{"id":1471,"date":"2025-07-05T07:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T07:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/?page_id=1471"},"modified":"2025-07-05T07:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T07:56:13","slug":"major-highlights-from-ircc-2025-to-2026","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/major-highlights-from-ircc-2025-to-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026 Departmental Plan<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) unveiled its 2025\u20132026 Departmental Plan on June 20, 2025, spotlighting several pivotal reforms aimed at reshaping <a href=\"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/\">Canada\u2019s immigration<\/a> framework.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>New Pathways &amp; Permits<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Permanent Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP):* The EMPP will be made permanent by the end of 2025, offering skilled refugees a direct route to permanent residency.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sector-Specific Work Permits:* A fresh work permit stream is being crafted to serve the agriculture and fish-processing industries, addressing chronic labour shortages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) Revamp:* IRCC will launch a framework to refine field-of-study eligibility for PGWPs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) Updates:* Eligibility criteria for spouses of international students and foreign workers will be revised.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expanded Trade-Based Work Permits:* New free-trade agreement permissions will be added for Indonesia and Ecuador, with discussions under way for CPTPP newcomer and ASEAN pathway arrangements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Digital Client Solutions:* All IRCC users will soon access a unified digital account, launched progressively throughout 2025\u20132026.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Welcoming Francophone Communities (WFC) Initiative:* National rollout of support for Francophone settlement outside Quebec continues through 2026.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Refugee Student Pathway Exploration:* IRCC is examining opportunities to create a new permanent residency route for refugee students.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GeoMatch Algorithm Pilot:* In collaboration with Stanford University, IRCC is trialing a GeoMatch tool to assist Express Entry applicants in selecting ideal settlement regions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026 in Economic Immigration Plans<\/h2>\n<p><b>The plan reaffirms several key priorities and policy directions:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Express Entry Focus Areas:* Priority will be given to healthcare and trades professionals, educators, and Francophones. Additionally, IRCC aims for a minimum of 40% of new permanent residents via Express Entry to already be in Canada on temporary status.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Temporary Resident Caps:* A cap will limit temporary residents (including students and workers) to no more than 5\u202f% of Canada\u2019s population by the end of 2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Permanent Resident Admission Limits:* Annual intake will be kept below 1\u202f% of the population.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LMIA-Based Work Permits:* The Temporary Foreign Worker Program\u2019s annual quota will remain between 80,000\u201384,000 permits, reduced from 184,000 in 2023\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Study Permit Management:* Processing caps on study permits continue under the current levels.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PGWP &amp; SOWP Restrictions Reinforced: *New limitations on open work permits for students and spouses introduced as of January 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Growth in Francophone PR Outside Quebec:* A target growth of up to 8.5\u202f% for French-speaking newcomers settling outside Quebec\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Settlement Support and Passport Services:* Increased funding for newcomer integration services and expansion of online passport renewing capabilities\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Performance Goals &amp; Targets<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3>Family Reunification in Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Processing Efficiency:* IRCC aims to process at least 80% of applications within its established service timelines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Client Satisfaction:* Targeting a 90\u202f% satisfaction rate among users\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public Backing:* A public support threshold of 65\u202f% for current immigration levels is set, improving from 50\u202f% in 2023\u20132024.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Economic Contribution:* The department expects<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cicnews.com\/2025\/07\/2025-mid-year-review-major-immigration-policies-and-changes-implemented-0757271.html#gs.n0sl1h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> international students<\/a> and temporary residents to contribute a minimum of \\$36<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n    <div class=\"xs_social_share_widget xs_share_url after_content \t\tmain_content  wslu-style-1 wslu-share-box-shaped wslu-fill-colored wslu-none wslu-share-horizontal wslu-theme-font-no wslu-main_content\">\n\n\t\t\n        <ul>\n\t\t\t        <\/ul>\n    <\/div> \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026 Departmental Plan Major Highlights from IRCC 2025 to 2026 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) unveiled its 2025\u20132026 Departmental Plan on June 20, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1472,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1477,"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1471\/revisions\/1477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sernexuss.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}