Last Updated on October 30, 2020

Canada is to dramatically increase immigration to boost its economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic by welcoming more than 1.2 million newcomers between 2021 and 2023.

Under the immigration levels plan presented by Marco Mendicino on Friday, Ottawa will follow through on its promise to remain committed to immigration increases, welcoming 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, which has significantly reduced immigration during 2020, the previous plan set targets of 351,000 in 2021 and 361,000 in 2022.

In a bid to ensure the new arrivals spur Canada’s recovery, 60 percent of the newcomers will be in the economic class, with the next largest group the family class, followed by refugees.

“Immigration is essential to getting us through the pandemic, but also to our short-term economic recovery and our long-term economic growth. Canadians have seen how newcomers are playing an outsized role in our hospitals and care homes, and helping us to keep food on the table,” Mendicino said. 

“As we look to recovery, newcomers create jobs not just by giving our businesses the skills they need to thrive, but also by starting businesses themselves. 

“Our plan will help to address some of our most acute labour shortages and to grow our population to keep Canada competitive on the world stage.”

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Read More

Quebec to Increase Immigration in 2021 to Boost Economic Recovery from Coronavirus Pandemic
Canada Increases Express Entry Points for French-Speaking and Bilingual Candidates
Canada Immigration Numbers Dropped Again in August, New Figures Show

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Canada’s 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan

		2021	2022	2023
	Overall Planned Permanent Resident Admissions	401,000	411,000	421,000
Economic	Federal High Skilled	108,500	110,500	113,750
	Federal Business	1,000	1,000	1,000
	Economic Pilots: Caregivers; Agri-Food Pilot; Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot	8,500	10,000	10,250
	Atlantic Immigration Pilot	6,000	6,250	6,500
	Provincial Nominee Program	80,800	81,500	83,000
	Quebec Skilled Workers and Business	See the Quebec immigration plan	To be determined	To be determined
	Total Economic	232,500	241,500	249,500
Family	Spouses, Partners and Children	80,000	80,000	81,000
	Parents and Grandparents	23,500	23,500	23,500
	Total Family	103,500	103,500	104,500
Refugees and Protected Persons	Protected Persons in Canada and Dependents Abroad	23,500	24,500	25,000
	Resettled Refugees – Government-Assisted	12,500	12,500	12,500
	Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored	22,500	22,500	22,500
	Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office-Referred	1,000	1,000	1,000
	Total Refugees and Protected Persons	59,500	60,500	61,000
Humanitarian and Other	Total Humanitarian and Other	5,500	5,500	6,000

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Canada’s Economic Immigration Levels Plan

The majority of the newcomers will be welcomed through Canada’s Economic Class, which includes the popular and successful Express Entry system.

Within the stream, federal high skilled immigrants – those welcome through Express Entry – will number 108,500 in 2021, 110,500 in 2022 and 113,750 in 2023.

Significant increases will also be seen via the Provincial Nominee Program, with 80,800 newcomers planned for 2021, 81,500 in 2022 and 83,000 in 2023.

The lack of certainty surrounding the pandemic means all of these numbers are subject to change.

The stream also includes Quebec immigration, which this week announced its plan to welcome up to 47,500 immigrants in 2021, with 7,000 additional newcomers to help make up for reduced immigration in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Canada’s Family Class Immigration Levels Plan

Canada’s Family Class immigration intake is also set to grow over the next three years.

Under the targets revealed on Friday, the Family Class is projected to grow from 103,500 in 2021 to 104,500 by 2023.

The numbers will be dominated by spouses, partners and children, accounting for 80,000 newcomers, with parents and grandparents numbering 23,500.

Canada’s Refugee and Protected Persons Class Immigration Levels Plan

The Refugees and Protected Persons Class will also grow over the next three years.

The plan allows for 59,500 refugees in 2021, rising to 61,000 by 2023.

These numbers firmly establish Canada as one of the leading countries in the world for intake of Refugees and Protected Persons.

Canada Immigration in 2020

The 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan comes after a turbulent 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.

International travel has been severely restricted since March, and the border with the U.S. closed, with numbers of new permanent residents dropping dramatically as a result.

Canada has planned to welcome 341,000 newcomers but will fall significantly short of that total with no sign of restrictions being lifted nor the border reopening.

In the eight months to August, Canada has recorded 128,430 permanent resident admissions. In the same period of 2019, 228,430 newcomers were welcomed.

It comes after Canada admitted a new modern-era record of more than 341,000 new permanent residents in 2019.

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