Canada's immigration system has shifted toward regional control and rural labour priorities during Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab's first year in office, which began May 13, 2025. The 2026 Immigration Levels Plan increased provincial nominee allocations by 66% to 91,500 annual admissions while cutting federal economic immigration targets to 109,000 from 124,680 the previous year.
The change marks a departure from the centralized approach under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marc Miller. Provincial Nominee Program allocations now account for a larger share of economic immigration, allowing provinces to target occupations specific to their labour markets — British Columbia, for example, has directed nearly all its 2026 nominations toward healthcare workers, tradespeople, entrepreneurs, and high-economic-impact candidates.
Diab's most concrete rural initiative, the In-Canada Workers Initiative, aims to transition 33,000 temporary workers living in smaller communities to permanent residence status across 2026 and 2027. The program requires at least two years of residence in a rural area and prioritizes existing applicants in Provincial Nominee Program and Atlantic Immigration Program inventories. IRCC processed 3,600 applications through the initiative in January and February 2026 alone, targeting 20,000 transitions for the full year.
"Part of this initiative consists of initially accelerating eligible applications from existing inventories," the May 4 announcement stated.