The single document that decides how many people Canada will invite next year — and how that number splits across Express Entry, PNPs, family sponsorship, and humanitarian streams — is getting redrafted right now. And for the next month, the public actually has a seat at the table. IRCC opened the 2026 consultation on immigration levels on May 12, 2026, and the window closes June 14, 2026.
Most applicants never hear about this consultation. That's a problem, because the feedback IRCC collects will shape the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan that gets tabled in Parliament by November 2026 — the plan that sets the PR admission ceiling you'll be competing under next year and the two years after that.
What's being consulted on
The 2026 consultation page on canada.ca frames the survey as input into the next three-year Levels Plan. Concretely, IRCC is asking respondents to weigh in on:
- The total annual PR admission target — currently set at 380,000 per year for 2026, 2027, and 2028 under the existing Levels Plan, with a working range of 350,000 to 420,000.
- The mix between economic, family, refugee, and humanitarian streams — economic-class admissions are scheduled to rise from 59% of the total in 2025 to 64% by 2027 and 2028.
- The pace of temporary resident reduction — IRCC is targeting a temporary resident population share below 5% of Canada's total population by the end of 2027, down from roughly 7.4% in early 2025.
- Program-level priorities — which of the dozens of immigration streams (Express Entry, PNPs, Atlantic Immigration Program, caregiver pilots, francophone-outside-Quebec, refugee streams) should be expanded, held, or shrunk.
The survey is open-ended this year — fewer multiple-choice boxes, more space to write in your own words. IRCC has signaled it wants real arguments, not just preference checks.
Who can take the survey
Anyone. You don't need to be in Canada, you don't need to be a Canadian citizen, and you don't need to be an immigration professional. The survey was explicitly built to accommodate:
- Individuals responding on their own behalf — applicants, current temporary residents, PRs, citizens, and people considering Canada from abroad.
- Employers of any size, with or without LMIA experience.
- Settlement agencies and newcomer service organizations.
- Advocacy groups and community organizations.
- Educational institutions — DLIs, language schools, K-12 boards.
- Municipal governments and regional authorities.
- Industry associations speaking for a sector.
The survey takes 15–30 minutes depending on how much you write. There's no login wall — you can take it once per individual or organization. Responses must be submitted by June 14, 2026.
Why this consultation matters more than usual
Three things make the 2027–2029 window different from the routine annual planning cycle.
The 2025 consultation already moved the dial. Last year's consultation produced a noticeable shift: feedback about housing pressure, healthcare capacity, and integration outcomes flowed into the decision to cap temporary residents and the lower PR target. IRCC published the 2025 consultation final report and you can read which themes carried weight. The 2026 round inherits that precedent — it's not a rubber-stamp exercise.
The Express Entry overhaul is being decided in parallel. A separate consultation on Express Entry reforms — closing May 24 — runs alongside this one. The two will feed each other. If Levels Plan feedback pushes back on the planned economic-share increase, the CRS reform package may land softer; if economic-share support is strong, Express Entry changes will likely move forward as proposed.
Temporary resident decisions in 2027 are still open. The current plan committed Canada to bringing the temporary resident population below 5% by the end of 2027, but the specific 2027 and 2028 study permit caps, PGWP eligibility, and work permit volumes haven't been locked in. This consultation is where those numbers get tested before they're chosen.
What to put in the survey if you're an applicant
You're not required to take any particular position, but if you want your response to land cleanly, three things help.
Be specific about your situation. "I'm a CEC candidate at CRS 511 who's been in the pool since December 2024" carries more weight than "Canada needs more immigrants." IRCC's analysts code responses by themes, and concrete examples tied to programs and timelines get coded better.
Tie your view to a program decision. If you think Canada should expand healthcare-specific streams, say so and name the program. If you think the Quebec-outside francophone target is too low, say so and give the number you'd argue for. Vague support or vague opposition gets filtered out.
Mention what's working as well as what isn't. The 2025 report cited "calls to maintain program X" as carrying weight against proposed cuts. If a program currently exists that's working for you — Atlantic Immigration Program, a specific PNP stream, family sponsorship timelines — saying "keep this" is as influential as saying "expand that."
What to put in if you're an employer or org
The bar for organizational responses is different. IRCC weights org responses partly on credibility — meaning data and a defensible position carry more weight than headline asks.
- Quantify what you're describing. "We posted 23 roles in TEER 1 occupations in 2025 and filled 4" beats "we have labor shortages."
- Be explicit about which immigration stream you'd use. If you'd hire under a specific PNP stream or Express Entry category-based draw, name it. Generic "skilled worker" asks don't move targets.
- Connect to the existing levels math. The plan operates within fixed totals. If you want more in one category, you're implicitly asking for less somewhere else — say where, or your ask reads as unserious.
What happens after June 14
IRCC closes the survey, codes responses, and publishes a consultation report — historically in late summer. That report becomes input into the internal drafting of the 2027–2029 Levels Plan. The Minister tables the plan in Parliament by November 2026 (a statutory deadline under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act), and the new targets take effect January 1, 2027.
The plan, once tabled, is binding for federal admission targets but not for provincial nomination caps — those are negotiated separately between IRCC and each province through the federal-provincial immigration accords. PNP allocations for 2027 will be released alongside or shortly after the federal plan.
What's not on the table
A few things this consultation won't decide, in case you were planning to make them your main point:
- CRS scoring formulas. Those changes are being consulted on separately through the Express Entry reform consultation, closing May 24.
- Processing times. Levels Plan numbers are admission targets — how fast IRCC clears files is a separate operational question covered in the Departmental Plan.
- Eligibility criteria for specific programs. Individual stream rules (NOC eligibility, language minimums, work-experience thresholds) get changed through regulation or ministerial instructions, not the Levels Plan.
- Citizenship policy. This consultation is about admissions to permanent residence and temporary residence — it doesn't touch the path from PR to citizenship.
If you take the survey, save your answers in a text file before submitting. There's no edit-after-submit function, and the 2025 consultation portal didn't email a copy back to respondents. Keeping your own record means you can quote it later if IRCC publishes the consultation report and you want to check how your themes were coded. It also makes it easy to share your response with employers or settlement orgs who might amplify the same points in their organizational submission.
How to file
Go to the 2026 consultations on immigration levels page, click through to the survey, and complete the questionnaire by June 14, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT. No account required, no fee, no requirement to identify yourself by name unless you're submitting as an organization. The survey runs in English and French.
If your view doesn't make it into the Levels Plan that comes out in November, it's not because IRCC didn't listen — it's because nobody on your side of the issue filed.