IRCC unveils major updates in the 2025-2026 departmental plan.
The plan, published on June 20, 2025, confirms that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will move ahead with a number of new pathways and updates affecting both permanent residence (PR) and temporary immigration streams.
New Pathways And Programs On The Way
According to the plan, IRCC will:
- Make the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot a permanent pathway to PR by the end of 2025.
- Develop a new foreign labour stream and a new type of work permit focused on the agriculture and fish processing industries.
- Create a framework to update field of study requirements for post-graduation work permits (PGWPs).
- Adjust eligibility criteria for spousal open work permits (SOWPs) for spouses of temporary foreign workers and international students.
- Implement new free trade agreements (FTAs) with Indonesia and Ecuador.
- Work to negotiate additional FTA work permits with countries joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- Continue rolling out the new online account system for all IRCC clients throughout 2025–2026.
- Complete the operational phase of the Welcoming Francophone Communities Initiative (WFCs) within the same timeframe.
- Explore a new PR option for refugee students in Canada.
IRCC has also confirmed it is piloting a new tool—GeoMatch—designed to help Express Entry candidates choose the best place to settle in Canada. This project is a collaboration with Stanford University and aims to improve how newcomers match with communities.
Reaffirmed Commitments And Policies
Alongside these new announcements, IRCC’s plan also reinforces the department’s existing priorities, including:
- Giving priority to PR applications from healthcare workers, tradespeople, education professionals, and French speakers through Express Entry’s category-based draws.
- Continuing to favour temporary residents already in Canada for permanent residency, targeting at least 40% of new PR admissions from people who already hold temporary status.
- Partnering with provinces and territories to extend the temporary public policy that lets Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants get special work permits while waiting for PR.
- Further speeding up the processing of family sponsorship applications for family members living outside Canada.
- Issuing around 80,000–84,000 Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)-based work permits every year under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), down significantly from 184,000 in 2023.
- Reducing the number of temporary residents to no more than 5% of Canada’s total population.
- Keeping annual PR admissions to no more than 1% of the population.
- Maintaining caps on study permit applications.
- Increasing the share of French-speaking newcomers outside Quebec to 8.5% of total PR admissions.
- Improving how new PRs integrate into Canada’s economy and communities by investing more in settlement services.
- Expanding the online passport renewal process for Canadians.
Performance And Public Support Targets
IRCC unveils major updates in the 2025-2026 departmental plan. The departmental plan outlines clear targets for processing applications and serving clients:
- The department aims to process at least 80% of all applications within its published service standards.
- It hopes to reach a 90% client satisfaction rate across all services.
A key indicator is public support, i.e., IRCC wants to see at least 65% of Canadians support current immigration levels by the end of each fiscal year. In 2023–2024, support was down to 50%, a drop from 67% in 2021–2022.
IRCC expects that international students and visitors will contribute at least $36 billion to Canada’s economy each year.
Policy Direction Over The Past Year
Throughout 2024, the federal government made major shifts to moderate immigration levels. These policy adjustments were mostly due to pressures on housing and social infrastructure.
Key actions included capping study permit applications, narrowing PGWP and SOWP eligibility, and pausing low-wage LMIA processing in urban areas with unemployment rates above 6%.
These directions continued in the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, which reduced the total number of new PRs by about 20% and, for the first time, set annual goals for net new temporary resident levels.
Provinces have also been directed to issue 75% of PNP nominations to candidates who are already in Canada.
Express Entry: A Look At 2025 So Far
As of now, IRCC has held the following Express Entry draws in 2025:
| Draw Type | Number Of Draws Held | Total Number Of Invitations Issued |
| Canadian Experience Class | 6 | 15,850 |
| PNP | 11 | 5,495 |
| French-language proficiency | 3 | 18,500 |
| Healthcare and social services | 2 | 1,000 |
| Education | 1 | 1,000 |
With new pathways, modernized processing tools, and ongoing policy refinements, IRCC’s 2025–2026 Departmental Plan signals significant updates for both new and current immigrants. As Canada balances economic goals with infrastructure realities, these measures will help shape the next chapter of the country’s immigration story.
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