Canada’s Immigration Ministers Discuss 2025-2027 Plans

Bearing in mind the changes that have rocked Canada’s immigration system this year, we wanted to dissect the press release to tease out any key takeaways for newcomers.

Key Takeaways

• We may see a larger Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) allocation in 2025.
• Targeted immigration may continue throughout 2025.

What’s Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan?

Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan is a document released in November each year. It sets targets for the immigration categories, including economic immigration and family sponsorship. It also documents plans to promote economic growth, address labour market needs, and outline cultural priorities such as increased francophone immigration.

You can learn more about the Immigration Levels Plan.

Key Areas of Focus in 2025-2027

Temporary vs. Permanent Residents

A key topic was the balance between temporary and permanent residents. The ministers discussed the federal government’s plan to drastically reduce the proportion of temporary residents to 5% of the overall population. We discussed this policy change in an earlier news item.

The provincial and territorial immigration ministers highlighted the need for the reduction in temporary resident volumes to take labour needs in key industry sectors into account, while also urging the federal government to use a data-driven approach to reducing the volumes.

“The ministers cautioned the federal caps on admissions to Canada must not impede employer efforts to fill labor market gaps when Canadian residents are not available.”

We wonder if the ‘data-driven’ approach will look anything like the approach used to determine the number of international students each province can accept in 2024 and 2025.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

The Provincial Nominee Program was discussed at length in the news release. Some of the key notes are:

• The PNP may play a key role in transitioning temporary workers to permanent residence status, particularly for workers with in-demand skills. This may foreshadow additional challenges for international students whose degrees don’t align with current in-demand occupations. There is significant discussion in the media about how international students are developing skills that are not in demand in the Canadian economy.
• The demand for Canada’s PNPs is also predicted to increase, again due to the changes to temporary resident levels.
• Some ministers noted that increasing the volume of PNP allocations for Canada’s provinces and territories would help to align labor market needs with the federal government’s goal to reduce temporary resident levels.

Emphasis on Collaboration

The ministers agreed on the importance of continued cooperation between the levels of government, noting that “strong collaboration and coordination between orders of government are key to leveraging federal, provincial, and territorial immigration programs, including the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).”

Asylum and Humanitarian Efforts

The meeting also focused on the management of asylum claims and the provision of support for displaced individuals. It noted that an increase in collaboration between the federal and provincial governments could improve outcomes for refugees, particularly in light of the housing crisis. Ontario and Quebec, in particular, were in focus for these discussions.

What Might Newcomers to Canada See In the 2025 Immigration Policy? 

For current temporary residents, these developments may signal a shift towards more permanent settlement opportunities.

Here are some key takeaways:

Increased PNP Allocations Welcome

The focus on reducing temporary residency levels and increasing demand for PNP allocations suggests that there may be an increase in the number of economic migrants through Canada’s PNP in 2025. Many of Canada’s provinces have been seeking higher PNP allocations in recent years, so this would be a welcome change for them.

We note that PEI has voluntarily decreased its PNP allocation in 2024, so not all provinces or territories are likely seeking higher allocations. It also shows that higher allocations won’t necessarily mean higher immigration levels since the provinces and territories can elect not to use the allocation.

Targeted Immigration Priorities May Continue

Canada has been increasingly introducing targeted immigration priorities at the federal and provincial levels. Based on the news release, this trend may continue throughout 2025-2027. Regional labor market needs, as well as cultural and societal objectives, were key themes throughout the discussion. Since Canada’s approach to these priorities has been to introduce increasingly targeted immigration draws, it seems likely that this trend will continue.