Canada’s immigration department emphasizes that the annual permanent residence (PR) admission targets do not fully represent the complete picture. On a government webpage launched on July 21, 2026, it was clarified that the levels plan targets for 2026 and 2027 exclude PR admissions under two special initiatives.

The overall target for permanent residence admissions for 2026 and 2027 is set at 380,000 per year. However, this figure does not include PR admissions for up to 115,000 protected persons and 33,000 in-Canada workers over the same period, totaling 908,000 for 2026-2027.

A newly introduced webpage, “Understanding permanent residence numbers in Canada,” illustrates monthly PR admissions from Jan 2026 to May 2026, distinguishing between levels plan PR admissions and one-time initiative PR admissions.

By May 2026, approximately 14.4% of the 128,000 PRs admitted to Canada were through one-time initiatives. The numbers show that 46% of the annual target of 20,000 for in-Canada workers and 20% of the annual target of 46,000 for in-Canada protected persons have been admitted through these initiatives.

The launch of the new webpage coincides with an update to the government’s backlog page, which now provides a breakdown of PR applications for processing this year and those waitlisted for future years to align with the annual admissions targets.

On July 15, the federal government made changes to the sponsorship policies, closing the door to sponsoring parents and grandparents for PR.