Total work-permit holders
1,394,160
2015–2026
Country of citizenship
All countries of citizenship
Temporary Foreign Worker Program · 2015–2026
At a glance
Country-of-citizenship summary
Change over selected period
+24,700
2015–2026
Percentage change
+33.1%
2015–2026
Leading country
Mexico
407,455
Country rankings
Top countries of citizenship
Mexico
407,455
India
186,405
Guatemala
172,920
Philippines
156,805
Jamaica
119,200
Trend analysis
Annual work-permit-holder trend
Annual totals for the selected country of citizenship and year range.
Country comparison
Top countries of citizenship
The fifteen countries with the largest totals for the selected period.
Key insights
What the data shows
Highlights calculated from the selected country of citizenship and year range.
Overall movement
Work-permit-holder totals increased
33.1% from 2015 to 2026
Latest annual total
99,210
2026 published total
Leading country
Mexico
Highest total for the selected period
Coverage period
2015–2026
All countries of citizenship
How to interpret these figures
Annual permit-holder flow, not a point-in-time total
These figures count Temporary Foreign Worker Program work-permit holders according to the year in which their permits became effective.
They do not represent the total number of people holding valid permits on December 31, the number of people currently present in Canada, positive Labour Market Impact Assessments, or jobs filled.
A person with a permit that remained valid across more than one year is not counted again in each later year unless another permit became effective.
Detailed records
Annual totals
| Year | Work-permit holders | Annual change | Annual percentage change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 74,510 | — | — |
| 2016 | 80,670 | +6,160 | +8.3% |
| 2017 | 79,180 | -1,490 | -1.8% |
| 2018 | 84,770 | +5,590 | +7.1% |
| 2019 | 99,050 | +14,280 | +16.8% |
| 2020 | 85,730 | -13,320 | -13.4% |
| 2021 | 105,235 | +19,505 | +22.8% |
| 2022 | 137,170 | +31,935 | +30.3% |
| 2023 | 186,780 | +49,610 | +36.2% |
| 2024 | 193,540 | +6,760 | +3.6% |
| 2025 | 168,315 | -25,225 | -13.0% |
| 2026 | 99,210 | -69,105 | -41.1% |
Data source
About this dataset
These records measure Temporary Foreign Worker Program work-permit holders by country of citizenship and the year in which permits became effective.