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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s 2024–25 Departmental Plan at a glance

A departmental plan describes a department’s priorities, plans and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.

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Immigration is a defining feature of Canada. It has contributed, and continues to contribute, to Canada’s economy and society in long-standing, meaningful ways. With the exception of Indigenous Peoples, who have called these lands home since time immemorial, everyone who lives in Canada is an immigrant or the descendant of an immigrant.

In the same way that immigration has created the Canada we all enjoy today, immigration is central to our future.

It is important that we attract the people we need to grow Canada’s economy, support our diversity and strengthen our communities. The combination of skills and talents of newcomers, helps fill our labour market needs now and in the future, fostering innovation and fueling investment in our economy as well as supporting the vitality of our Francophone minority communities. At the same time, it is important that we remain a safe haven for refugees fleeing persecution and maintain a safe and modern asylum system that is fast, fair and final.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched “An Immigration System for Canada’s Future” as a result of the Strategic Immigration Review. In close collaboration with other government departments, IRCC undertook extensive engagement to explore how Canada’s immigration policies and programs can support a shared vision for our country’s future. Through this engagement, IRCC has identified actions to transform Canada’s immigration system along three key themes and sets out concrete measures we plan to take based on the feedback received. These themes cut across all of the Department’s Core Responsibilities.:

Key priorities

  • The 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan is tailored to support economic growth while balancing the pressures in areas like housing, healthcare and infrastructure. It charts a responsible course for sustainable and stable population growth. IRCC is committed to a whole of government approach to levels planning involving a greater role for integrated planning between federal government departments, and in close collaboration with provinces, territories and municipalities to support ongoing growth.
  • As part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, IRCC has received $137.2M over five years to encourage Francophone immigration to Canada and supports measures along the immigration continuum, including the adoption of the new Francophone immigration policy. This new funding is in addition to the cumulative and ongoing funding of $84.3M in previous action plans.
  • A reform of the International Student Program is under way to strengthen program integrity and address student vulnerability and unethical recruitment. IRCC recognizes the significant social, cultural and economic benefits that international students bring to Canada. Complementing the reform is a two-year intake cap on international student permit applications to stabilize new growth. This measure will ensure that genuine students receive the support they require and have the resources they need for an enriching study experience in Canada.
  • IRCC has made significant recent investments in processing. Backlogs are being addressed by digitizing applications, optimizing processing capacity, and harnessing automation technologies to increase processing capacity and efficiency. This is reducing overall processing times, and in turn leading to a reduced need for clients to call or email us to check the status of their application.
  • Over the coming years, IRCC will undergo a significant business transformation to modernize its programs and services, with this work already well underway in terms of foundational planning and preparation. This transformation will be delivered through IRCC’s Digital Platform Modernization programme (DPM). Once complete, DPM will bring a new service delivery model with redesigned and optimized business processes and new digital technology platforms with modern capabilities, all of which will result in improved service and an improved client experience.
  • The Department continues to expand its capacity and increase efficiencies in response to a growing number of individuals seeking protection in Canada to ensure we are adequately meeting our important international legal obligations to provide a safe haven to people fleeing persecution.

Refocusing Government Spending

In Budget 2023, the government committed to reducing spending by $14.1 billion over the next five years, starting in 2023–24, and by $4.1 billion annually after that.

As part of meeting this commitment, IRCC is planning the following spending reductions.

  • 2024–25: $97,250,042
  • 2025–26: $103,125,479
  • 2026–27 and after: $116,896,479

IRCC will achieve these reductions by doing the following:

Savings Measure 1: Reductions to the Operating Budget beginning in 2024–25 and increasing in later years (including ongoing)

  • The Department will reduce its operating budget spending by $93.0M in 2024–25, $103.1M in 2025–26 and ramping up to $116.9M in 2026–27 and ongoing, through savings on travel costs; reductions in professional services and workforce; and a general reduction in operating spending.
  • Travel savings of $3.5M per year will be achieved through a horizontal review of travel requirements, including instating a monitoring regime and reducing international travel.
  • Professional services savings of $64.4M in 2024–25 and ongoing by reducing reliance on consultants and other professional services contracts across all areas of the organization; this will entail a judicious review of all existing contracts to generally reduce spending.
  • Lastly, a general reduction will begin in 2024–25 at an amount of $25.1M, and increasing to $35.2M in 2025–26 and $49M in 2026–27, and ongoing in operating expenses. IRCC plans to gradually reduce its reliance on incremental full‑time equivalents across the organization, through innovations, digital modernization, attrition and gradual workforce controls.

