According to the latest data by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Canada was able to onboard 405,300 new immigrants last year.
The 400,000 benchmarks had been only achieved once by the land of maple, that too in 1913. After the world war broke, the country did not onboard over 400,000 newcomers in any year.
The Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 had a goal to achieve the 401,000 mark last year. The ambitious goal was set to stabilize the plummeting economy of the country due to the pandemic. When COVID hit the world in 2020, Canada was able to onboard only 184,000 immigrants. The decrease resulted in bringing down the population growth to the lowest since the time around the 1910s. The country was focusing on welcoming around 341,000 very years before the outbreak disrupted the system.
Last year, IRCC focused more on the temp residents residing locally than the overseas applicants. Amid the travel restrictions and various uncertainties, this seemed like the best way to meet the ambitious targets set by the government. IRCC also conducted draws for Express Entry, focusing on Canadian Experience Class (CEC) applicants from January to September. They even launched new streams in May 2021 to accommodate around 90,000 temp workers and international students.
The majority of the newcomers fall under economic class streams. Before the outbreak, the ratio for inland applicants vs overseas newcomers stood at 30:70. However, during the pandemic, it reversed to 70% from local applicants and only 30% from abroad.
The second half of 2021 witnessed a decent hike in immigration count because of the launch of six new streams and increased draws for CEC applicants. In the initial six months, they focused on collecting applications from inland applicants and optimized the processing in the second half. IRCC concluded the last year by having processed over 40,000 applications a month.
What was the procedure for landing new immigrants?
Over 252,000 applicants were able to complete their landing process in 2021 under economic class. That accounted for 62% of overall landings. IRCC had projected that the number should be 58% under the 2021 levels plan. The target exceeded 20,000 than the original forecast.
The family class category witnessed 80,990 landings last year. The target was kept at 103,500 for this category. It was 6 percent less than the initial target.
The share for refugees and protected persons were kept at 16 percent, which stood at 15 by the end of the year with 60,115 landings.
For the rest of the numbers, IRCC did not classify and mention them in the “All Other Immigration” category.
CEC holding one-third of the overall share
In 2019, CEC had only a 9 percent share in overall landings; however, it increased to 32 percent in 2021. The overall count for CEC stood at 130,555.
IRCC had made up its mind to rely heavily on CEC. In an attempt to increase the count, they sent invites to all 27,332 applicants on 13th February’21. It was 100% of the CEC share in the Express Entry pool. The previous record was five times less than what they did on 13th February.
The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) in 2021 struggled as only 8,320 folks were able to complete the landing process. In 2019, FSWP had 58,760 landings, making it one of the most prominent in the overall share.
The latest data from IRCC advises that the processing count has increased for FSWP since December. They are now finalizing around 800 applications per week.
IRCC completed the landings of 53,960 folks under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The PNP has been functional throughout the outbreak. Provinces and territories along with IRCC have been conducting draws for the stream regularly.
Around 23,000 landed under the temp streams for TR to PR. That means that around 90,000 are still pending to complete the transitions that had applied at that time.
Spouses/partner sponsorship class comprised 64,120 landings in 2021, the leading group in the family class.
Where did they land?
Ontario had the largest share and was able to accommodate the landing of 49% of the overall share. The share stood at 45% in 2019. That happened because the majority of the applicants resided in the province and were eligible for CEC. British Columbia had 17 percent, compared to 15 in 2019. Quebec and Alberta had 12 and 10 percent respectively. Alberta had the lower count since the province did not focus much on CEC applicants, and neither did Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The Atlantic region’s share also declined since they focus more on PNP and the Atlantic Immigration Pilot. However, Nova Scotia landed more than 9,000 folks, setting a new record.
| Province/Territory | 2021 PRs | % of all PRs |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,060 | 0.50% |
| Prince Edward Island | 2,630 | 0.60% |
| Nova Scotia | 9,020 | 2.20% |
| New Brunswick | 5,315 | 1.30% |
| Quebec | 50,170 | 12.40% |
| Ontario | 198,085 | 48.90% |
| Manitoba | 16,560 | 4.10% |
| Saskatchewan | 10,935 | 2.70% |
| Alberta | 39,950 | 9.90% |
| British Columbia | 69,270 | 17.10% |
| Yukon | 595 | 0.10% |
| Northwest Territories | 295 | 0.10% |
| Nunavut | 40 | 0.00% |
| Province not stated | 410 | 0.10% |
| Canada total | 405,330 | 100% |
Regioal bifurcation of the immigrants
The top nations in the list remain similar to pre-pandemic levels. India has the highest share, accounting for one-third of the overall landings. The percentage stood at 25% in 2019, so an increase to 32% in 2021.
As per the January-November data:
- India (32%)
- China (8%)
- Philippines (4.3%)
- Nigeria (3.8%)
- France (3.2%)
- United States (3%)
- Brazil (2.9%)
- Iran (2.8%)
- South Korea (2.1%)
- Pakistan (2%)
Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024
IRCC has a target of 411,000 onboarding newcomers in 2022. However, the target may change when the country announces the new Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024. They are expected to release it by 14th February. The new plan will reflect targets for the next three years as well as prioritized streams and classes.
