Immigration has emerged as a hot-button issue in Canadian federal politics.
Both the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party have released their 2025 election platforms, detailing their policies on several issues, including immigration.
In the past, party leaders Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre have been vocal about immigration policies they would spearhead as the next prime minister of Canada.
With the election less than a week away, this article will cover the parties’ stance on major immigration issues, including permanent resident admissions targets, temporary foreign workers, international students, and economic immigration.
Immigration targets
Immigration targets refer to the number of people the federal government plans to admit each year, usually outlined in its multi-year Immigration Levels Plan.
Up until recently, the government only established targets for new permanent residents. The 2025-2027 Levels Plan, published in Oct of 2024, for the first time included temporary resident targets for international students and temporary foreign workers.
Liberal Party
Mark Carney has been vocal about the fact that the current immigration system is not working. In a recent interview, he said that caps on immigration will remain in place “until we’ve expanded housing.”
As per the Liberal Party’s election platform, the Party plans to stabilize annual PR admissions at less than 1% of Canada’s population beyond 2027.
This is in-line with Canada’s current immigration targets. The most recent Levels Plan sets a PR target of 395,000 in 2025. Considering that Canada’s population in 2025 is estimated to be 41.5 million, this makes the current target less than 1% of the current population.
This suggests that Carney and the Liberal Party plan to keep the immigration cap to current levels.
Conservative Party
In a press conference in January of 2024, Pierre Poilievre suggest tying immigration levels to homebuilding.
Since then, he has mentioned on multiple occasions that the immigration numbers would be lower if he were to become prime minister, without getting into specifics.
According to the Conservative Party’s platform for change, the party would aim to limit permanent immigration “to a sustainable rate similar to the levels under the Harper government.”
Stephen Harper was prime minister between 2006 and 2015. During that time, Canada’s permanent immigration levels ranged between 247,000 and 281,000.
It’s unclear whether the Conservatives mean that the absolute numbers would be similar to those during the Harper era, or whether the annual figure for PR admissions would be adjusted proportionally to Canada’s current population.
The plan also reiterates keeping the rate of population growth below the rate of housing growth, job growth, and health care accessibility.
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Temporary foreign workers
Both party leaders have spoken about the surge in temporary foreign worker numbers during the pandemic being unsustainable.
Liberal Party
The Liberal 2025 platform proposes “capping” the total number of temporary workers and international students to less than 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2027.
Canada’s temporary resident population was estimated to be 3.02 million as of January 1, 2025. That makes it 7.27% of the total population in 2025.
The Trudeau Liberal administration, under former immigration Minister Marc Miller, began enacting measures in 2024 to reduce Canada’s temporary resident levels in the coming years, by introducing targets into the annual Immigration Levels Plan, implementing a cap on study permit applications, and restricting eligibility for Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP) and spousal open work permits.
In the latest Immigration Levels Plan, the target for net new annual temporary resident arrivals decreases by 150,000 between 2025 and 2026.
Conservative Party
Poilievre has been highly critical of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program over the last few years.
As per the party’s platform, if the Conservatives were to win, they claim they would “restore integrity to the system by cracking down on fraud and dramatically reducing the number of temporary foreign workers and foreign students.”
Exact numbers have not been shared, however.
The party’s platform also states that, if the Conservatives were to be elected, they would require “union LMIA pre-checks.”
A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document issued by the federal government allowing an employer to hire a foreign worker under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). Presumably, requiring a union LMIA-pre check would mean that an employer would have to get union approval before being able to hire a foreign worker through the TFWP.
In the past, Poilievre has said that foreign workers should be allowed in “rare circumstances” where there are not enough Canadians to fill jobs, such as for farming or small businesses in tight labour markets.
Another Conservative Party plan as per the 2025 platform is requiring criminal background checks for individuals entering Canada on a student permit.
International students are not currently required to submit police certificates when applying for a study permit, although an immigration officer may request one if necessary.
Note: Under Canadian immigration law, all foreign nationals must be admissible to enter Canada. Criminal inadmissibility is already grounds for refusal to issue a study permit–the Conservatives’ proposed change would be whether to require police certificates as part of every study permit application. It’s worth noting that applications for permanent residence already typically require police certificates from countries in which an applicant has lived as an adult for longer than six months.
Economic immigration
In general, both parties have viewed economic immigration favourably in the past, recognizing its need to fill labour market gaps and grow the economy in Canada.
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party’s 2025 platform states a desire to “revitalize” the Global Skills Strategy “to help high-growth Canadian businesses and entrepreneur with new projects that will support Canada’s strategic economic growth.”
