Canada is rolling out significant changes to its immigration plans for 2025-2026. If you are looking to move to Canada to study, work, or settle there permanently, you might want to pay a little more attention. The country is planning to launch a new pathway to permanent residence and establish a new work permit stream to help meet the growing and evolving demands of specific job sectors. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s newly published 2025-2026 Departmental Plan shows a wider shift in how Canada is striving to balance labor shortages, economic needs, and public opinion, all while maintaining a fair, reliable, and efficient system.
So, What Changes in 2025-2026?
Making the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) permanent, offering a stable route to permanent residence for displaced talent by the end of 2025.
- Creating a new labor stream and a new type of work permit, specially for the fish processing and agriculture sector- crucial industries that are often undersupported despite being very vital to the County’s food supply.
- Reviewing and updating the new field of study requirements for post-graduation work permits (PGWP) for eligible fields of study
- Updating the qualifications for spouse open work permit (SOWPs), which apply to spouses of international students and foreign workers.
- Finalizing the new free trade agreements (FTAs) with Ecuador and Indonesia
- Negotiating on expanding FTA-related work permit agreements with countries wanting to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well as the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Rolling out a new account system for all IRCC clients to make it easier to search, track, and update all applications in one place.- Fully implementing the Welcoming Francophone Communities Initiative (WFCs) throughout 2025 and 2026 to foster diverse, vibrant, and thriving French-speaking communities outside of Quebec.
- Exploring a new Permanent Residency pathway for refugee students, showcasing their commitment to compassionate immigration processes.
- IRCC has partnered with Stanford University to test an AI tool used to designed to make it easy for Express Entry candidates to choose their preferred place of residence based on their profiles and local needs.
