The Immigration Levels Plan acts as a guide for the number of immigrants Canada aims to welcome over the next three years.

Canada has just released its Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025.

Canada will aim to welcome 465,000 new immigrants in 2023.

The target will rise to 485,000 new immigrants in 2024.

It will further rise to 500,000 new immigrants 2025.

Canada broke its all-time immigration record by welcoming over 405,000 immigrants in 2021 and is looking to welcome nearly 432,000 immigrants this year.

Express Entry and PNP targets will rise

The majority of new permanent residents immigrate through economic class programs such as those within the Express Entry system or through Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs).

The targets for Express Entry landings (principal applicants, spouses, and dependents) will rise as follows:

• 82,880 in 2023
• 109,020 in 2024
• 114,000 in 2025

The PNP will remain Canada’s leading admissions program for economic class immigrants and targets will also increase to:

• 105,500 in 2023
• 110,000 in 2024
• 117,500 in 2025

Higher PGP admissions

IRCC also has a mandate to reunite families. After economic class programs, family class sponsorship is the second largest permanent residence class set out by the Immigration Levels Plan. Under family class immigration programs, applicants are sponsored for permanent residence by a spouse, partner, children, or other family member.

Canada will continue to look to welcome some 80,000 new immigrants per year under the Spouses, Partners and Children program.

Targets for the Parents and Grandparents Program will rise to 28,500 in 2023, followed by 34,000 in 2024, and 36,000 in 2025.

Refugee and humanitarian class targets to decline

Refugees and humanitarian class immigrants also have an allocation under the Immigration Levels Plan. Canada has a long-standing reputation of extending asylum to displaced persons fleeing unsafe situations in their home countries.

Canada currently has high humanitarian class targets due to its ongoing efforts to complete several campaigns such as welcoming some 40,000 refugees from Afghanistan.

The overall refugee class target will be just over 76,000 new landings in each of 2023 and 2024, before dipping to 72,750 in 2025.

The same goes for the humanitarian class target which is declining from nearly 16,000 in 2023 to 8,000 in 2025.