A decline of nearly 24,000, with one-time measures adding about 34,000

IRCC data show 222,625 permanent residents (PRs) were granted status from January to July 2026, compared with 246,580 a year earlier. The key figures:

• Net decline: 23,955 PRs
• Year-over-year change: -9.7%
• PRs counted under the Immigration Levels Plan: 188,800
• PRs granted through two one-time initiatives: 33,900

Because IRCC rounds these figures independently, they broadly reconcile with the country-of-citizenship total but may not sum exactly, as the department itself notes.

The 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan sets a 2026 target of 380,000 PRs. Two one-time initiatives running in 2026 and 2027 sit outside that target:

• One streamlines the transition of approximately 115,000 Protected Persons in Canada, and their in-Canada dependants, who are already on a pathway to permanent residence.
• The other accelerates the transition of up to 33,000 work permit holders.

Ottawa has described both measures as part of a broader effort to recalibrate the immigration system.

The year-over-year gap has been narrowing. Based on earlier IRCC releases:

• January–May 2026: 147,260 PRs, down 12.5%.
• January–June 2026: 182,185 PRs, down 12.3%.
• January–July 2026: the cumulative decline has narrowed to 9.7%.

With 188,800 PRs counted under the plan through July, reaching the 380,000 target would require roughly 38,000 additional PRs per month from August through December.

The longer view shows how far admissions have come down. Canada granted PR status to 471,808 people in 2023 and 483,640 in 2024, both near record highs, before the total fell to about 393,500 in 2025. The previous levels plan, released in 2024, had originally set the 2026 target at 500,000.

India drives the overall decline

Indian citizens account for the largest single shift in the data:

• PRs granted: down from 68,690 in January–July 2025 to 53,285, a reduction of 15,405, or 22.4%.
• Contribution to the national decline: about 64.3%.
• Share of all PRs granted: down from about 27.9% to 23.9%.

India nonetheless remains Canada's largest country of citizenship for new PRs by a wide margin.

The pattern was visible early in the year. From January to May 2026, Indian-citizen PRs fell 24.8% year over year, accounting for roughly 57% of the national decline over that period. Speaking to the National Post, Canadian scholar Jack Jedwab noted that when the government sharply cuts a stream in which one country is heavily represented, that country inevitably absorbs an outsized share of the reduction. Separately, economic-class PRs totalled 100,930 in the first half of 2026, down from 130,770 a year earlier, with Canadian Experience Class (CEC) admissions down 27.7%. Some analysts link that to smaller Express Entry draws and higher Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-offs during 2026.

The citizenship dataset does not break down PRs by immigration category, so it cannot by itself show which programs drove the decline among Indian citizens.

Turkey, Uganda and Iran climb the rankings

Turkey posted the largest absolute increase of any country of citizenship:

• PRs rose from 1,050 to 2,995, an increase of 185.2%.
• Its ranking jumped from about 37th to 19th.

Other notable gains:

• Uganda: up 178.5%, from 395 to 1,100, rising from about 63rd to 36th.
• Iran: up 31.6%, from 4,175 to 5,495, rising from about 15th to 6th.
• Mexico: up 26.8% to 4,140, rising from 18th to 12th.
• Nigeria: already the fifth-largest country of citizenship in January–July 2025, it grew another 10.7%, from 10,450 to 11,565, moving into fourth place even as national totals fell by nearly 10%.

Sudan, Syria and Iraq each grew by more than 40%. East African countries also stood out, with Kenya up 50.7%, Burundi up 50.0% and Rwanda up 33.6%. Because the dataset does not identify the immigration category behind each PR, these increases cannot be attributed to economic, family, refugee or humanitarian pathways from this data alone.

The table below lists the 21 countries of citizenship with the largest increases. Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (Gaza/West Bank) are tied at +90 and both are included.

Sharp declines among French-speaking and North African citizenships

Among countries of citizenship with at least 5,000 PRs in January–July 2025, France recorded the steepest percentage drop, falling 41.8% from 7,385 to 4,295. The original analysis called this a striking result, since French nationals might be expected to benefit from Express Entry's French-language category draws, which prioritize strong French speakers of any nationality.

Other significant declines:

• Eritrea: down 36.9%, from 6,195 to 3,910.
• North Africa: Tunisia down 31.8%, Morocco down 26.6% and Algeria down 12.0%.
• China: down 12.0%, from 13,490 to 11,870.
• Sub-Saharan Africa: DR Congo down 34.2% and Somalia down 31.1%.
• Caribbean: Haiti down 22.4%.
• United States: a modest decline of 8.6%, from 4,550 to 4,160.

For context, Quebec's 2026 immigration plan set a permanent admissions target of about 45,000 (within a range of 43,000 to 47,000), down from a maximum of roughly 61,000 in 2025. Because this dataset does not break results down by province or program, however, it cannot confirm any link between Quebec's reduced targets and the declines among French-speaking and North African citizenships.

The table below lists the 20 countries of citizenship with the largest declines.

Fewer PRs, but a larger share

Because the national total fell 9.7%, some countries of citizenship with small volume declines still increased their share of all PRs granted:

• Philippines: PRs dipped just 2.0%, from 16,325 to 16,005, keeping it Canada's second-largest country of citizenship in both periods; its share rose from about 6.6% to 7.2%.
• Pakistan: PRs eased from about 5,635 to 5,490, while its share of the total edged higher.

For prospective immigrants and consultants tracking these trends, the distinction matters: a country can record fewer PR grants in absolute terms while representing a larger share of Canada's overall intake.

What the data does and does not show

IRCC's dataset counts people granted PR status by country of citizenship. It does not measure arrivals from each country, and "country" here means the citizenship IRCC recorded, not necessarily a person's country of birth or previous residence. Many of those granted PR were already living in Canada as temporary residents.

The data confirms that the composition of Canada's PR intake is shifting, but it does not identify which programs are driving country-level changes. IRCC separately publishes PR data by citizenship and immigration category, which allows a program-level analysis.

These trends describe outcomes, not country-specific quotas, and they do not by themselves change an applicant's eligibility under Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), family sponsorship or any other immigration program.

Looking ahead, the federal government has committed to keeping annual PR admissions below 1% of Canada's population after 2027 and to reducing the temporary resident population to under 5% by the end of 2027. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan must be tabled in Parliament by November 1. It will confirm or revise the existing 2027 and 2028 targets, set the first official 2029 targets, and is expected to shape how admissions are allocated across programs.