How Canada Landed 405,000 New Immigrants In 2021. 

News Source:- Canada exceeded its 2021 immigration target by landing 405,303 new permanent residents last year, according to new data obtained from IRCC by CIC News.

Canada has only surpassed 400,000 newcomers one other time in its history, in 1913. The following year, the First World War broke out, and immigration levels plummeted.

The Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 aimed to welcome 401,000 immigrants in 2021 to support Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. In 2020, Canada only welcomed 184,000 new immigrants, and as a result the country’s population growth fell to the lowest level since the First World War. Prior to the pandemic, Canada was targeting the arrival of 341,000 new immigrants per year.

In 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) focused on transitioning as many temporary residents who were already in Canada to permanent residents in order to meet its target. IRCC felt this was the most effective way to achieve its target amid COVID-19 travel restrictions and other pandemic related challenges. Among the measures it took to land more permanent residents from within Canada, IRCC held Express Entry draws that invited high totals of Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates from January until September. In May, IRCC launched six immigration streams (“TR to PR”) in an effort to land some additional 90,000 international students and temporary foreign workers living in Canada. 

Most of Canada’s immigrants arrive under economic class programs. Prior to the pandemic, 30 per cent of new economic class landings were applicants from within Canada while 70 per cent were economic class arrivals from abroad. This was reversed in 2021, with 70 per cent landing from within Canada and 30 per cent coming from abroad.

IRCC’s large CEC invitation rounds and the launch of the six TR to PR streams help to explain why its landings increased significantly in the second half of 2021. IRCC welcomed a large number of new in-Canada applications in the first half of last year and then ramped up processing by June and concluded the year landing upwards of 40,000 permanent residents per month. Read More.