Canada's federal government has tightened immigration policy through the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan, capping permanent resident admissions at 380,000 annually while sharply cutting new temporary resident targets to 385,000 for 2026. These measures aim to reduce the non-permanent resident share of the population below 5 percent by the end of 2027 and address strains on housing and public services. Parliamentary Budget Office projections and Statistics Canada data indicate flat or slightly negative population growth for 2026, marking the second consecutive year of near-zero change after net outflows of temporary residents exceeded inflows. This policy-driven slowdown in net migration, following earlier rapid growth, underpins trader consensus favoring a population decline this year.