Impact of 2025-2026 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Departmental Plan

On June 20, 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released their 2025-2026 Departmental Plan. The plan contains information regarding Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s priorities, plans, and costs for the upcoming three fiscal years. The plan is quite detailed and contains a wealth of information on Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s plans for the next few years, including changes to immigration processes and programs that are set to take place.

According to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, the department’s top priorities for the next three years are well-managed and coordinated migration, nimble and equitable humanitarian response, client service excellence, program integrity, evidence-driven policies that translate into public confidence in the immigration system, and sound internal management.

The plan focuses on Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s three core responsibilities: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers, Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration, and Citizenship and Passports. Through the Plan, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has updated its core responsibilities.

New Policies and Changes

The Departmental Plan contains information on changes to Canadian Immigration that will be enacted in the coming year. Many changes are set to be implemented; however, specific information on some of the changes is not yet detailed.

Permanent Residency

A new pathway to permanent residency in Canada is set to be implemented as part of the Plan. According to the Plan, by the end of 2025, the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot program will become permanent, allowing applicants a path to permanent residency. The program allows skilled refugees and displaced people to work permanently in Canada. The plan is sparse in particulars regarding the new pathway. More permanent residents will likely be permitted as part of the permanent program than the pilot, as the pilot only allowed around 1,000 individuals to be admitted to Canada when it was active. However, details regarding the conversion of the pilot to a permanent new program were sparse, so potential applicants should wait for the program’s official release to see if they qualify.

Another path to permanent residency that will accept its first group of applicants in 2025 is the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot. According to the Plan, this pilot will help enhance the vitality of Francophone student communities outside of Quebec and provide a path for students to apply for permanent residency after completing their studies.

Seasonal Work Permits

The plan further focuses on agriculture, as it plans to create a new foreign labour stream for agriculture and fish processing. Interestingly, this will include an agricultural/fishery-related sector-specific work permit. This change comes on the heels of the closure of the Agri-Food Pilot program, which ended on May 14, 2025.

International Students

Changes are coming for international students as part of the Plan. The field of study requirements for post-graduation work permits are to be updated. This means that students’ eligibility for post-graduation work permits will change, as new fields of study can be added and existing fields of study can be removed from eligibility. Further, the Plan indicates that the eligibility requirements for spousal open work permits issued to spouses of foreign workers and international students will also be changed. Again, it is unclear what the new eligibility requirements will be, and more information will become available as the Plan is acted upon.

The cost of living requirement for international students is also set to be amended, and as part of the Plan, annual increases will be made to the requirement in line with the low-income cut-off to help international students keep up with the cost of living.

Other notable immigration changes

A notable change that will impact applicants across the immigration sphere is developing a new online account for all Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada clients as part of the Digital Platform Modernization Programme. This should help streamline application processes and will hopefully reduce backlogs.

New free trade agreements are also to be implemented with Indonesia and Ecuador, which will impact trade mobility pathways. As part of the plan, a new pathway for refugee students will be explored.

Lastly, a new algorithm for helping Express Entry candidates choose where to settle, called GeoMatch, is being tested as part of the plan.

The coming changes will have wide-reaching effects across Canada’s immigration landscape. It is important for anyone who may be impacted to check to see when the changes are implemented and how they may impact their status or application.

Continuing Policies and Programs

Although the Departmental Plan details many changes set to come in Canadian immigration, it also details how Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada will remain consistent with some of its programs and policy decisions.

For instance, the prioritization of permanent residency for healthcare workers, trades workers, and education workers in Express Entry will continue as part of the Plan. Permanent resident admissions will continue to be restricted to 1% of Canada’s population.

Further, there is a commitment to prioritizing converting temporary residents to permanent residents in Canada, with an aim of 40% of permanent resident admissions coming from temporary residents. This aligns with reducing temporary resident levels to 5% of Canada’s total population.

Family sponsorship applications will be processed more efficiently, and the number of Labour Market Impact Assessment work permits will decrease. The plan calls for an increase in permanent French-speaking residents outside of Quebec. For Canadian citizens, online passport renewal will be expanded for increased efficiency. The plan also calls for 80% of each application type across the board to be processed within service standards.

Navigating Canada’s New Immigration Changes? Get Expert Legal Guidance.

Canada’s immigration landscape is changing rapidly. The new Departmental Plan introduces changes to permanent residency programs, work permits, and international student requirements. While this blog provides an overview, many details are still unclear, creating uncertainty for applicants. Our team at Garson Immigration Law specializes in finding legal solutions to complex immigration situations. We can help you understand the new rules and prepare a strong application. Schedule a confidential consultation now by calling (416) 321-2860 or online to get ahead of the changes.