Canada Immigration Plan Targets Near 1 Million Immigrants Over 3 Years (Audio)

/ / Published in 2017, Canada Immigration News Articles

 

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Canada Immigration Plan Targets Near 1 Million Immigrants Over 3 YearsNovember 1, 2017 – Ottawa plans to welcome 980,000 new immigrants over the next three years under an ambitious three-year immigration plan announced by the federal government on Nov. 1. Annual immigration levels could rise to as high as 360,000 by 2020 under the multi-year plan. This would be first time in more than a century that our immigration rate is 1% of our population.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen described the announcement as ‘historic’, as the government outlines its plan for the next three years, featuring managed increases across all categories.

In 2018, the immigration target will rise to 310,000, from the current 300,000 set for 2017. This target could rise to as much as 330,000 under the latest announcement. In 2019, the target will be 330,000, with an upper limit of 350,000 new immigrants. In 2020, the target figure will be 340,000, and the upper limit 360,000.

The latest plan will drive up immigration numbers to historic levels as the government pushes the annual number of newcomers towards 1 per cent of Canada’s population a target first used by the Liberals in the early 1990’s. The current levels of 300,000 correspond into an immigration rate near .82 per cent.

Watch Our Latest Video “Canada’s 2018 – 2020 Annual Immigration Levels”:

The managed increases are designed to allow Canada’s integration capacity to grow with the number of new immigrants being welcomed.

Immigration category Category 2018 – Target 2019 – Target 2020 – Target
Economic Federal High Skilled 74,900 81,400 85,800
Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program 1,000 2,000 4,000
Caregivers 17,000 14,000 5,000
Federal Business 700 700 700
Provincial Nominee Program 55,000 61,000 67,800
Quebec Skilled Workers and Business 28,900 32,500 32,500
Total Economic 177,500 191,600 195,800
Family Spouses, Partners, and Children 66,000 68,000 70,000
Parents and Grandparents 20,000 20,500 21,000
Total Family 86,000 88,500 91,000
Refugees and Protected Persons Protected Persons in Canada & Dependents Abroad 16,000 16,500 17,000
Resettled Refugees – Government Assisted 7,500 8,500 10,000
Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office Referred 1,500 1,650 1,700
Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored 18,000 19,000 20,000
Total Refugees and Protected Persons 43,000 45,650 48,700
Humanitarian and Other Total Humanitarian & Other 3,500 4,250 4,500
Overall Planned Permanent Admissions 310,000 330,000 340,000

Canada Immigration Plan: Upper Limits

Immigration category Category 2018 – High 2019 – High 2020 – High
Economic Federal High Skilled 78,200 83,000 88,000
Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program 2,000 4,000 4,000
Caregivers 20,000 15,500 7,000
Federal Business 1,000 1,500 1,500
Provincial Nominee Program 57,400 63,500 68,500
Quebec Skilled Workers and Business 29,900 33,500 33,500
Total Economic 188,500 201,000 202,500
Family Spouses, Partners, and Children 68,000 70,000 74,000
Parents and Grandparents 21,000 21,000 22,000
Total Family 89,000 91,000 96,000
Refugees and Protected Persons Protected Persons in Canada & Dependents Abroad 17,000 20,000 20,000
Resettled Refugees – Government Assisted 8,000 9,000 10,500
Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office Referred 3,000 3,000 3,000
Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored 20,000 21,000 23,000
Total Refugees and Protected Persons 48,000 53,000 56,500
Humanitarian and Other Total Humanitarian & Other 4,500 5,000 5,000
Overall Planned Permanent Admissions 330,000 350,000 360,000

Canada Immigration Plan: Lower Limits

Immigration category Category 2018 – Low 2019 – Low 2020 – Low
Economic Federal High Skilled 72,700 76,000 81,000
Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program 500 1,000 2,000
Caregivers 15,000 9,500 4,000
Federal Business 500 500 500
Provincial Nominee Program 53,000 57,000 62,000
Quebec Skilled Workers and Business 27,900 31,500 31,500
Total Economic 169,600 175,500 181,000
Family Spouses, Partners, and Children 64,000 64,000 64,000
Parents and Grandparents 17,000 18,000 18,000
Total Family 81,000 82,000 82,000
Refugees and Protected Persons Protected Persons in Canada & Dependents Abroad 13,500 14,000 16,000
Resettled Refugees – Government Assisted 6,000 7,000 8,500
Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office Referred 1,000 1,000 1,000
Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored 16,000 17,000 18,000
Total Refugees and Protected Persons 36,500 39,000 43,500
Humanitarian and Other Total Humanitarian & Other 2,900 3,500 3,500
Overall Planned Permanent Admissions 290,000 300,000 310,000

When the Liberal government came to power in 2015, annual immigration levels were in the region of 260,000. In 2016, they increased the annual level to 300,000, including an influx of Syrian refugees as part of a campaign promise. In 2017, the government established 300,000 as the new normal for annual immigration numbers, a figure they now plan to build upon over the next three years.

