan is outlined to set a number of permanent residents that will be admitted to Canada in a given year through different immigration categories: economic immigration, family reunification, refugees and protected persons, and the humanitarian and compassionate class.
Highlights of the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan include:
• To focus on economic growth, over 60% of permanent resident admissions will be dedicated to the economic class by 2025.
• Respond to humanitarian and geopolitical crises around the world through humanitarian admission targets that will include refugees, protected persons, and those admitted for humanitarian, compassionate, or other reasons.
New ambitious Francophone immigration targets to support Francophone communities outside of Quebec. The targets represent 6% of total immigration in 2024, 7% in 2025, and 8% in 2026.
As per the new Levels Plan, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is also considering delivering a more improved and user-friendly experience to its clients to continue increasing its processing capacity and reduce application backlogs.
Source: Canada.ca