Immigration Minister Lena Diab says Canada’s immigration levels could rise, and that the next plan is still due in November.
Speaking in Kitchener on October 16, Diab was asked how the government could consider higher immigration while housing remains difficult to afford. She pointed to the sharp slowdown in population growth. “We’ve taken a step backwards on immigration,” she said. “We have an ambitious agenda. We are going to want to drive growth. We do need people.”
Statistics Canada estimates that Canada’s population reached 41,798,407 on July 1, 2026. That was 189,425 more people than a year earlier, a gain of 0.5 per cent. It was the smallest July-to-July increase in the size of the population since 1944–45.
Diab did not give a new target. She said Prime Minister Mark Carney has been clear that the government wants the strongest economy in the G7, and that immigration is one of the tools she has as minister. Pressed on the timing, she said the updated plan is coming “in November as it’s scheduled.”
No admissions number has changed. Under the current Immigration Levels Plan, Canada is still set to admit 380,000 permanent residents a year in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
For people waiting on programs such as Express Entry and the provincial nominee programs, the November plan is the document that will show whether those spaces increase. Until it is released, the existing targets remain in place.
