Canada has announced its Immigration Levels Plan for 2026–2028, keeping permanent resident admissions steady at 380,000 per year while moving to significantly reduce temporary residents, including international students and temporary foreign workers.
The government says the move aims to balance incoming and outgoing residents and ensure the temporary population remains below 5% of Canada’s total population by the end of 2027.
Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said the plan will “balance the number of new arrivals with the planned departure of international students and temporary workers as their status expires in 2025 and 2026.” She added that Canada is committed to “reducing temporary resident volumes through departures, program limits, and lower immigration levels.”
Under the revised framework, the number of international students will drop sharply — from the previously projected 305,000 for 2026 to 155,000 that year, followed by 150,000 in both 2027 and 2028. Likewise, temporary foreign worker permits will be capped at 230,000 in 2026 and 220,000 in the subsequent two years.
Impact on Indian Students and Workers
The plan could have a major impact on applicants from India. The Canadian government is introducing new powers to cancel temporary visas under Bill C-12, citing a surge in fraudulent applications from India and Bangladesh. The measure would allow immigration officials to revoke groups of visas in exceptional cases, including for specific countries.
According to internal documents reviewed by Reuters, visa rejection rates for Indian students have spiked — with 74% of applications denied in August 2025, more than double the rate a year earlier. Authorities have also uncovered thousands of fake letters of acceptance, prompting tighter financial and documentation rules to curb misuse of student visa programs.
(Source:https://www.canada.ca/)