Canada aims to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023 and 451,000 in 2024. Higher demand for skilled labour is prompting Canada government to revise it’s estimated Immigration numbers. The targets were revised due to the COVID‑19 pandemic which disrupted the Immigration flow starting in 2020. The numbers were published in 2021 Annual Report to Parliament. Here are some highlights.
Nearly 185,000 permanent residents were welcomed in 2020 much less than the target of 341,000. In 2020, the number of individuals admitted to Canada under the economic class totaled 106,422, representing a decrease of 46% from 2019. In 2019, Canada admitted 196,658 individuals in this class.
In 2020, 49,290 individuals were admitted under this category, compared to 91,311 in 2019.
In 2020, also as part of family reunification, 10,459 sponsored parents and grandparents were admitted as permanent residents to Canada.
In 2020, 16,250 individuals obtained permanent residence under the protected persons in-Canada and dependants abroad category.
Canada received approximately 24,000 asylum claims in 2020.
The pandemic also impacted the operational capacity, including the use of paper-based operations, of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as the majority of employees were unable to work on-site/in office for most of 2020, and a number of international and provincial/territorial lockdowns led to the closure of offices and a reduction of in-person services.
As of January 2021, Canada’s population reached 38,048,738, a 0.1% increase from the previous quarter, marking the lowest annual growth since 1945
In 2020, a total of 808,631 TRVs and eTAs were issued to visitors only.
In 2020, 7,755 study permit holders were granted permanent residency. This represents a 33% decrease from 2019, where 11,566 study permit holders were granted permanent residency.
