Canada holds 380,000 permanent resident target to 2029 but keeps founder visa shut

By the Citi Sighs Intelligence Desk — Toronto, November 9, 2026

TORONTO — Canada will hold permanent resident admissions at 380,000 a year from 2027 to 2029 and set new temporary arrivals at 370,000 a year, under the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan released on Nov. 5, the day Ottawa tabled its budget. The plan sets aside 1,500 permanent places in 2027 for the federal business class, which includes the Start-up Visa — a program that no longer takes new applications.

For Nigerian or Ghanaian founders eyeing Canada, and Canadian firms hiring West African staff, the plan sizes the door for three years. IRCC describes the 2027 worker, student and permanent resident targets as consistent with last year's plan. The dedicated founder route stays closed until Ottawa launches the entrepreneur pilot it said it would detail in 2026.

What changed

The supplementary plan sets these 2027 targets, each with a low and high range:

• 380,000 permanent residents, in a range of 352,500 to 422,000.
• 244,700 in the economic class, including 100,000 through Federal High Skilled (Express Entry) and 95,000 through the Provincial Nominee Program.
• 1,500 under Federal Business, which covers the Start-up Visa and Self-employed Persons programs, in a range of 500 to 5,000. The notional figure rises to 2,725 in 2028 and falls to 1,000 in 2029.
• 370,000 new temporary residents: 220,000 workers and 150,000 students.

The 2028 and 2029 figures are notional and will be confirmed or adjusted each year, the plan says; for temporary residents it sets a deadline of Nov. 1 next year.

What it means in practice

Founders. IRCC stopped accepting new Start-up Visa applications at the end of 2025, except from people holding a 2025 commitment from a designated organisation, and extended its pause on the Self-Employed Persons Program until further notice, according to its December notice. The program page now lists the Start-up Visa as paused and says those 2025 commitment holders had to apply by June 30, 2026. The new plan keeps a business line of 1,500 places in 2027 even though both programs are closed to new entrants. The backgrounder adds that provinces can nominate workers whose applications sit in certain federal programs, including the two business programs, which it describes as closed to new applications.

Employers. Of the 220,000 new worker arrivals planned each year, 170,000 are under the International Mobility Program and 50,000 under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the plan shows. Express Entry and provincial nominations together account for 195,000 of the 2027 permanent places. Since Nov. 3, Express Entry has also awarded points for high-wage job offers, as we reported.

People already in Canada. The backgrounder says a new time-limited measure will help up to 200,000 people already living in Canada move to permanent residence in 2027, in two cohorts of up to 100,000 each: workers with their families, and a humanitarian group. The supplementary plan describes the measure without a number. It separately says IRCC will finish earlier one-time initiatives covering up to 115,000 protected persons and 33,000 work permit holders in 2026 and 2027. The Canadian Press reported the plan as offering permanent status to up to 200,000 longtime temporary residents.

Context

The backgrounder frames the targets as part of a predictable, well-managed system and restates the government's commitment to reduce the temporary resident population and keep permanent admissions below 1% of the population beyond 2027. It says population growth is at its slowest annual rate in over a century.

Nigeria's Nairametrics, reporting the Start-up Visa closure in December, listed provincial entrepreneur streams, intra-company transfers and employer-backed work permits as alternatives. In February, BusinessDay quoted Seyi Obasi, an adviser on Canadian study and work, as saying January's changes were encouraging for current workers in Canada but harder for others. The paper also reported, without naming a source, that Nigeria's average processing time had risen from eight to 11 weeks.

Ghana's new investment law ended the US$500,000 minimum for wholly foreign-owned firms, though traders still need US$500,000 in cash. Nigeria keeps a ₦100 million capital bar for foreign-owned companies. Both set entry by capital rules rather than annual admission targets.

What to watch next

• The entrepreneur pilot. IRCC said in December that details of a new, targeted pilot for immigrant entrepreneurs would come in 2026. We found no official launch notice.
• Nov. 1, 2027. The date by which the 2028 and 2029 temporary resident figures are to be confirmed or adjusted.

The case for and against

The case for: the targets are stable and published with ranges, which makes hiring and relocation easier to plan. Worker and provincial routes keep their scale, and up to 200,000 one-time transitions in 2027 could help West Africans already working or studying in Canada.

The case against: there is no open federal route for a founder who wants to move to Canada to start a company, and only 1,500 business places are planned for 2027. New temporary arrivals stay capped at 370,000 a year, and BusinessDay has reported longer processing times for Nigerian applicants.

What we could not verify

• Whether IRCC has launched or detailed the promised entrepreneur pilot. We found no official notice.
• Why the backgrounder gives up to 200,000 for the new 2027 transition measure while the supplementary plan gives no number.
• The plan gives no figures by source country, so we could not estimate how many Nigerians or Ghanaians the targets cover.
• The plan's table headers did not render cleanly for us; we matched Federal Business figures to years by its footnote markers.
• Last year's 2026 targets in numbers: the 2026–2028 plan page would not load. We rely on IRCC's own statement that 2027 targets are consistent with last year's plan.
• The Globe and Mail's budget coverage could not be accessed. We found no Ghanaian official or press reaction to the plan.

Disclosure: Citi Sighs has no commercial relationship with any company or institution named in this article. This article is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice.