Canada’s federal government has implemented tighter immigration controls through its 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan, capping new temporary resident arrivals at 385,000 (down sharply from prior targets) while setting permanent resident admissions at 380,000 annually. This policy shift aims to reduce the non-permanent resident share of the population toward 5 percent by targeting net outflows of international students and temporary workers. Statistics Canada data already recorded a 0.2 percent annual population decline through January 2026—the first such drop—driven by negative net migration in late 2025. The Parliamentary Budget Officer projects flat overall growth for the full year as NPR outflows continue to offset modest permanent inflows and low natural increase, creating the primary basis for traders assigning a modest edge to a net population decrease by year-end.