- Jan 30, 2026
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Hey everyone,
So I've been looking into Canada's new immigration levels plan and honestly its kind of scary for anyone planning to apply this year. The government is now only admitting 380,000 permanent residents per year through 2028, thats way down from 485,000 back in 2024. Economic immigration still gets about 64% of the spots but heres the thing that really got me... study permits have been cut by almost half. We're talking from 305,900 last year to just 155,000 this year. Work permits took a big hit too, down to 230,000. They're really serious about getting temporary residents under 5% of the population by 2027.
So who actually has a better chance now? If you're already in Canada with some work experience, you're probably in a stronger position because IRCC seems to be favoring in-country applicants more. French speakers are getting a nice boost too with Francophone targets going from 9% this year up to 10.5% by 2028. And if you work in healthcare, skilled trades, STEM or agriculture, thats exactly what they're looking for right now. Theres also this one-time pathway for like 33,000 temporary workers to get PR by 2027 which is interesting. Bottom line is competition is way tougher now so make sure your application is solid and your occupation actually matches what Canada needs. Anyone else here changing their plans because of all this?
So I've been looking into Canada's new immigration levels plan and honestly its kind of scary for anyone planning to apply this year. The government is now only admitting 380,000 permanent residents per year through 2028, thats way down from 485,000 back in 2024. Economic immigration still gets about 64% of the spots but heres the thing that really got me... study permits have been cut by almost half. We're talking from 305,900 last year to just 155,000 this year. Work permits took a big hit too, down to 230,000. They're really serious about getting temporary residents under 5% of the population by 2027.
So who actually has a better chance now? If you're already in Canada with some work experience, you're probably in a stronger position because IRCC seems to be favoring in-country applicants more. French speakers are getting a nice boost too with Francophone targets going from 9% this year up to 10.5% by 2028. And if you work in healthcare, skilled trades, STEM or agriculture, thats exactly what they're looking for right now. Theres also this one-time pathway for like 33,000 temporary workers to get PR by 2027 which is interesting. Bottom line is competition is way tougher now so make sure your application is solid and your occupation actually matches what Canada needs. Anyone else here changing their plans because of all this?