Additionally, the Government has identified residual amounts in the fiscal framework of $4.2M in 2024–25, $24K in 2025–26 and 2026–27, and $30K in 2027–28 and ongoing, for which IRCC will not access in the future.

The figures in this departmental plan reflect these reductions.

Highlights

A Departmental Results Framework consists of an organization’s core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.

Plans for Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers

Departmental results:

  • R1: Entry to Canada of eligible visitors, international students and temporary workers is facilitated
  • R2: Facilitation of temporary entry helps to generate economic benefits

Planned spending: $320,314,525

Planned human resources: 2,853

The Department maintains its focus on backlog reduction measures, client-centric approaches and a digital-first model to facilitate entries to Canada. The International Student Program will continue to modernize and to strengthen program integrity, so that international students are well supported while in Canada. In 2024–25, IRCC will continue to prioritize Temporary Foreign Workers that will support essential sectors of Canada’s economy.

More information about Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers can be found in the full departmental plan.

Plans for Core Responsibility 2: Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration

Departmental results:

  • R3: Potential permanent residents are selected for immigration to Canada
  • R4: Permanent residents are welcomed and benefit from settlement supports
  • R5: Immigrants and refugees achieve economic independence and contribute to labour force growth
  • R6: Immigrants and refugees feel part of and participate in Canadian society

Planned spending: $3,219,046,164

Planned human resources: 5,177

In accordance with Canada’s Immigration Levels Plans, IRCC will facilitate the admission of a targeted number of permanent residents under various categories. Through economic immigration pathways, Canada attracts newcomers with the skills our economy needs and helps spread the benefits of immigration across the country, including to Francophone minority communities. The Interim Housing Assistance Program was renewed until March 31, 2024, with the funding envelope of $212 million, in July 2023. To further assist provinces and municipalities experiencing a surge in demand for shelters, and to help prevent asylum claimants from experiencing homelessness, IRCC announced an additional $362.4 million for the 2023–24 fiscal year on January 31, 2024. For 2024–25, the Department will continue to leverage different tools to work towards its new French-speaking permanent resident admissions targets outside Quebec. Family reunification is a pillar of the immigration program and IRCC will continue to implement a series of measures to improve the processing times for overseas applications of Spouses, Partners and Children. In 2024–25, IRCC will continue to meet its ambitious international and domestic commitments under the distinct Refugee Resettlement and in-Canada Asylum Programs. The Department will also develop an International Crisis Response Framework to inform and establish an equitable and sustainable approach to crisis response.

In 2024–25, IRCC’s Settlement Program will continue to improve opportunities for newcomers leading to economic, social, and cultural benefits. Employment-related services (including Language training) are a key to the Program, and these will address barriers to labour market integration for specific newcomer groups. IRCC will conclude the call for proposals (CFP 2024) for IRCC’s Settlement and Resettlement Assistance Programs over 2024–25, and aims to have five-year funding agreements with hundreds of settlement and resettlement service organizations, with the exception of Quebec, in place by April 1, 2025. Francophone settlement programming will be further strengthened and expanded through the selection of projects in support of the Francophone Integration Pathway during CFP 2024, and the additional investment committed in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028.

More information about Core Responsibility 2: Immigrant and Refugee Selection and Integration can be found in the full departmental plan.

Plans for Core Responsibility 3: Citizenship and Passports

Departmental results:

  • R7: Eligible permanent residents become Canadian citizens
  • R8: Canadians’ international travel is facilitated

Planned spending: $130,262,871

Planned human resources: 1,969

In 2024–25 the Citizenship Program will continue facilitation and modernization activities to further improve processing efficiencies. IRCC will launch a new Citizenship guide that reflects the history of systemic racism and discrimination faced by Indigenous Peoples.

The Passport Program will continue to put in place strategies to improve client satisfaction in 2024–25. This includes continuing to advance the passport modernization agenda towards digital solutions, leveraging a new issuance platform that uses automation and new modern laser engraving printers with increased capacity, both of which began deployment in 2023–24.

More information about Core Responsibility 3: Citizenship and Passports can be found in the full departmental plan.

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