Commentary
Amidst the fanfare of Tuesday’s dramatic budget announcement, the federal government’s first three-year Immigration Levels Plan has thus far received comparatively little attention–despite being included inside the budget itself (usually, the Levels Plan is released as a stand-alone announcement).
On page 95 of the 406-page budget, we find the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan. It promises that the focus will be on “taking back control over the immigration system and putting Canada on a trajectory to bring immigration back to sustainable levels.”
On temporary admissions–foreign workers, international students, and asylum seekers–the plan appears to accomplish this goal. The plan pledges to “reduce the target for new temporary resident admissions from 673,650 in 2025 to 385,000 in 2026, and 370,000 in 2027 and 2028”—a significant cut of nearly 300,000….