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Permanent residency admissions from India fell from 49,115 to 36,910 over the first five months of the year. (File Photo) 
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Canada’s move to slow down immigration is hitting Indian applicants hardest, according to new data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The department admitted 147,260 new permanent residents between January and May this year, down from 168,800 in the same period in 2025, a fall of just over 12.5 per cent.
Permanent residency admissions from India fell from 49,115 to 36,910 over the first five months of the year, a drop of nearly 25 per cent, according to IRCC data.
Of the overall decline of 21,540 permanent residents, more than 57 per cent came from the fall in Indian admissions alone.
Experts say this isn’t surprising, since Indians have long made up the largest share of Canada’s permanent resident intake. Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, told the National Post that when a government sharply cuts a stream where one country makes up a disproportionate share, that country ends up absorbing a disproportionate share of the reduction.
“Canada has moved from rapid immigration expansion to a deliberate, government-driven contraction,” Jedwab said, according to National Post.
Earlier data from the first quarter of the year had already shown India accounting for 48 per cent of the overall decline in permanent residency admissions, and the latest figures suggest that share has grown further over the following two months.
The slowdown comes as Canada works to bring immigration down after years of record intake, according to IRCC. The department has said it is committed to returning immigration to sustainable levels, aiming to stabilise the number of new permanent residents each year to below 1 per cent of Canada’s population beyond 2027.
IRCC has also said its priority is granting permanent residency to people already living, working and contributing within Canada.
The latest numbers continue a broader downward trend, according to IRCC. Canada welcomed 393,530 new permanent residents in 2025, down 19 per cent from 483,655 in 2024. Indian admissions fell sharply over the same period too, dropping from 127,375 in 2024 to 98,770 in 2025.
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This marks a sharp reversal from the growth seen in recent years. Indian permanent resident admissions rose from just 42,875 in 2020 to a record 139,790 in 2023, before beginning to decline as Canada tightened its immigration targets, IRCC data shows.
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