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

The term NPR encompasses people who are in Canada with temporary status, including holders of work and study permits in the country*. Note that although the targets for 2025 have now been confirmed by IRCC, subsequent targets are subject to change and will only be committed by November 1 of the previous year.

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

*NPR may also refer to:

• Asylum seekers;
• Protected persons; and/or
• Dependents in any identified category (work permit holders, study permit holders, asylum seekers and/or protected persons).

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What NPR releases does IRCC expect this year and over the next three years?

According to Canada’s Annual Immigration Report for 2024, IRCC expects 588,409 NPRs to leave Canada or transition to PR status by the end of 2024. Although the department anticipates a reduction in immigration levels NPR in the coming years, it still projects a net change of 299,216 additional NPRs in Canada by the end of 2024. According to the IRCC, by the end of the year, it is expected that There are 2.9 million NPRs in Canada, which represents 7.1% of the total population.

Over the next three years, IRCC expects the following RNP releases in Canada:

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

The annual immigration report for 2024 also contained NPR’s expected entries 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, IRCC aims to welcome the following number of RNPs:

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

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

Note that the above lists are not conclusive inclusions of the work permit programs and streams contained in the IMP or TFWP.

What measures will IRCC take or maintain to achieve the objectives of the NPR?

Canada’s Department of Immigration has already committed to taking several steps to reduce the overall NPR population in the country.

These include:

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