For the number of immigrants Canada targets to welcome over the next three years, the Immigration Levels Plan acts as a guide.
Recently, Canada released its 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan. Canada will also intends to welcome 465,000 new immigrants in 2023. In 2024, the goal will increase to 485,000 new immigrants. In 2025, it will further increase to 500,000 new immigrants
By welcoming over 405,000 immigrants in 2021, Canada broke its all-time immigration record this year.
The Immigration Levels Plan acts as a guide for the number of immigrants Canada proposes to welcome every year. Canada’s immigration plans further include raising the finance, reuniting families, and offering a haven to immigrants fleeing hardship overseas.
Express Entry And PNP Targets Will Rise
Most of the new permanent residents arrive through economic class programs like those within the Express Entry system or over Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs).
The Express Entry landings aim (main candidates, partners, and dependents) will increase as follows:
- 82,880 in 2023
- 109,020 in 2024
- 114,000 in 2025
For economic class immigrants, the PNP will continue Canada’s important admissions program, and targets will also rise to:
- 105,500 in 2023
- 110,000 in 2024
- 117,500 in 2025
Higher PGP Admissions
To reunite families, IRCC also has a mandate. After economic class programs, family class sponsorship is the next major permanent residence class set out by the Immigration Levels Plan. Candidates are sponsored for permanent residence by a partner, spouse, children, or other family members, under family-class immigration programs.
Under the Spouses, Partners, and Children program, Canada will remain to look to welcome some 80,000 new immigrants each year. As well, the Parents and Grandparents Program target will increase to 28,500 in 2023, followed by 34,000 in 2024, and 36,000 in 2025.
Refugee And Humanitarian Class Aims To Decline
Under the Immigration Levels Plan, refugees and humanitarian class refugees too have an allocation. For extending asylum to evacuated people fleeing insecure circumstances in their home countries, Canada has a long-standing reputation. Due to the constant efforts to complete numerous campaigns including welcoming some 40,000 immigrants from Afghanistan, Canada presently has high humanitarian class targets.
In 2023 and 2024, before dropping to 72,750 in 2025, the general immigrant class target will be just over 76,000 new landings. The same goes for the humanitarian class aim, which is declining from almost 16,000 in 2023 to 8,000 in 2025.
Canada’s Immigration Plan
Canada’s present immigration plan started to take its current form in the 1980s. At that moment, the government did not look as far into the future and habitually based migration goals on the economy of the day.
Also, Canada welcomed less than 90,000 immigrants in 1984. Leading into the 1990s, in the space of eight years, the Canadian government under the Conservatives knew the future labor shortage, and enlarged immigration aims to 250,000 new permanent residents.
The next Liberal government built on these aims but due to an economic collapse, also initiated to place more importance on welcoming newcomers, more economic class immigrants, and reducing the shares of Canada’s family and humanitarian class.
Till the present Liberal government took power in 2015, Canada invited some 260,000 refugees yearly.
The goals were improved to 300,000, followed by 340,000 right before the COVID-19 pandemic onset in 2020.
The border closure and other travel limitations in 2020 made it hard for IRCC to proceed with applications. Nevertheless, Canada beat its 2021 immigration aim and broke the record for the most permanent residents welcomed in a year, at 405,000. These goals were also reached through big spots allocations over the Canadian Experience Class and Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs).
Canada is now in an exclusive period where there is an employment shortage along with approximately one million job openings. Both are driving aspects of the country’s rising immigration targets.
Due to Canada’s low birth rate of 1.4 children each woman, one of the lowest worldwide, Labour shortages are also impacted. With the slow natural growth in the population (the number of births still surpasses the number of deaths every year), immigration will shortly be the only way that Canada’s labor force and population can grow. Newcomers are also required to keep a sturdy tax base, which is the main feature in Canada’s efforts to offer important services including education and healthcare.
Canada has one of the world’s oldest populations. Around nine million people, or approximately a quarter of Canada’s population, by 2030, it also will reach retirement age. This will create an urgent worker shortage in all economic sectors.
Furthermore, as per the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the government should announce the Immigration Levels Plan every year by November 1, which is Canada’s key immigration law. Though the 2022-2024 immigration levels plan was the second announced in 2022, the first happened in February after the last federal election on September 20, 2021, triggered the 2021 declaration to be late.
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