Mark Carney Immigration Policy Tracker

From lower temporary resident targets to major Express Entry reforms, immigration has become an important policy file in the Carney era.

This page tracks the biggest Canadian immigration policy decisions, announcements, and changes introduced under the Carney government. We’ll continue updating this tracker as new measures are announced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Canada’s immigration minister, and Prime Minister Carney himself.

After securing a majority government in April 2026, Carney has a clear path to remain in office until at least 2029. Although, with only a slim margin, this could change. With Carney’s term likely to extend several years, permanent residents, temporary workers, international students, and hopeful immigrants will have their plans deeply impacted by Carney’s policy decisions.

Overview of Mark Carney’s Immigration Approach

Mark Carney’s approach to immigration has largely focused on slowing the growth of Canada’s temporary resident population while maintaining permanent residence pathways tied to economic priorities, like Express Entry. These policy priorities aren’t new to the Carney government. In the final years of the previous Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau’s, government, Canada had already lowered overall immigration targets and taken measures to reduce the number of temporary residents in the country.

Since Carney took office, the federal government has repeatedly emphasized housing pressures, infrastructure strain, healthcare shortages, and labour market alignment as key reasons for reforming Canada’s immigration system.

Continuing a shift made by the previous Trudeau government, Carney has continued to formally incorporate temporary residents into long-term immigration planning. Prior to 2024, Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan focused almost entirely on permanent resident admissions, but since the release of the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan, temporary workers and international students have been included in population planning targets.

Carney’s government kept overall permanent resident targets relatively similar as the previous Trudeau government’s final targets. Carney increased targets for economic permanent residents, while slightly reducing targets for family sponsorship and refugee and humanitarian applicants.

The government has also moved toward a more selective immigration system overall. In practice, that has meant:

• Much lower study permit and work permit arrivals,
• Ongoing caps for low-wage temporary foreign workers and continuing restrictions facing post-graduation work permit applicants,
• Expanded targeted Express Entry category-based draws (an initiative started under Trudeau),
• and a continued focus on more efficiently transitioning workers already living in Canada to permanent residence (another initiative launched under Trudeau).

As mentioned, the government has prioritized the expansion of immigration pathways tied to specific labour shortages. Express Entry’s category-based draws have prioritized workers in the following categories: French-language, healthcare, STEM, skilled trades, transport, physicians, senior managers, researchers, and skilled military recruits.

Meanwhile, workers in specific regions and rural areas have continued to be prioritized through Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) and regional programs like the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program.

Another focus has been the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), which has become a major political flashpoint during Carney’s time in office. Growing criticism over employer reliance on temporary foreign labour led the federal government to slow down arrivals while simultaneously increasing access in sectors and regions experiencing severe labour shortages.

Other notable policy shifts under Carney include:

• Changes to the Citizenship Act which expanded access to citizenship-by-descent, making many people outside Canada eligible for Canadian citizenship.
• Changes to asylum laws, restricting the ability for some to claim asylum.
• And regulatory amendments granting provinces and territories more power in assessing PNP applications.

Overall, the Carney government’s immigration strategy can largely be summarized as slower overall temporary resident growth, more targeted economic immigration, and stronger alignment between immigration and labour shortages. Carney’s policies demonstrate an increased political focus on shorter-term housing and affordability rather than long-term issues of an aging population.

Mark Carney Immigration Policy Updates 2026

Below is a regularly updated tracker of Mark Carney’s immigration policy announcements, reforms, operational changes, and legislative updates introduced by the Liberal government throughout 2026.

Mark Carney Immigration Policy Updates 2025

While Mark Carney only became Prime Minister in March 2025, several major immigration policy shifts were introduced during his first year in office. These included:

• the government’s first Immigration Levels Plan,
• new temporary resident reduction targets,
• reforms tied to healthcare and skilled trades recruitment,
• increased focus on Francophone immigration,
• major debates around Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

The updates below track Mark Carney’s immigration policy updates in 2025.