IRCC announces the expected outflow of work and study permit holders for the coming years

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) expects that more than half a million non-permanent residents (NPRs) will leave Canada or transition to permanent resident (PR) status by the end of this year.

The term NPR includes those in Canada on temporary status, including holders of work and study permits in the country*. Please note that although the 2025 targets have now been confirmed by the IRCC, subsequent targets are subject to change and will not be set until November 1 of the previous year.

Canada’s Immigration Department also announced the number of new NPRs it expects to welcome over the next three years; as the IRCC continues to achieve its goal of controlling NPR levels in the country to 5% of the total Canadian population.

*NPR may also refer to:

• Asylum applicants;
• Protected persons; and/or
• The dependents of an identified category (work permit holders, study permit holders, asylum seekers and/or protected persons).

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What are the NPR outflows that IRCC expects this year and in the next three years?

According to Canada’s 2024 Annual Report on Immigration, IRCC expects 588,409 NPRs to leave Canada or transition to PR status by the end of 2024. While the department plans a reduction in NPR levels in the coming years, they still expect a net change of 299,216 additional NPRs in Canada by the end of 2024. According to the IRCC, there are expected to be 2.9 million NPRs in Canada by the end of the year, representing 7.1% of the total population.

Over the next three years, IRCC expects the following outflows of NPRs in Canada:

Measures for non-permanent residents (NPR).	2025	2026	2027
Total NPR outflow	1,262,801	1,104,658	875,179
Net change in NPR figures	-445,901	-445,622	17,439
Population of NPRs in Canada	2,515,099	2,069,477	2,086,916
NPRs as a percentage of the Canadian population	6.1%	5.0%	5.0%

How many NPRs does IRCC expect to welcome over the next three years?

The Annual Report on Immigration for 2024 also included the expected NPR inflows for the next three years. By the end of the year, IRCC expects a total of 887,625 new NPRs in the country.

Over the next three years, the IRCC wants to welcome the following numbers of NPRs:

Measures for non-permanent residents (NPR).	2025	2026	2027
Total NPR intake	816,900	659,036	892,568
NPR intake subject to student and employee targets	673,650	516,600	543,600
NPR inflow for emergency reserves	143,250	142,436	348,968
Number of new work permit holders through the International Mobility Program (IMP)	285,750	128,700	155,700
Number of new work permit holders through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)	82,000	82,000	82,000
Number of new study permit holders	305,900	305,900	305,900

Work permits issued under the IMP may include the following programs or pathways:

Work permits issued under the TFWP may include the following programs or pathways:

Please note that the above lists are not conclusive recordings of work permit issuance programs and flows covered by the IMP or the TFWP.

What actions will IRCC take or enforce to achieve the NPR goals?

Canada’s Immigration Department has already taken several steps to reduce the country’s overall NPR population.

These include:

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