The government released the 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan today, the document that sets how many people can become permanent residents each year and through which route.
The total does not move: 380,000 permanent residents a year, the same figure already projected. What changed is inside the split, and there is news in it for anyone in Express Entry.
In short: 380,000 permanent residents and 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals a year, from 2027 to 2029. Compared with the previous plan, for 2027 the Federal High Skilled category — the three programs managed through Express Entry — drops from 111,000 to 100,000 places, while the Provincial Nominee Program rises from 92,500 to 95,000 and the Atlantic program from 4,000 to 6,000. And a time-limited measure is announced to let up to 200,000 people already living in Canada become permanent residents before the end of 2027.
What the levels plan is
It is immigration's budget. Each category gets a target and a range within which IRCC can move, and those numbers drive the size of invitation rounds, the allocations handed to the provinces and the waiting times.
The figures for years two and three are notional: IRCC confirms or adjusts them each November 1. In other words, the 2027 numbers are the firm ones; 2028 and 2029 will be revisited next year.
What does not move
| Category | Annual target | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Economic | 244,700 | 64.4% |
| Family | 81,000 | 21.3% |
| Refugees and protected persons | 49,300 | 13% |
| Humanitarian and other | 5,000 | 1.3% |
| Total | 380,000 |
The same figures hold for all three years, with an overall range of 352,500 to 422,000. The government presents this as deliberate stability: its stated commitment is to keep permanent resident admissions below 1% of the population beyond 2027.
What does move: 11,000 places leave federal Express Entry
This is the line worth reading closely. Comparing the 2027 target in the previous plan and in the new one:
| Route | Previous plan (2027) | New plan (2027) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal High Skilled (Express Entry) | 111,000 | 100,000 | −11,000 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 92,500 | 95,000 | +2,500 |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 4,000 | 6,000 | +2,000 |
| Economic total | 244,700 | 244,700 | unchanged |
The economic total is identical, so those 11,000 places did not disappear: they were redistributed among the other economic routes. The two visible by name are the provincial and the Atlantic programs; the rest sits in rural programs and pilots.
The reading is direct. The federal Express Entry route narrows and the provincial route widens. For anyone who has spent months in the pool waiting for a cut-off to come down, the number matters: in 2027 there will be 11,000 fewer admissions through that door than were projected, and 2,500 more through the provinces. If you were weighing Alberta's nomination as an alternative, this plan strengthens the case.
The new plan's full figures
Economic category (244,700 a year):
| Route | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal High Skilled | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 95,000 | 95,000 | 95,000 |
| Federal economic pilots | 7,900 | 6,175 | 7,400 |
| Rural Community Immigration Program | 5,500 | 6,000 | 6,500 |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 6,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Federal business | 1,500 | 2,725 | 1,000 |
| Quebec | to be determined | to be determined | to be determined |
Federal High Skilled covers the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program and the Canadian Experience Class. The federal pilots include home care workers, agri-food, the economic mobility pathways pilot for refugees and the two francophone ones. Quebec sets its own figures in a separate plan.
Family category (81,000 a year): 66,000 for spouses, partners and children, and 15,000 for parents and grandparents. That second figure is worth reading alongside something we have already covered: the parents and grandparents sponsorship program remains paused for new applications, so the target is met with files already in process.
Refugees and protected persons (49,300 a year): 20,000 protected persons in Canada and their dependants, 11,750 government-assisted resettled refugees and 17,550 privately sponsored.
French: from 9.5% to 12%
The target for francophone admissions outside Quebec rises every year: 9.5% in 2027 (31,825 people), 10.5% in 2028 (35,175) and 12% in 2029 (40,200).
It is the numerical backing for something already visible in the rounds: the French-language category has been inviting at cut-offs well below the general ones. We looked at it in the article on French in Express Entry.
Temporary residents
The 370,000 new arrivals a year break down as 220,000 workers — 170,000 through the International Mobility Program and 50,000 through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program — and 150,000 international students.
One clarification that prevents misunderstandings: that figure counts new arrivals, not the total temporary population. It does not include visitors, eTAs, permit extensions, study or work permit applications made from inside Canada, or asylum claimants. Post-graduation work permits are not counted within the International Mobility Program either.
How does this plan affect your case?
If you are in the Express Entry pool, waiting on a provincial nomination or with a sponsorship in process, the numbers above change the calculation of timelines and routes. Annette P. Campos, a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC, R532387), can review it with you.
The 200,000 measure
This is the announcement most people will go looking for, and the one with the least detail so far.
The government is introducing a time-limited measure for up to 200,000 people already living in Canada to become permanent residents before the end of 2027, in two cohorts:
- Workers: up to 100,000 people, plus their family members. It will be done with the provinces and territories, which will receive additional PNP allocations to nominate workers. Applicants under the Atlantic program, the now-closed federal business programs, the agri-food pilot and the home care worker programs may also be identified.
- Humanitarian: up to 100,000 people who have been waiting years for a decision. It includes finishing the Hong Kong permanent residence pathways and the Ukraine family reunification pathway, and resolving cases already found eligible on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. It will also be used to process applications from spouses, partners and dependent children of Canadians and permanent residents already in the country, with the stated aim of bringing spousal sponsorship waits closer to 12 months outside Quebec.
Budget 2026 allocates $302.3 million over four years to the measure, and describes the 100,000 workers as people eligible through Express Entry or the PNP.
What is still unknown, and should not be assumed: neither document says whether those admissions count within the 380,000 a year or in addition to them. It is not a minor detail, because it decides whether 2027 is a year of 380,000 permanent residents or of more. In the previous plan, when a similar measure was announced for 115,000 protected persons, the text said expressly that those admissions were in addition to the targets; this time that sentence does not appear. There are no eligibility criteria or opening dates yet either.
What is still to come
- Quebec: its figures appear as "to be determined"; the province tables its own plan.
- 2028 and 2029: notional, to be confirmed or adjusted each year.
- The plan's detail: the government says it will come when the 2026 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration is tabled.
- Express Entry rounds: still paused since November 3 while IRCC recalculates the pool's profiles under the new rules. IRCC says it could take up to two weeks and has published no resumption date.
In the meantime, the actionable part of the plan is the usual one: numbers do not decide individual cases, but they do say which door will have more room. In 2027, that door is the provincial one.
Sources: Government of Canada, Supplementary Information for the 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan, the news release Building a stronger Canada through a well-managed, predictable immigration system, chapter 3 of Budget 2026 and the supplementary information for the 2026-2028 plan for the 2027 comparison. Consulted on November 5, 2026. The 2028 and 2029 figures are notional and may be adjusted.