Recently Canada made an announcement stating that the country is planning to welcome more than 1.3 million immigrants over the next three years to support the post-pandemic growth.
Canada has decided to increase its immigration targets. The country is looking forward to welcoming almost 432,000 new immigrants in the year 2022 instead of the initial plan to welcome 411,000 newcomers.
Indians have the highest nationality in gaining permanent residency in Canada accounting for about 40% of the total number. A total of 27,000 Indians gained access to Canada and about 50,000 Indians were invited to make an application for permanent residency.
Canada is planning to target the following number of immigrants in the coming three years:-
- An account of 431,645 permanent residents in 2022
- An account of 447,055 permanent residents in 2023
- An account of 451,000 permanent residents in 2024
The immigration minister Sean Fraser stated that the levels plan will help balance the needs of the country and the international obligations. The main focus of the levels plan is to attract skilled workers who are going to contribute to the economy of Canada and help tackle the labour shortage while keeping in mind the importance of family reunification and providing help to the world’s most vulnerable populations through refugee support. Support will be provided to Canada’s resurgence through increased retention of newcomers in the regions which are facing economic, labour, and demographic challenges. The minister also added that he is proud of how far Canada has come with its achievements and looking forward to Canada becoming the top destination of choice with the help of the newcomers.
It is estimated that the Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), and the Temporary to Permanent Residence will invite 56% of new immigrants in the year 2022.
The PNP program of Canada is looking to invite 83,500 newcomers through this program as it is the main admission program for the economic class immigrants suggested by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Express entry admissions are cut half for this year but it is aimed to get back to normal levels by the year 2024 with the estimated arrival of 111,500 immigrants.
The IRCC is considering the TR2PR program as the main immigration program with inviting 40,000 immigrants in 2022 and 32,000 immigrants by 2023 and planned to reduce the admissions under the Express Entry system.
Canada’s provinces are regulating the PNP invitations since the start of the pandemic. 24% of the admissions are estimated to be considered by the family class which includes at least 80,000 candidates to arrive under the Spouses, Partner, and Children Program and considering 25,000 applications under the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP). PGP admissions target has been increased by 1500 additional spots by the IRCC.
The left 20% of the candidates will be arriving in Canada under the refugee and humanitarian programs. Canada is looking forward to resettling 40,000 Afghan refugees over the coming years.
The Canadian government has been requested to state its immigration plan by November 1 every year by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). The announcement wasn’t made last year because the Canadian government was holding an election in September. Canada’s immigration system is completely guided by the levels plan. The basic approach of the levels plan is to look at the number of immigrants the country is going to welcome under the various federal, provincial, and territorial programs. According to this, the IRCC plan their operations to ensure that it can attract, settle, integrate, and retain the targeted levels of newcomers that are set to arrive in the provinces and territories.
By 2015, the number of immigrants welcomed in Canada was about 250,000. A target of 300,000 newcomers was announced in 2016. The target rose to 340,000 before the pandemic started and the immigration fell below 200,000 in 2020. To support the post- Covid economic recovery, the Canadian government decided to welcome 400,000 immigrants every year.
Canada’s immigrant record broke down last year by welcoming 405,000 new permanent residents, mostly from the temporary residents of the country.
Under the Express Entry, the PNP, and Quebec’s streams, almost 62% of the immigrants took entry to Canada, and 20% of immigrants were welcomed under the family class through the Spouses, Partner, and Children Program and the Parents and Grandparents Program, as well as the refugee and humanitarian programs, welcomed 15% immigrants.
Canada has an ageing population and low birth rate that makes Canada lack in population, labour force and economic growth, and enough workers so that they can pay taxes to support health care and education. As a result, Canada has to target newcomers to support its economy.
Due to the pandemic, taking up immigration largely has become important for the economy. The increased spending during the pandemic has made the Canadian government-run fiscal deficits. Employers belonging to Canada faced labour shortages because of the ageing population and the changing economy during the pandemic and the less arrival of the immigrants.
As the country is holding elections for the second year a well, it is required for the Canadian government to table the second Immigration Levels Plan of the year by 1st November 2022 replacing the recent plan.