Immigration to Canada experienced a significant decline in 2025, marking the first non-pandemic decrease since 2015. Compared to 2024, immigration fell by 19 percent, with 393,530 new immigrants entering the country, down from 483,655 the previous year. The data, reported by the National Post reported, citing the latest federal government data accessed by the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS).

This drop in immigration coincides with a stagnation in Canada's overall population growth. In the second quarter of 2025, the country saw only a slight population increase of 47,098 people, or just 0.1 percent.

What Data Reveals About Canada's Immigration Trends In 2025

The sharpest declines in immigration were seen in Atlantic Canada and the Prairie provinces. Quebec experienced a small increase, while the northern regions saw a modest rise in immigration numbers.

Refugees accounted for the most significant decline, followed by economic and family-sponsored immigrants.

Permanent resident admissions also fell in 2025, with notable declines in applications from Iran and Afghanistan, down 33.3 percent and 33.1 percent, respectively. Other countries also saw decreases, including China (-29.6 per cent ), Pakistan (-25.7 per cent ), Eritrea (-25.7 per cent ), and India (-22.5 per cent ).

In contrast, applications for permanent residency from France, Ukraine, and Cameroon increased.

International student permits dropped by more than 25 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, with 131,010 fewer new permits issued. The decline from India was particularly steep, with new permits falling by 50 percent from 188,175 in 2024 to 94,605 in 2025.

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Temporary foreign worker admissions also saw a decrease, dropping by 12 percent from 190,945 to 168,245.

Jack Jedwab, president of the Montreal-based ACS, told the National Post, “With immigration being the sole source of population growth, the unevenness of the reductions implies that some parts of the country will face greater population decline than others.”

The data underscores how much government policy influences immigration trends. The shift in immigration policy began with the election of Justin Trudeau in 2015. From 2016 to 2024, immigration surged at an average annual rate of 15 percent, up from 4 percent in the years between 2000 and 2015, according to a Fraser Institute study.

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Canada's New Immigration Strategy: IRCC

In its 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan, released last year, Canada outlined a goal to "return to sustainable immigration levels," as stated by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This plan aims to reduce the proportion of the temporary population to less than 5 percent of the total population by the end of 2027.

The targets for new temporary resident arrivals are set at 385,000 in 2026, 370,000 in 2027, and 370,000 in 2028.