Canada targets receiving 431,000 immigrants 

 Sean Fraser, an immigration minister talked about Canada’s significant achievement. The country accomplished welcoming 300,000 individuals at the beginning of 2022. According to the earlier available data, Canada achieved its mark of 300,000 immigrations only six times a year. The years when 300,000 immigrants migrated to Canada were between 1911 to 1913 and accordingly in the years to come that is, 2018, 2019, and 2021.

As recorded on August 22, 2022, Canada received 300,000 new permanent residents. The pace of immigration slowed down in 2020 due to the pandemic restrictions on traveling. IRCC in 2021, finished off the year with a record-breaking figure of 405,330 immigrants.

IRCC revealed its data on the online portal regarding the new immigrants for June 2022. July and August results are soon to be declared.

As per reports, until June’s end, over 231,620 new immigrants moved to Canada. The country welcomed around 68,000 newcomers between the latter part of June to August. If the immigration rate continues to increase for the upcoming four months also, Canada will more likely surpass its target of 431,000 immigrants. The IRCC department will break all the previously existing records if it remains successful in accomplishing the above target.

You may follow the Canadian immigration’s primary highlights in 2022’s first half here.

Countries acting as the primary source of immigration in Canada

India wins the tag of being the primary source of Canadian immigration. In 2022’s first half, 68,280 candidates achieved permanent residence in Canada. The figure for immigrants to Canada accounts for 29 percent. Indians continued to bag the first position since 2017, holding the place of being the primary source of immigration to Canada.

The number of immigrants as permanent residents from Afghanistan to Canada increased largely because of the Taliban’s takeover. Afghanistan became the ninth country that gained popularity after a sudden wave of Afghan immigration. This situation occurred in 2021’s latter part due to the federal government’s commitment to resettling 40,000 refugees. However, in 2022, Afghanistan managed to come to the fourth position. As recorded on August 31, over 18,075 refugees came to the country through the newly introduced programs of permanent residency for Afghans.

Provincial Nomination

Most numbers of immigration took place in the Ontario province. As many as 101,155 immigrants moved to Ontario in the first half of the year. The number of newcomers is triple the number in British Columbia. B.C comprises at least 36,700 new permanent residents in the latter part of June. 

On the whole, Quebec and Alberta became the third and fourth countries welcoming 31,880 and 26,920 respectively. Ontario also received the maximum number of immigrants for all Canadian immigration classes including economic, refugee, and family-class. In the second position, British Columbia welcomed immigrants under economic and family-class immigration. The province was the third for welcoming immigrants under the other category. Alberta province welcomed the second-most number of migrants under the refugee class. It also received a higher number of immigrants under the family class in the third position. Quebec province welcomed the third-most immigrants under the refugee and economic class. The province also received the second-most immigrants under the other category.

Welcoming maximum PNP immigrants in 2022

The Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 displayed targets for more immigrants under the Provincial Nominee Program. The targets will be higher as compared to the other programs under the Express Entry system in 2022 and 2023. Interestingly, such a thing never occurred before Canada’s Express Entry system came into existence in 2015.

40,785 immigrants under Express Entry and 40,835 under the Provincial Nominee Program moved to Canada. A maximum number of Express Entry candidates emerged in the country through the Canadian Experience Class. FSWP candidates contributed a small portion, while FSTP candidates contributed the smallest share of immigration.

Canada to proceed with increased immigration

Canada’s dependency on immigration continues to increase. It is the main source for the country to meet the labor market requirements. Statistics Canada repeatedly reported over one million vacancies for employment, with an unemployment rate of 4.9 percent. The percentage came down to a record low in the history of Canada. Consequently, the country is facing far too many challenges related to the labor shortage. The situation is likely to get more severe and difficult because around nine million individuals in the country will meet their retirement age by 2030. Additionally, the birth rate in Canada is also at a record low (1.4 children per woman).

The only way Canada can deal with this upcoming challenge is by consistently increasing the Immigration Levels Plan. For instance, Canada invited over 450,000 immigrants by 2024 as per the plan. However, many believe that the country must focus more on immigration and also invite candidates with high-level in-demand skills.

The country is all set to take more fresh initiatives to streamline the application process and make it more simplified. IRCC even declared several measures it is to take on clearing the application backlog for immigration. The department’s main objective is to focus on the client’s requirements and satisfaction. Onwards September 23, the application process will become absolutely digital. Tentatively, towards April 2023, the department will introduce the application trackers to verify the status of applications for 7 programs concerning the permanent and temporary residence.