Conservatives accuse government of 'cooking the books' over immigration data presentation
The federal Conservatives are accusing Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada of exaggerating the decrease in new permanent residents in official messaging posted online.
Critic Michelle Rempel Garner says graph published by IRCC inaccurately depicts immigration numbers
Kate McKenna · CBC News
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The federal Conservatives are accusing Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada of exaggerating the decrease in new permanent residents in official messaging posted online.
Immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner is calling for better data disclosure following the publication of a graph promoting efforts to restore immigration to sustainable levels.
The graph shows the number of new permanent residents each month since 2023. But starting in 2026, instead of one bar showing the total number of permanent residents, it breaks them into three separate bars.
Rempel Garner says the federal government isn't showing Canadians the full picture.
"They need to reform the system and that includes exit tracking and transparent disclosure of data in a way that isn't designed to fool the (parliamentary) press gallery. Or beat reporters in immigration. Or me, as a parliamentarian," said Rempel Garner.
A graph from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is being criticized by the federal Conservatives for not accurately depicting the broader picture of people given permanent residence in Canada. (IRCC)
The graphic, as presented, also only goes back to 2023 — a high water mark for permanent residency numbers.
The total number of new permanent residents to Canada in August 2026 is 40,155 — up from 26,080 in December 2025, and higher than some months in 2024.
The same IRCC data visualized with all types of permanent residence programs stacked together, using a longer timeline, shows a different picture.
Comparing year-over-year so far, there are total of 14,155 fewer new permanent residents in Canada in 2026.
IRCC is defending its messaging, saying the image distinguishes people made permanent residents under two one-time programs — and they are not counting those people toward their permanent resident target.
It says the initiatives are temporary for 2026 and 2027.
The one-time programs "provide stability to people who are already in Canada contributing to our economy," said IRCC spokesperson Briannah Dale.
One of those programs is the In-Canada Workers Initiative, which accelerates permanent residence for 33,000 people already working in small communities in in-demand sectors.
The other is for protected persons and their in-Canada dependents to process permanent residence applications from up to 115,000 eligible individuals.
But Rempel Garner says this is equivalent to "cooking the books."
"We're talking about how we restore Canada's consensus for immigration. We have to talk about that and yet they're cooking the books," she said in a news conference on Thursday.
"This is why I addressed the need for better data disclosure as one of our listed demands prior to the [immigration] levels plan being released."
The federal government's goal for permanent residents in 2026 is 380,000, representing a drop of four per cent.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate McKenna is a senior reporter with CBC’s parliamentary bureau in Ottawa, where she covers federal politics. She previously worked for CBC’s The Fifth Estate and in the Halifax, Montreal and Charlottetown newsrooms. Her investigative and breaking news coverage has won five RTDNA awards. She is the author of No Choice: The 30-Year Fight for Abortion on Prince Edward Island.
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