Canada’s Immigration Updates 2025-2027: What You Need to Know
Here’s an introduction to the Forward Regulatory Plan for 2025–2027 by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): Significant transformations are on the way for Canada’s immigration landscape. The proposed changes aim to enhance the integrity, efficiency, and oversight of the immigration system as mentioned in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), which govern how Canadian immigration law is applied (the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [IRPA].
Strengthening Oversight of Integrity in Immigration
1. New verification procedures are intended to be established by IRCC for those already holding immigration documents. IRCC says:
One may be required to participate in an interview or respond to questions from an officer—truthfully and clearly—if there are any concerns regarding their application.
The aim of this action is to make changes that are meant to improve and standardize the process for managing applications.
What this means is, IRCC plans to bring back interviews (hello, 1995!). Back in the day, Canada used to use interviews a lot – all types of applicants would be interviewed by an immigration officer, such as PR, study permit, and even visa applicants. This is unheard of today. The only people who generally get interviewed by IRCC now are spousal sponsorship applicants, and even these are few and far between, relegated to the applications that officers believe are not genuine relationships.
What happens if IRCC returns to interviewing candidates in person? Several things:
- Processing times will go way up. IRCC laid off 3000 people in 2024, and another 1800 people in 2025. Who is going to conduct these interviews? Face to face interaction with applicants can’t be offloaded onto AI.
- Application fees could increase to cover the larger costs of rehiring staff to conduct these interviews.
- Taxes in Canada will go up to pay for all of this new staff and infrastructure. Everyone on r/canada LOVES to talk about how great this will be to “cut down on immigration fraud, etc. etc.,” but who is going to pay for all this? Get ready for more complaining about “Liberal tax increases.”
- Integrity of the programs will increase. But will the cost be worth it? The answer is subjective. As we all know, things can be high quality, or fast, or cheap, but not all three at the same time.
2. Enhanced and Standardized Application Review
The Forward Regulatory Plan also includes examination-related amendments. These proposed changes are:
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act may require certain examinations of foreign nationals in possession of an immigration document under these proposed amendments.
This implies that if an officer requests it, people might have to appear for an interview and provide honest answers to questions.
See above, re: the reality of implementing interviews as a standard part of the Canadian immigration process.
3. Amending Language Requirements for the International Mobility Program
One significant change for temporary workers is the proposed requirement that applicants to the International Mobility Program (IMP) demonstrate a certain level of language proficiency.
- Results of a language proficiency exam from an approved third-party organization must be submitted by IMP applicants.
The intention is to ensure that workers possess the necessary language skills to perform their jobs safely and effectively without imposing unreasonable barriers.
But what does this really mean?
When our office prepares an application for a study permit, or a work permit through the International Mobility Program, such as one based on an LMIA, we always include proof of language proficiency even though it’s not mandatory. This is because study permit work permit applications frequently get refused when the applicant is from a country where English or French is not the main official language.
When the applicant is American or British or Australian, immigration officers take it for granted that they can speak English. But they do not always assume that this is the case for others. The onus is always on the applicant to prove that they meet the requirements of the application, and that they can do the job, including speaking English or French as required.
How will adding language requirements change the work permit application process?
You will see MORE fraud, not less, because people will use fake language results (just like they do right now) by buying them, having others take the test on their behalf, or other fraudulent measures.
- Language Test companies will make lots more money.
- Integrity of the International Mobility Program will remain about the same as it is now. Some people who speak English or French will do great on the exam, and some who speak English or French will continue to fall short on the exam leading them to be ineligible to apply for a work permit.
- Labour shortages in the trades will continue to plague the construction industry.
- Some very good workers, as well as some not as great ones, will choose to go elsewhere in the world to apply their skills.
What’s Next?
Currently, these efforts are just getting started. Stakeholder input will be gathered through pre-publication in the Canada Gazette;, provinces and territories have been consulted regarding the language requirements. These extensive reforms demonstrate Canada’s dedication to creating a strong and safe immigration system that upholds public confidence and advances its social, cultural, and economic goals.
Even if some of these steps will not have the exact results intended, we can see that Mark Carney’s government is listening to what Canadians want.
Our team is here to help you understand and adapt to Canada’s changing immigration landscape.
