Canada’s federal government used the release of its Immigration Levels Plan on November 6 to deliver a major win for provinces and employers that rely on the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Under the new targets, 91,500 permanent-resident admissions will be allocated to the PNP in 2026—up from 55,000 this year.
The move reverses a dramatic 50 % cut made two years ago and restores the PNP to its role as the fastest-growing economic-immigration stream. Provinces and territories can design their own sub-programs to attract workers with in-demand skills who might not meet federal Express Entry criteria—an increasingly important flexibility as Ottawa tightens temporary-resident inflows.
![Ottawa boosts Provincial Nominee Program quotas by 66 % for 2026]()
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says the higher quota responds to labour shortages outside the largest cities and to feedback from premiers who argued that provincial caps were out of step with housing capacity and regional demographic needs. Employers in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies, which have leaned heavily on PNP pathways to fill health-care, construction and agri-food roles, welcomed the announcement.
Practically, the 2026 target means provinces can start issuing more nominations in early 2025, because candidates typically arrive 12-18 months after nomination. Companies with talent pipelines should therefore refresh LMIA exemption codes, update settlement budgets and liaise with provincial immigration offices to understand when additional nomination certificates will become available.
For multinational firms, the higher ceiling offers a hedge against the federal cap on temporary foreign workers: employees who enter on employer-specific work permits can now transition more quickly to permanent residence via a PNP stream, reducing long-term mobility risk. Provincial governments will publish their individual allocations in the coming weeks; corporates should monitor those figures closely to plan recruiting strategies for 2025-26.
The move reverses a dramatic 50 % cut made two years ago and restores the PNP to its role as the fastest-growing economic-immigration stream. Provinces and territories can design their own sub-programs to attract workers with in-demand skills who might not meet federal Express Entry criteria—an increasingly important flexibility as Ottawa tightens temporary-resident inflows.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says the higher quota responds to labour shortages outside the largest cities and to feedback from premiers who argued that provincial caps were out of step with housing capacity and regional demographic needs. Employers in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies, which have leaned heavily on PNP pathways to fill health-care, construction and agri-food roles, welcomed the announcement.
Practically, the 2026 target means provinces can start issuing more nominations in early 2025, because candidates typically arrive 12-18 months after nomination. Companies with talent pipelines should therefore refresh LMIA exemption codes, update settlement budgets and liaise with provincial immigration offices to understand when additional nomination certificates will become available.
For multinational firms, the higher ceiling offers a hedge against the federal cap on temporary foreign workers: employees who enter on employer-specific work permits can now transition more quickly to permanent residence via a PNP stream, reducing long-term mobility risk. Provincial governments will publish their individual allocations in the coming weeks; corporates should monitor those figures closely to plan recruiting strategies for 2025-26.
