The Canadian government is set to reduce the number of permanent residents (PRs) it will admit next year by more than 18%. According to Canadian media, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce the new targets in Ottawa on Thursday. The intake will decrease from 485,000 this year to 395,000 in 2025, followed by further reductions to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
This marks the first time Trudeau’s administration has cut PR numbers since taking office in 2015.
The decision follows a shift in public sentiment against the high levels of immigration under the Trudeau government. A recent poll by the Environics Institute found that, for the first time in 25 years, a clear majority of Canadians believe there is too much immigration, with this view growing significantly for the second year in a row. The survey showed that 58% of respondents felt the country was accepting too many immigrants, a 14-point increase from 2023, building on a 17-point rise between 2022 and 2023.
“This represents the most rapid shift in opinion over two years since Focus Canada began tracking this question in 1977, and reflects the highest proportion of Canadians expressing concern about immigration levels since 1998,” the report noted. The latest results indicate that public opinion on the current immigration levels has flipped from being largely acceptable to increasingly seen as problematic.
The change will most significantly impact prospective PRs from India, who form the largest share of this immigration category. In 2023, out of the 471,810 PRs granted, 139,785 (nearly 30%) were from India. These figures have surged since Trudeau became Prime Minister in 2015 when Canada accepted a total of 271,840 PRs, including 39,340 (14.4%) from India.
This adjustment represents a significant policy shift for the government. In November 2023, it announced it would not increase PR targets starting from 2026, marking the first time immigration levels were not raised since Trudeau took office. At that time, Ottawa maintained its targets of 485,000 PRs for 2024 and 500,000 for 2025, as set out in 2022.
However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) later stated, “Starting in 2026, the government will stabilize permanent resident levels at 500,000, allowing for successful integration while continuing to support Canada’s labor market.” The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, noted that stabilizing newcomer numbers acknowledges the need to account for housing, infrastructure planning, and sustainable population growth.
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