Vancouver: In what appears to be the bad news for those , who want to get  Permanent Residency (PR) through Home Care Worker Immigration pilots in Canada , they  will not be able to apply in 2026 as authorities have decided to pause intake until further notice.

In order to prioritize processing of existing applications, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will pause intake until further notice. This means that the pilots’ intake will not re-open in March 2026, said a release.

Due to ongoing high demand, interest in the Home Care Worker Immigration pilots continues to exceed the spaces available, leading to longer wait times.

In order to prioritize processing of existing applications, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will pause intake until further notice. This means that the pilots’ intake will not re-open in March 2026. IRCC will continue to process applications received to date, in line with the Immigration Levels Plan.

For many its disappointing, but IRCC says this pause will prevent further inventory growth and support their  goal to bring immigration back to sustainable levels. Any future updates on the program will be shared publicly.

“As part of our 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, IRCC is  making  immigration system more responsive to the needs of the country by making sure that they  have the skilled workers needed to fill labor gaps. Many home care workers—who provide essential support to seniors, children and people with disabilities—have already applied for permanent residence through pilot programs.”

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Vancouver :Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is introducing several changes to its business immigration programs to support the sustainable immigration levels and Canada’s Talent Attraction Strategy announced in the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan.

Effective today, IRCC is no longer accepting applications for the optional work permit available to Start-Up Visa (SUV) Program applicants, except for those already in Canada applying to extend their current SUV work permit.

In support of reducing Canada’s temporary resident population through transitions to permanent residence, authorities  are also prioritizing the permanent residence applications of those already in Canada with a SUV-specific work permit, as Levels Plan targets allow. The existing criteria  for prioritization also remains in place.

Effective December 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m., IRCC will stop accepting new SUV Program applications, except for those from applicants who have a valid commitment from a designated organization that was made in 2025,  but haven’t applied yet. Authorities will also extend the current pause on accepting applications to the Self-Employed Persons Program until further notice.

“ These measures will set the foundation for the transition to a new, targeted pilot program for immigrant entrepreneurs and help address the large inventory of applications for Canada’s business programs. More information about the new pilot program for entrepreneurs will be communicated in 2026.”, said a release.

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Vancouver : In what appears to be the fallout of crackdown on international students and other Non Permanent (PR) residents, Canada has witnessed largest drop in its population in the recent quarter. The decline is likely to increase more in coming days as Government authorities are further tightening  immigration.

As per Statics Canada estimates released on Wednesday, population decreased by 76,068 people (-0.2%) over the third quarter of 2025 and reached at 41.6 million from earlier figure of 41.65 million. Statistics Canada’s Demographic Estimates Program—show that the population decrease was mainly due to a drop in non-permanent residents and changing government policies concerning international migration.

In the third quarter of 2023, Canada’s quarterly population growth was 1.0% with 418,634 residents were added  while in the third quarter of 2024, the population increased by 231,803 residents. .

As per preliminary estimates, Ontario (-0.4%) and British Columbia (-0.3%) have seen the largest population decrease in the third quarter of 2025, followed by Manitoba and the Northwest Territories (both -0.2%).

While talking to TV Punjab, some local businessmen said that government must facilitate the quick immigration of skilled labor.

“Government should tightened the immigration to prevent the entry of criminals in Canada. But simultaneously it must also take required steps to ensure the availability of skilled labor to businesses as skilled labor is the backbone of economy” he said.

Figures show that On October 1, 2025, there were 2.8 million non-permanent residents in Canada  and it was   6.8% of the total population. But earlier the number was 3 million in  July 1, 2025  and that was 7.3% of the total population. The higher outflows 339,505 caused by various reasons than arrivals of  163,026,  seems to have contributed largely in the decrease of population.

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Ottawa: The backlog of immigrants files worldwide has crossed over 2.4 million, to seek migration to Canada.

According to the data, India is the among most affected country as approximately 700,000 are pending, who are seeking to migrate to Canada.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, Canada’s immigration process was running at snail’s pace and government of Canada recently announced to enhance work force to speed up the processing time of applicants.

The government has also announced to resume Express Entry draw after a gap of over one and half years to grant permanent residency under Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) class to immigrants.

Meanwhile, government is also going to infuse 85 million Canadian dollars ($65.16 million) to reduce the application inventory and hire more staff.

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New Delhi: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is going to raise the fees for all permanent residence applications from April 30, 2022, according to the government officials.

This hike includes economic, permit holder, family and humanitarian classes.

According to the information the PR fees for applicant and accompanying spouse has been increased by CAD15 to CAD515.

The government has hiked a nominal fees structure of all major categories for immigration to Canada.

Meanwhile, government previously hiked residence fees in 2020 to account for inflation and in 2002, it was announced that fees would increase every 2 years to adjust for inflation.

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Ottawa: Canada welcomed more than 405,000 new permanent residents in 2021— more than any year in Canadian history. To meet the demands of our growing economy and help make our immigration system more responsive to Canada’s economic needs and humanitarian commitments, the federal government’s 2022-24 Immigration Levels Plan—tabled in February 2022—sets an even higher annual target of 451,000 permanent residents by 2024. The majority will be skilled workers, which will play an important role in addressing persistent labour shortages.

To support the processing and settlement of new permanent residents to Canada as part of Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan—including the government’s increased commitment to Afghan refugees—the government has committed $2.1 billion over five years and $317.6 million ongoing in new funding.

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OTTAWA: Aimed to bolster economy, Canadian government has set a target to bring about 13.29 lakh immigrants in the next three years.

To ensure Canada has the workers it needs to fill critical labour market gaps and support a strong economy into the future, the 2022–2024 Immigration Levels Plan aims to continue welcoming immigrants at a rate of about 1% of Canada’s population, including 431,645 permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024. This plan builds on the previous levels plan, with an increased focus on supporting our economic resurgence and post-pandemic growth.

Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, tabled the 2022‒2024 Immigration Levels Plan, which charts an ambitious but responsible path for immigration that will help the Canadian economy recover and will fuel post-pandemic growth, all while strengthening communities and industries across the country that rely on immigration.

The pandemic has highlighted the contributions of newcomers to the well-being of our communities and across all sectors of the economy. Last year, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 new permanent residents—the most immigrants in a single year in our history. Despite having regained many of the jobs lost during the pandemic, there are still hundreds of thousands of positions in all sectors waiting to be filled. Immigration already accounts for almost 100% of labour force growth, and with 5 million Canadians set to retire by the end of this decade, the worker to retiree ratio will drop down to only 3:1. This is a clear sign that we have a strong economic need for increased immigration.

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