Five things international students need to know about Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan 2025-27

On October 24, Canada announced the Immigration Levels Plan for 2025-2027 and, for the first time, set targets for temporary residents, which includes international students.

Each year, Canada announces its Immigration Levels Plan for the year ahead to outline the number of permanent residents it aims to admit into the country to support economic growth, reunite families, and fulfill humanitarian commitments.

The Immigration Levels Plan also released immigration targets for 2026 and 2027, although these are notional, with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) finalizing the upcoming year’s targets by November 1 each year.

Here are some takeaways from the most recent announcement that international students need to know:

Canada plans to welcome more new international students than work permit holders
This year’s Plan sets a stable target of 305,900 international student arrivals annually for 2025, 2026, and 2027.

These figures are for new arrivals only, so do not include anticipated study permit renewals from students already in Canada.

In contrast, the number of temporary resident worker arrivals – which includes those from the International Mobility Program and Temporary Foreign Worker Program – slowly declines over the course of three years (367,750 in 2025; to 210,700 in 2026; to 237,700 in 2027).