Canada on Track to Admit Fewer Permanent Residents than Planned for 2026
According to recent data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the country is on track to admit fewer permanent residents than planned for 2026. The data shows that Canada has admitted 155,800 new permanent residents from January 1 to June 30, 2026, which is 41% of the federal government's annual target of 380,000.
Canada's immigration levels plan has set a target of 380,000 permanent residence admissions for 2026. However, recent data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) suggests that the country is on track to admit fewer permanent residents than planned.
The data shows that Canada has admitted 155,800 new permanent residents from January 1 to June 30, 2026. This is 41% of the federal government's annual target of 380,000. To reach the midpoint of its annual top-line permanent residence admissions, Canada would need to admit a total of 224,200 permanent residents over the July-December period of 2026.
The economic category has seen 89,200 new permanent residents admitted under its programs such as Express Entry, federal business programs, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), and federal economic pilots. However, IRCC was behind its economic target by 30,700 permanent residence admissions by mid-year.
The family class has seen 45,100 new permanent residents welcomed through this category, exceeding the pace needed to hit the annual target by 3,100 permanent residents.
The refugees and protected persons category has seen 17,900 landings reported by the federal government as of June 30. However, IRCC admitted 6,750 fewer landings than needed to stay on pace with its target.
Canada is also aiming to admit 115,000 protected persons and 33,000 in-Canada workers as permanent residents through two "one-time initiatives" between 2026 and 2027. These admissions are on top of the overall 380,000 permanent residence admissions target set by the federal government for the year.
As of June 30, IRCC had admitted 11,300 in-Canada workers and 15,000 protected persons under its one-time initiatives-putting the department 57% of the way to its 2026 target for in-Canada workers, and 33% of the way to its target for protected persons.
In total, Canada had already admitted 182,100 new permanent residents to Canada by mid-year. At 182,100 admissions by the end of June-against a true target of 446,000-the government still remains behind pace, having reached 40.8% of that total by mid-year.
According to the latest data published by IRCC, 12,400 of the permanent residents admitted to Canada outside Quebec in the first six months of 2026 were French-speaking or bilingual. Canada is aiming for 9% of all permanent residence admissions outside Quebec to fall into this category in 2026, as part of its broader effort to increase francophone immigration outside the province.
IRCC has supported this goal by prioritizing French-language proficiency through Express Entry's category-based selection-of the 114,865 invitations to apply issued through the system in 2026, 39.6% have gone to French-speaking candidates.
### Economic Category Admissions
| Category | Target | Admissions | | --- | --- | --- | | Economic | 239,800 | 89,200 |
### Family Class Admissions
| Category | Target | Admissions | | --- | --- | --- | | Family | 84,000 | 45,100 |
### Refugees and Protected Persons Admissions
| Category | Target | Admissions | | --- | --- | --- | | Refugees and Protected Persons | 49,300 | 17,900 |
### One-Time Initiatives
| Category | Target | Admissions | | --- | --- | --- | | In-Canada Workers | 20,000 | 11,300 | | Protected Persons | 46,000 | 15,000 |
### French-Speaking Permanent Residence Admissions
| Category | Target | Admissions | | --- | --- | --- | | French-Speaking | 34,400 | 12,400 |
