Can you guess how many permanent residents Canada plans to take in next year?
Ottawa’s 2027 plan adds up to almost 660,000 new permanent residents, more than any year on record, while youth unemployment sits at 13.7 per cent.
Article by Rebel News staff
How many new permanent residents is Canada approving next year? Rebel News reporter Anastasia Zorchinsky took that question to the streets of downtown Ottawa.
Most of the people she asked guessed far below the real number, with many offering 100,000 or less. Some told her Canada should take in fewer newcomers because of jobs, housing and the cost of living, while others said the country should keep welcoming immigrants.
Ottawa plans to admit almost 660,000 new permanent residents in 2027, according to CBC’s count of Budget 2026, which would break the current record of 483,640, set in 2024 by more than 170,000. That total is made up of the regular target of 380,000, another 200,000 temporary residents already living in Canada who would be moved to permanent status, and almost 80,000 more from a two-year, one-time program.
On top of that, the Carney government plans 220,000 new temporary foreign workers next year, while youth unemployment sits at 13.7 per cent. That means nearly one in seven young Canadians looking for work can’t find a job.
And last week, Ottawa made it easier for businesses to keep low-wage foreign workers, doubling how long a low-wage labour market approval lasts from one year to two.
More than half of Canadians want fewer immigrants and temporary residents next year, according to a Nanos poll for CTV News. Only eight per cent want more.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the plan is “in line with sustainable immigration.”
So what does Ottawa think? Watch the full report.
Prime Minister Mark Carney: Scrap the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and Hire Canadians First!
Anastasia Zorchinsky
Anastasia Zorchinsky is a Montreal-based Student Journalism Intern with Rebel News, political science student and campus leader. Her reporting investigates ideological radicalization, extremist movements, antisemitism and political organizing. She is the co-founder and co-president of StartUp Nation Montreal and a three-term elected Concordia Student Union councillor, where she has spent years pushing for institutional accountability.
