Canadian immigration changes in 2022 occurred on various levels as Canada took measures to recover from the pandemic. IRCC relied heavily on immigration to counter Canada’s economic and societal requirements. Consequently, essential developments took place in the country in 2022, further impacting Canadian immigration this year.
Canadian immigration changes in 2022- The immigration levels plan
The immigration levels plan for 2023 to 2025 turned out to be the most crucial declaration and change in 2022. Additionally, on November 1, IRCC declared its outline for the number of immigrants likely to arrive in Canada for the following three years.
Canada has a target to welcome at least 1.45 million newcomers in Canada from 2023 to 2025. These immigrants will come through various streams, including humanitarian, economic, family, and refugee classes.
The immigration number will rise to 500,000 newcomers in 2025. As expected, the Provincial Nominee Programs will surpass Express Entry as the primary economic immigration pathway of Canada. Also, these upcoming targets are historical and, since the previous century, have never been witnessed. Canada also realized that immigration could lead to recovery from the loss of Covid-19.
Express Entry’s all-program draws started again in 2022
The all-program draws paused in December 2020 for a really long time. However, they resumed on July 6 and were marked as an important event in the recovery phase.
Express Entry remained predominant in the year 2022, with all its programs responsible for bringing in newcomers. These are the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the FSTP, and the Canadian Experience Class, and they welcome a higher percentage of newcomers annually.
Expansion of working hours for international students
Onwards November 15, 2022, international students are allowed to work over twenty hours per week during their academic sessions. However, this extension is temporary and valid until December 2023. Initially, these students had a restricted timeframe of twenty hours a week for part-time workers. Hence, the temporary extension has given way to students for different and flexible employment conditions.
This new measure also enabled several students to work on-campus for extensive periods of time on a part-time basis during academic sessions. Moreover, this initiative emerged as a way to combat the historic labor shortage in Canada, specifically in student-dominated fields. These fields include food services, hospitality sectors, and the retail industry.
Canadian immigration changes- NOC 2021 and Express Entry’s additional eligibility
The National Occupation Classification 2021 (NOC) came into execution on November 16, 2022. the foremost change occurred with the transition from NOC skill-based jobs to the TEER system. Now, there are codes of Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities. Consequently, 16 new eligible job positions became a part of the Express Entry system. However, three job occupations are no longer on the list of eligible occupations under Express Entry.
Additionally, this switch to the latest version of NOC gathered more attention due to the unexpected issues further impacting several Express Entry candidates.
New Brunswick introduced a new immigration pilot
The Immigration and Opportunities New Brunswick declared a new immigration pilot to receive critical workers early in November. A program known as New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot came into existence to meet the specific labor requirements of New Brunswick. This pilot emphasizes helping newcomers settle in this province.
Six select employers carry out this program in specific industries, such as manufacturing, aquaculture, farming, and food production. These already provide settlement services to immigrants.
The NBCWP is an intrinsic part of a bigger initiative by the government to ensure newcomers arrive in areas where there is a shortage of people.
Families of work permit holders with LMIA can also apply for OWP’s
IRCC took another crucial measure to increase the Canadian workforce in the wake of retirees and historic labor shortages. This was to allow families of work permit holders (LMIA) to become eligible for Open Work Permits.
Open Work Permits enable workers to choose more than one employer for whom they can work. Conversely, OWPs (LMIA) is restricted to only a single employer in a particular industry.
This new measure will emerge in three individual phases beginning in January 2023.
2022 Canadian immigration measure- Express Entry based on targeted occupations
The Express Entry’s targeted occupations are a part of Bill C-19 that emerged on June 23 and was also passed in both the parliament houses. This Bill enables the immigration minister to create Express Entry groups in the pool based on certain policy objectives. For instance, the in-demand occupations. Furthermore, he would issue invitations to these groups.
Bill C-19 works with the objective of enabling the Express Entry system to address the Canadian labor shortages. This is a major shift from the typical system of ITA’s based on the Comprehensive Ranking System. However, it will be different now with the focus on targeted occupations.
Immigration trends to expect in 2023- an overview
2023 will witness all the changes announced in 2022. You can expect the following trends in the upcoming year:
- Welcoming newcomers to less populated areas in Canada– Provinces that have a reduced population rate and an increasingly aging population will support the idea formulated by Atlantic Immigration Program, NBCWP, and PNP.
- Targeted occupations trend– IRCC is likely to continue with the existing idea of targeting specific occupations in 2023. Already, the country last year removed barriers for physicians to obtain permanent residence. This profession was among the predominant occupations. Hence, IRCC will use this trend to address acute labor shortages.
- Focusing on increasing the Canadian workforce– The labor shortage has been quite consistent, and immigrants turned out to be overqualified the majority of the time. The new initiatives to overcome these challenges include the extension of OPWs for families of LMIA-based work permit holders and the healthcare worker’s accreditation with new financial investments.
Canada seeks to enhance and fully utilize the potential of already existing foreign skilled workers. Besides this, 2023 is going to be the year when Canada will implement all the 2022 Canadian immigration changes.
