On September 15, 2026, Saskatchewan reached the position limit for the Food Services sector in the year's final capped-sector intake window. Employers submitted Employer Position Assessments covering all 175 positions available for Food Services, leaving no remaining positions to be accepted under the September window. The Food Services window opened at 1:30 p.m. and was the last of the staggered capped-sector intake windows scheduled for 2026. Employers in capped sectors cou

IRCC has released updated application processing data as of July 31, 2026. Since the beginning of the year, the department has finalized 1,832,065 temporary residence applications, including 126,230 study permit applications and 1,530,125 visitor visa applications. Another 394,325 temporary residence applications had not yet been finalized. In permanent residence processing, IRCC reported 255,325 pending economic immigration applications, 165,445 family-class applications and

On September 10, 2026, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) updated the processing times for the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications under various streams. Based on statistics from all processing centres, the average LMIA processing time has increased for all streams except the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program and the Global Talent Stream. Global Talent Stream - 10 business days Agricultural stream – 25 business days (+2 days) Seasonal Agricultu

The Manitoba Government is allocating $630,000 to community organizations through its From the Ground Up program to strengthen job skills, mentorship, and wellness initiatives for local youth. Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard announced the new funding, which targets barriers to employment and community participation. A portion of the grant goes directly to organizations like Development Assistance International, which works directly with newcomer youth ad

Ontario's OINP has completed its program redesign: as of the June 26, 2026 amendment to O. Reg. 422/17, the former eight-stream Expression of Interest system is closed to new entries, replaced by the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream, which covers job offers across all NOC TEER categories plus a pathway for self-employed physicians. Files still in the legacy streams should be reviewed for transition impact. (Source: Ontario) Alberta's AAIP updated its Rural Entrepreneur,

On August 24, 2026, IRCC issued a new temporary public policy for foreign nationals of Palestine who arrive in Canada as temporary residents on or before September 30, 2027. The policy takes effect August 1, 2026 and expires December 30, 2027, and lets eligible arrivals apply from within Canada for fee-exempt study permits, open work permits, and temporary resident permits, and move between temporary resident streams. (Source: IRCC) A companion temporary public policy, also d

On August 28, 2026, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Francisation et Integration (MIFI) published the results of the 87th invitation round in Quebec’s online system Arrima, which were conducted on August 27, 2026. MIFI invited 87 candidates under Stream 1 (Highly qualified and specialized skills), around 580 candidates under Stream 2 (Intermediate and manual skills), 109 candidates under Stream 3 (Regulated professions), and 21 candidates under Stream 4 (Exceptional talent

New refugee protection claims in Canada dropped significantly by mid-2026, falling to 2,652 cases in July after reaching over 11,000 during the same period last year. Higher processing capacity at the Refugee Protection Division helped lower the overall pending inventory to 268,058 claims, driven by a surge of 13,034 finalized cases in June alone. In contrast, pending refugee appeals continued a steady upward trend, climbing close to 6,000 open files. The latest official numb

On August 17, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held the Express Entry draw #435 for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates. The Government of Canada issued 442 Invitations to Apply (ITAs), and the round’s cut-off score was 760 points, 8 points fewer than the previous PNP-targeted draw. The tie-breaking rule for this round was August 07, 2026, at 18:01:56 UTC. As of August 16, there were 226,859 profiles registered in the Express Entry pool. This

The Ontario Government has updated regulations for Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program to restrict financial support to legal Canadian residents. Effective immediately, the amended rules under the Ontario Works Act and the Ontario Disability Support Program Act exclude individuals residing in Canada without legal status. Temporary residents, including international students, temporary workers, and tourists, are also ineligible for these social assistance

The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) updated its guidance for the Rural Entrepreneur, Graduate Entrepreneur, and Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur streams on August 12, 2026. The new details clarify how program officers assess the existing economic establishment requirement during the application and monitoring phases. Official eligibility criteria remain unchanged. Applicants with files currently under review will have a chance to provide extra information if concern

The Government of New Brunswick has secured nearly $10 million in federal funding through the Foreign Credential Recognition Program to help internationally trained professionals integrate into the provincial workforce. Distributed across WorkingNB, post-secondary relations, and Skilled Trades NB, the funding targets critical shortages in health care, engineering, skilled trades, and education. Planned initiatives include wage subsidies for 100 internationally educated nurses

On August 10, 2026, the Canada Border Services Agency announced that the Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) Program will close on December 1, 2026, as part of efforts to strengthen border integrity. Travellers entering Canada through affected remote areas of northern Ontario or from the Northwest Angle into southern Manitoba will instead be required to report at a port of entry or designated telephone reporting site. All active RABC permits have been automatically extended un

On August 4, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held the Express Entry draw #431 for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates. The Government of Canada issued 507 Invitations to Apply (ITAs), and the round’s cut-off score was 768 points, 24 points more than the previous PNP-targeted draw. The tie-breaking rule for this round was May 15, 2026, at 15:58:19 UTC. As of August 3, there were 229,100 profiles registered in the Express Entry pool. This year,

On July 30, 2026, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Francisation et Integration (MIFI) published the results of the 86th invitation round in Quebec’s online system Arrima, which were conducted on July 30, 2026. MIFI invited 105 candidates under Stream 1 (Highly qualified and specialized skills), 296 candidates under Stream 2 (Intermediate and manual skills), 110 candidates under Stream 3 (Regulated professions), and 12 candidates under Stream 4 (Exceptional talent). So far,

Saskatchewan has allocated at least 750 provincial immigration nominations in 2026 for graduates of local designated learning institutions who secure job offers in key economic sectors. Under updated Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) guidance, eligibility relies on the employer’s operational sector rather than the applicant’s specific field of study. Qualifying industries include healthcare, agriculture, technology, skilled trades, energy, mining, and manufacturin

The Government of Yukon has issued a General Declaration of Need to streamline licensing for internationally trained family physicians. Under the new Limited A pathway, qualified doctors from the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia can receive a licence from the Yukon Medical Council without undergoing additional practice assessments or supervision. Issued under the Medical Profession Act, this initiative reduces administrative barriers for foreign-trained p

On July 24, 2026, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) published updated enforcement statistics showing that 10,607 inadmissible individuals were removed from Canada between January 1 and June 30, 2026. Quebec recorded the highest number of enforced removals at 5,467, followed by the Greater Toronto Area with 2,674, the Pacific Region with 906, and the Prairie Region with 839. Most removals involved immigration non-compliance: 8,551 cases concerned refugee claimants and 1

A new Statistics Canada study highlights significant differences in employment rates between immigrants with disabilities and Canadian-born persons with disabilities from 2022 to 2024. The findings show that immigrant men with disabilities achieved a higher overall employment rate than their Canadian-born counterparts, driven primarily by higher participation among those without a high school diploma. Conversely, immigrant women with disabilities faced a lower employment rate

On July 22, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held the 8th Express Entry draw of the year for French-language proficiency candidates. In round #429, IRCC issued 5,000 Invitations to Apply (ITA) to francophone candidates. The cut-off score of this draw was 399 points – 21 points fewer than the last draw. The tie-breaking rule for this round was November 19, 2025, at 21:21:56 UTC. So far this year, Canada has issued 104,612 ITAs across 41 Express Entry d