Canada’s plan to welcome 980,000 new immigrants over the next three years, is groundbreaking. In doing so, by the end of his first term, the Liberals will cement themselves as the first in modernity to implement annual immigration levels near 350,000, representing one per cent of our population.

The Winner: Economic Immigration

Economic immigrants will make up the vast majority of newcomers under the government’s plan. These include Federal High Skilled immigrants accepted under the Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades and Canadian Experience Class.

Other categories include the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, Caregivers, the Federal Business class, Provincial Nominees and Quebec Skilled Worker and Business classes.

The government plan will see a target of 177,500 new immigrants arriving in 2018, with an upper limit of 188,500. In 2019, the target will rise to 191,500, but numbers could go as high as 201,000. The government’s target for 2020 is 195,800 new economic immigrants, with an upper limit of 202,500.

Considering the overall target was 260,000 in 2015, the significance of the proposed increase is clear.

Family Immigration

The Liberals promised to increase family reunification through immigration, and the new immigration plan could see up to 96,000 spouses, partners, children, parents and grandparents admitted by 2020.

The target for 2018 is 86,000, with an upper limit of 89,000. In 2019, the government plans to welcome 88,500 family class immigrants, with an upper limit of 91,000. In 2020, meanwhile, the target will rise to 91,000, and the upper limit 96,000. For comparison purposes, the target under the family category was 60,000 in 2015.

Refugee Immigration

Canada prides itself on helping those most in needs, as it has done so recently with Syrians affected by the country’s civil war and Yazidis from Iraq who faced persecution at the hands of extremists.

The new immigration plan features room for a possible 56,500 refugees under all categories by 2020. This includes a possible 23,000 privately-sponsored refugees, under a program Canada has exported all over the world.

The 2018 refugee target is 43,000, with an upper limit of 48,000. In 2019, the plan is to welcome 45,650 new refugees, with an upper target of 53,000. In 2020, the target number rises to 48,700, with an upper limit of 56,500.

Managed Increases

While there were calls from certain interest groups for the immigration target to rise to an much as 450,000, the government has been wise to keep the increases manageable and targeted.

The minister emphasized the need to expand efforts to integrate increased numbers of new immigrants, and said there was a critical need to ensure the Canadian economy was able to absorb the number of immigrants welcomed.

Canada stands out among all welcoming countries that invest in robust immigration programs by allocating significant amounts of expenditure on settlement services. The numbers are being increased to record modern-era levels that allows Canada’s integration capacity to grow alongside the numbers of new immigrants.

Long term growth fueled by increasing number of temporary residents

The latest policy initiatives to a large extent, are supported by the growing number of temporary residents currently residing in Canada. Close to 1 Million individuals reside temporarily in Canada under a study or work visa. This pool represents a growing number of potential immigrants who have the strongest ties to Canada, and who in-turn, have the highest chances to successfully integrate. This raises the likelihood of positive economic outcomes from Canada’s planned immigration policies.

The projected annual levels announcement is not without disappointment. Most noteworthy is the continued low projections for business immigrants. The current government appears to have no appetite for improving federal business immigration streams. Existing pathways to Canada for business investors primarily include the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program, which remains the largest driver of business immigrants to Canada, provincial entrepreneur programs and federal programs including the startup visa program. The latter program continues to receive lower levels of interest.

Another disappointment, although not unexpected, is the precipitous decline in the number of caregivers who will receive permanent residence. The program, which previously gave a conditional pathway to permanent residence for caregivers, was abolished in 2015. The large inventory of pending applicants awaiting completion of their applications is gradually declining. This explains the drop in annual levels under the three-year plan. It is clear that caregivers are no longer a priority for the Liberals the way they were under the previous Conservative government.

Comparison: 2016 and 2017 Immigration Targets

Immigration Category Category 2016 target 2017 target
Economic Federal Economic- High Skilled 58,400 73,700
Federal Economic- Caregivers 22,000 18,000
Federal Economic- Business 800 500
Provincial Nominee Program 47,800 51,000
Quebec Skilled Worker 26,200 29,300
Economic Total 160,400 172,500
Family Spouses, Partners & Children 60,000 64,000
Parents & Grandparents 20,000 20,000
Family Total 80,000 84,000
Refugees & Protected Persons Protected Persons in Canada & dependants in abroad 10,000 15,000
Resettled Refugees 44,800 25,000
Government-Assisted Refugees 24,600 7,500
Blended Visa Office-Referred 2,400 1,500
Privately Sponsored Refugees 17,800 16,000
Refugees & Protected Persons Total 55,800 40,000
Humanitarian and Other Humanitarian and Other 3,600 3,500
Overall Total 300,000 300,000

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