The latest federal immigration data shows that Canada welcomed more than 817,000 newcomers in the first four months of 2025 when tallying up permanent and non-permanent streams.
Between January and April 2025, 132,100 people were granted permanent residency, while 194,000 study permits and 491,400 work permits (including extensions) were finalized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
“We finalized 194,000 study permit applications (including extensions) and 491,400 work permit applications (including extensions) from January 1 to April 30, 2025,” wrote immigration officials.
The figures mark a continuance of aggressive immigration intake despite pledges by Prime Minister Mark Carney to tamper the flow of non-permanent immigrants.
In a recent cabinet mandate letter, Carney pledged to bring immigration levels down to “sustainable levels.”
By 2027, Carney has proposed to limit the number of temporary workers and international students to five per cent of the national population, equating to two million individuals based on the current population of 40 million.
Additionally, the proposal includes a restriction on annual permanent resident admissions to one per cent of the population, targeting approximately 400,000 admissions per year by the same date.
Federal immigration data now reveals that the 2,041,8000 applications remain in the backlog inventory.
IRCC says it aims to process 80% of applications within its service standards, but acknowledges it regularly fails to meet this due to demand and “unforeseen circumstances.”
