Canada Immigration Priorities in 2026
Published on: 20 January 2026, 9:26 AM EST (Toronto Time)
Now that 2026 is underway, Canada’s immigration priorities are shifting in visible, measurable ways.
The federal government is focusing on tighter control over temporary inflows, a stronger “in-Canada transition” strategy, and more targeted selection tied to labour gaps, regional needs, and Francophone community objectives.
This article breaks down important priorities that anyone interested in Canadian immigration must know in 2026.
The 2026 Reset in One Snapshot
The federal plan stabilizes permanent resident admissions while reducing the pace of new temporary resident arrivals, explicitly tying these decisions to housing, infrastructure, and service pressures.
Here are the headline numbers Ottawa has put forward for 2026:
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- 380,000 new permanent residents
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- 385,000 new temporary resident arrivals (workers + students)
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- 155,000 new international student arrivals
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- 230,000 new temporary worker arrivals
One of the clear priorities in 2026 is reducing Canada’s temporary population share to less than 5% by the end of 2027, with a lower cap on new temporary worker and student arrivals to support that goal.
Ottawa is also being more explicit about what counts and what does not.
The temporary resident targets focus on new arrivals under worker programs and the international student program and do not include visitors, permit extensions, in-Canada changes of status, or asylum claimants.
Priority 2: Shift Toward “In-Canada Transitions” Instead of New Inflows
Another major change in 2026 is the increased emphasis on transitioning people who are already in Canada into permanent residence, rather than relying primarily on new overseas arrivals.
Two one-time initiatives underline that direction:
This is a material signal for applicants already working in Canada: policy is increasingly designed to keep established residents with Canadian work history and community roots while lowering the volume of new temporary entrants.
Priority 3: Keep PR Levels Stable But Make the Mix More Economic
The 2026–2028 plan stabilizes permanent resident admissions at 380,000 per year, but it reshapes the composition and the rationale.
Ottawa is explicitly prioritizing economic immigration to fill critical labour gaps and “complement the domestic workforce,” projecting the economic class rising to 64% of total admissions in 2027 and 2028, described as the highest proportion in decades.
2026 will also see the implementation of a new priority category under Express Entry for physicians.
This is the practical meaning of “changing priorities” in 2026: not necessarily fewer permanent residents overall, but a more targeted intake designed around labour market outcomes, regional pressures, and system capacity.
