CANADA: Prime Minister Mark Carney's government will grant permanent residency to up to 200,000 temporary residents by the end of 2027, a one-time measure that sits on top of Canada's regular immigration targets.
The immigration levels plan tabled with federal budget to keep annual admissions at 370,000 temporary residents and 380,000 permanent residents through 2029. The extra 200,000 places would lift the 2027 permanent residency intake to its highest level on record, the opposition Conservatives said.
Canada's non-permanent resident population ballooned after the Covid-19 pandemic as Ottawa relaxed rules for international student and temporary worker visas, reaching nearly 3 million people in October 2024. The surge strained housing and services and triggered a public backlash.
The government has since tightened the rules and pledged to cut the share of non-permanent residents to 5 per cent of the population by the end of next year. As of July 1, the number had fallen to just under 2.8 million, or 6.7 per cent of the population.
The one-time transition will be split equally into two streams: one for workers and one for people in Canada on humanitarian grounds. Provinces and territories will be able to choose how many people they take from the worker stream to meet regional labour needs, immigration officials said. The second stream covers family reunification and Canada's existing humanitarian commitments.
Carney said those who qualify have in effect already been permanent residents of their communities, whether they are temporary workers or Ukrainians who have been in the country for years. "It's the right thing to do," he said at a news conference on Friday.
The Conservatives accused Carney of burying the plan in the budget. "I hope there'll be some actual debate. He did it right before Parliament closes for 10 days," Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a television interview. "We need to have vastly lower numbers while housing, healthcare, and jobs catch up with the enormous increases in population that the Liberals have brought in over the last decade."
Later on Friday, the government moved to loosen its controversial temporary foreign worker programme. Labour market impact assessments, which employers need before hiring temporary workers, will remain valid for two years for lower-wage jobs instead of one. Provinces and territories will also be allowed to designate eligible employers in communities they identify, who could then hire a larger share of temporary workers in low-wage jobs.
The decision matters for India, which has been among the largest sources of Canadian study permits and temporary workers. Indian nationals accounted for 36.5 per cent of study permit holders in 2024, or 188,465 people, according to federal immigration figures. Ottawa has capped new international student arrivals at 155,000 for 2026, against a 2025 target of 437,000 study permits.
(With inputs from media reports)