The party also hopes this will bring in high-skilled workers from the US.
The plan also mentions a desire to work with provinces and territories to streamline and speed up recognition of foreign credentials and international professional experience.
Regulated professions in Canada, like trades, teaching, or healthcare, are usually regulated at the provincial or territorial level, meaning foreign skilled workers usually have to meet different requirements to legally work in the same field after moving to Canada.
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party’s platform does not mention economic immigration.
In the past, Poilievre has spoken about simplifying foreign credentials. In October 2024, he spoke about creating a national licensing standard for the healthcare sector through which provinces can adopt a “blue seal” so that immigrant doctors and nurses can take a test, get licensed, and work.
Refugees and asylum seekers
Asylum and refugee claimants have become a talking point over the last year, as Canada has seen a surge in asylum seekers. This has led to differing views amongst the political parties.
Liberal Party
During a recent campaign stop, Carney blamed an influx of asylum seekers from the US on the crackdown on migrants by President Donald Trump, adding that it is “not acceptable.”
“Canada and the US must work in closer collaboration in order to manage this situation,” he said.
The Liberal 2025 election platform states that they will provide legal aid for asylum seekers and refugees so claimants receive advice and representation, and their cases can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Conservative Party
On the other hand, Pierre Poilievre has been skeptical of refugee and asylum claims over recent years, suggesting that many are “fraudulent.”
At a recent campaign event, he stated that he was in favour of “legal immigration” but “if they’re a fraudster, they will have to go.”
In the past, he has called for a cap on the number of asylum seekers and said that while he wants to help real refugees, he has no time for “people who lie to come into our country.”
The Conservative 2025 election platform simply states that the party will process refugee claims faster “on a last-in, first-out basis.”
A “last-in, first-out” method would look to process newer applicants before older pending ones — the idea being that newer claims may be easier to process quickly, giving claimants quick decisions and preventing backlogs from growing.
The party says it will also look to “implement departure tracking” so they could track foreign nationals overstaying their immigration status.
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Border security and general safety
Both parties have pledged to prioritize security and be tough on crime, with the Conservative Party being more vocal on these issues.
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party says it will “move forward with a credible and fair immigration system that removes failed claimants once due process has been accorded.”
This largely reflects Canada’s current approach to refugee and asylum claims, although it suggests faster removals after refusals.
The party also says it will increase resources for security screenings, identify and remove inadmissible individuals quickly, tighten visa requirements, and step up enforcement against immigration fraud – policies that have already been announced under previous immigration minister Marc Miller in 2025.
Conservative Party
Pierre Poilievre has been calling for increased security measures for years.
In the past, Poilievre laid out a six-point plan that included adding Canadian forces to the border along with military helicopters and surveillance, adding border agents, and extending CBSA powers along the entire border, not just crossings.
The 2025 election platform also says that the party will crack down on criminal activity committed by visiting foreign nationals. Anyone who has committed a crime as a visitor will be removed from the country in an expedited manner.
Canada’s current processing time for criminal activity on visitor status can vary according to the crime, and the complexity of the legal proceedings.
Francophone immigration
Liberal Party
Mark Carney has spoken out about boosting francophone immigration outside Quebec.
His proposed plan calls for a 12% target for francophone immigration outside Quebec by 2029. This represents an increase from the most recent Levels Plan, which calls for 8.5% in 2025, 9.5% in 2026, and 10% in 2027.
Conservative Party
Poilievre has generally expressed support for increasing francophone immigration and preserving the French language in Canada, although the 2025 election platform does not state any numbers.
Other aspects
Liberal Party
In addition to the above factors, the Liberal Party’s election platform promises to
- Leverage digital service tools to reduce processing times and eliminate backlogs;
- Enhance cooperation between federal, provincial, and territorial authorities on issues such as claimants, status, removals, and settlement supports; and
- Continue to respect responsible immigration levels with the Government of Quebec, that protects the French language and its culture.
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party’s election platform rejects the Century Initiative’s plan to drastically grow Toronto to a city of 33.5 million, Montreal to a city of 12.2 million, Vancouver to a city of 11.9 million, Calgary-Edmonton to cities of 15.5 million, and Ottawa-Gatineau to a city of 4.8 million within a single lifetime.
Canada’s major cities are top destinations for newcomers. That said, the federal government has been aiming to spread the benefits of immigration across Canada with the launch of programs such as the Atlantic Immigration Program, the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.
Note: Century Initiative is a non-profit that aims to grow Canada’s population, which it believes is necessary for sustained economic prosperity.