Federal High Skilled Share of Immigration Levels Plan: Where It Sits in Canada's 380,000 Admissions Target
380,000. That’s the whole number most headlines quote for Canada’s 2026 permanent residence target — and it’s easy to assume most of it belongs to Express Entry. It doesn’t. The federal high skilled share of immigration levels plan targets is a single slice of a much bigger pie, and seeing the full breakdown changes how big — or small — Express Entry actually looks against the whole.
The plan in full
Tabled 5 November 2025, the Immigration Levels Plan 2026–2028 holds overall admissions flat at 380,000 for all three years — 2026, 2027, and 2028 alike. Within that total:
| Category | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total economic | 239,800 | 244,700 | 244,700 |
| Federal High Skilled | 109,000 | 111,000 | 111,000 |
| Provincial Nominee Program | 91,500 | 92,500 | 92,500 |
| Family | 84,000 | 81,000 | 81,000 |
| Refugees and protected persons | 49,300 | 49,300 | 49,300 |
| Humanitarian and other | 6,900 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
How much of the levels plan is Express Entry, specifically
Federal High Skilled — the line Express Entry’s non-provincial streams sit under — comes to 109,000 out of 380,000 for 2026. That’s roughly 29% of the entire national target, and less than half of the broader “total economic” category once Provincial Nominee Program numbers are added in. Express Entry’s share of total PR admissions is real and substantial, but it’s one economic stream among several competing for space inside the same overall ceiling.
Where the rest of the room went
Provincial Nominee Program admissions were restored to 91,500 for 2026, up from a sharply reduced level the year before — meaning PNP now sits close behind Federal High Skilled rather than trailing far behind it. Family reunification takes another 84,000. Refugees and protected persons hold steady at 49,300 each year, alongside a separate humanitarian and other allowance.
The parts of the plan that don’t fit neatly into a table
A few structural details sit outside the main categories but shape the overall picture. French-speaking admissions outside Quebec are targeted at 9% of the total for 2026, rising to 9.5% in 2027 and 10.5% in 2028, on a stated path toward 12% by 2029 — part of why French-language category draws have run at consistently lower CRS cut-offs than other routes. New student arrivals were cut sharply, to 155,000 for 2026 and 150,000 for 2027 and 2028. And two one-time measures sit outside the regular targets entirely: up to 33,000 temporary workers being transitioned to permanent residence across 2026 and 2027, and roughly 115,000 protected persons being processed over the same two years, in addition to — not instead of — the annual targets above.
Why this framing matters for expectations
Seeing Express Entry’s federal high skilled admissions target for 2026 next to the full 380,000 helps explain why competition for invitations can feel intense even as the overall national target holds steady: Express Entry isn’t absorbing extra room from other streams, it’s working within a fixed and fairly modest allocation of its own. If you’re trying to work out where your own application realistically fits within these numbers, that’s a conversation worth having with a licensed RCIC rather than reading it off a levels-plan table alone.