Canada Status Now: Which Canadian Immigration Programs Are Open in 2026

This is our running list of the Canadian immigration programs that are changing fastest. It covers:

• Paused and closed programs, such as the Parents and Grandparents Program and the Start-Up Visa
• Caps and limits, such as the study permit cap and low-wage LMIA refusal areas
• Program overhauls, such as the Ontario and British Columbia provincial programs and the 2026 Express Entry categories
• Time-limited windows and promised pathways, such as the Quebec PEQ window and the H-1B holder pathway

The list of items appears below and updates automatically. For background, read how Canadian immigration works. See also USA Status Now and Mexico Status Now.

Each item carries one label. It describes the program or policy as of its Last verified date:

A label is a summary, not the whole story. Read the item's note and timeline, then check the official source linked on that page before you act.

We build these pages from official sources: IRCC, ESDC, provincial and Quebec immigration programs, the Canada Gazette, and court records. When one of them announces a change, or a court rules on a policy, we update the item, its label, and its Last verified date, and we often publish a dated news item.

Rules can change overnight, and official websites sometimes lag behind a new rule. If an item's date is more than a few weeks old, or you are about to pay a fee or file an application, confirm the current position on the official source first. Read how we research and our editorial policy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us through the contact page.

• BC PNP overhaul 2026ChangingBritish Columbia announced on April 23, 2026 that its Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) would focus on health care and construction trades and drop its graduate, technology, and entry-level pathways. BC PNP Skills Immigration now has two streams, Skilled Worker and Health Authority, each with an Express Entry BC (EEBC) option. BC received 5,254 nominations at first, and the federal government added 1,000 on August 18, raising the 2026 total to 6,254.
• Express Entry categories 2026ChangingOn February 19, 2026 IRCC set its Express Entry categories for 2026. It kept French, health care and social services, education, STEM and trades. The renewed occupation categories require 12 months of work experience; French uses a language test. IRCC added physicians, researchers and senior managers with Canadian experience, transport occupations and skilled military recruits, and dropped agriculture and agri-food. From July to mid-September 2026, IRCC held category draws for French, health care, physicians, senior managers, transport and military recruits alongside regular CEC and PNP draws.
• H-1B holder pathway statusChangingCanada's federal Budget 2025 promised an accelerated pathway to permanent residence for people holding US H-1B visas, aimed at skilled workers in fields like technology, health care, and research. As of September 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not published the rules, the number of spots, or a start date, so there is nothing to apply for yet. H-1B holders can use existing routes such as Express Entry and employer work permits in the meantime.
• Low-wage LMIA refusal areasRestrictedService Canada refuses to process most low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications for jobs located in a census metropolitan area (CMA) with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher. The list is updated every three months; for applications submitted from October 9, 2026 to January 7, 2027, 30 of Canada's 41 CMAs are at or above 6%, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Some sectors, such as agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, hospitals and nursing homes, are exempt.
• Ontario PNP overhaul 2026ChangingOntario rebuilt its Provincial Nominee Program (OINP) in 2026. Eight legacy streams, including the Express Entry streams and the Master's and PhD Graduate streams, were repealed on June 25, 2026 and replaced by the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream, which has pathways for TEER 0-3 jobs, TEER 4-5 jobs, and self-employed physicians. Its expression of interest (EOI) portal opened on August 4, 2026; Ontario calls this the first of two phases.
• PGP intake pausedPausedOn July 15, 2026 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) paused new intake under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) until further notice. IRCC will not accept new interest to sponsor forms or send new invitations, but it continues to process applications it already has, aiming for 15,000 approvals in 2026. The Super Visa, which lets parents and grandparents visit for up to five years at a time, remains open.
• Quebec PEQ windowPausedQuebec reopened its Quebec Experience Program (Programme de l'expérience québécoise, PEQ) on July 2, 2026 for a temporary two-year period. The first intake ended October 31, 2026, with no cap. Quebec has not announced a later intake date. That intake was for Quebec graduates and temporary foreign workers who met the program's study or work conditions by November 19, 2025. Applicants need spoken French at level 7 and written French at level 5.
• Start-Up Visa replacementClosedCanada's Start-Up Visa (SUV) program stopped accepting new permanent residence applications at 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2025, and the last window for people holding a 2025 commitment certificate closed on June 30, 2026. IRCC says a new, more targeted pilot for immigrant entrepreneurs will replace it, described in its 2026-27 Departmental Plan as a "high impact" Start-Up Visa pilot. As of September 2026, no launch date or eligibility rules have been published.
• Study permit cap 2026RestrictedCanada's international student cap continues in 2026. IRCC plans to issue up to 408,000 study permits (155,000 to new arrivals and 253,000 extensions) and will accept up to 309,670 applications from students who need a provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL/TAL). New in 2026, master's and doctoral students at public institutions no longer need a PAL/TAL.