- Canada invests $1.2B to recruit 1,000+ researchers; 380K PRs/year 2026-2028.
- Accelerated pathway for H-1B holders amid U.S. $100K fee; Carney's welcome.
- Temporary residents cut 40% to 385K in 2026; study permits halved to 155K.
Canada made was to present a new immigration strategy aimed at attracting global top talents, which comprise H-1B visa holders in the US. However, Canada will be tightening the temporary resident inflows at the same time. This was the announcement made by Prime Minister Mark Carney during his very first budget presentation. The plan allocates one point two billion dollars to attract more than one thousand highly qualified researchers placing special emphasis on their role in promoting competitiveness and creating economic growth in the future.
Carney's "welcome note" to H-1B holders reads a fast-tracked path for these experts with the U.S. immigration policy change making their green cards expedited in the wake of the visa fee hike by President Trump. The date when the change will come into effect is September 21, 2025, and the fee increase is from $100,000.
From 2026 to 2028, the plan aims at 380,000 new permanent residents per year, thus, keeping the number of immigrants integrated into the economy at a constant level. In contrast, the number of temporary residents is going to be significantly decreased, i.e., it will be only 385,000 in 2026 and 370,000 in 2027-2028, which means a 40% decrease from 2025.
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Most of the reduction comes from study permits, which will be cut to 155,000 in 2026 and 150,000 by the 2027-2028 period, while in 2025 there were estimated to be 305,900 per year. Universities Canada saw the measure as a step towards sustainability but still insisted on the necessity of meeting talent needs. The program lowers the number of non-permanent residents to less than 5% of total population by 2027, a significant drop from 7.3% as of July 2025, In general, with a reduction in the inflow of temporary residents, the plan gives priority to skilled workers.
It is in line with the innovations focus highlighted in the 2025 Budget. For example, in September 2025 UBEC signed a deal with Digital Learning Network, which enabled the distribution of devices to 47 million students and teachers, thus facilitating the 'paperless' revolution, which will be complete in public schools by 2027 with tablets replacing textbooks. As Carney puts it, the idea is to grow the economy at a balanced pace that infrastructure capacity can keep up with, hence, the economy will be resilient in a global war for talents in 2025.