/ Published in Canada Immigration News Articles

Canada To Welcome 350,000 Immigrants Annually By 2021


Last Updated on January 24, 2019

Oct 31, 2018 – Canada’s federal government plans to increase annual immigration levels to 350,000 in 2021, according to the latest figures announced on Wednesday, October 31.

The new immigration levels plan sets out a target of more than 1 million immigrants over the next three years.  

Should Canada deliver on this plan, immigration levels will move closer to 1% of its population, a goal initially advocated by the Liberal Party of Canada in 1993.

In 2019, Canada will welcome 330,800 newcomers, in 2020 it will welcome 341,000 and 2021 will see it hit the 350,000 mark. In total, the plan targets 1,021,800 new immigrants.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said the new levels plan builds on the foundations of 2017, when the federal government announce a three-year plan for the first time.

The main gains seen between now and 2021 are in the Economic Class, which will welcome 202,300 immigrants on its own in 2021.

Canada’s 2019 to 2021 Immigration Levels Plan

Immigration category Category 2019 – Target 2020 – Target 2021 – Target
Economic Federal High Skilled 81,400 85,800 88,800
Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program 2,000 4,000 TBD
Caregivers 14,000 5,000 TBD
Federal Business 700 700 700
Provincial Nominee Program 61,000 67,800 71,300
Quebec Skilled Workers and Business TBD TBD TBD
Total Economic 191,600 195,800 202,300
Family Spouses, Partners, and Children 68,000 70,000 70,000
Parents and Grandparents 20,500 21,000 21,000
Total Family 88,500 91,000 91,000
Refugees and Protected Persons Protected Persons in Canada & Dependents Abroad 16,500 18,000 20,000
Resettled Refugees – Government Assisted 9,300 10,700 10,700
Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office Referred 1,650 1,000 1,000
Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored 19,000 20,000 20,000
Total Refugees and Protected Persons 46,450 49,700 51,700
Humanitarian and Other Total Humanitarian & Other 4,250 4,500 5,000
Overall Planned Permanent Admissions 330,800 341,000 350,000

Hussen said the central motivation behind the increased numbers was to support business and boost the Canadian economy.

“The new multi-year immigration levels plan supports Canadian employers and businesses by ensuring they have the skilled labour they need to spur innovation and help to keep our country at the forefront of the global economy,” he said. 

“Building on the strong foundation set out last year and continuing to increase economic immigration will help Canada stay competitive and attract talent from around the world.”

While the increases are ambitious, they continue to be made in a staged and controlled manner, as Canada attempts to grow its capacity to integrate new immigrants along with the higher levels.

Immigration Levels Plan: 2016 to 2021 Comparison

Economic Class

The Federal High Skilled category will increase to 88,800 in 2021, according to the plan, accounting for the immigrants come to Canada through the Express Entry system.

These include those coming through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program and Canada Experience Class.

Elsewhere, the Provincial Nominee Program allocation will also increase, to 71,300 in 2021. This marks an increase of more than 10,000 immigrants between 2019 and 2021 for the Provincial Nominee Programs.

The Atlantic Immigration Pilot, Caregivers and Quebec Skilled Worker and Business programs are all marked ‘to be determined’ in the 2021 plan. However, there is ample room left in the Economic class to provide these allocations at a later date.

Family Class

The Family Class will see the smallest increases.

In 2019, the levels plan allows for 88,500 newcomers in the Family Class, compared to 86,000 under the 2018 plan.

This will increase to 91,000 in 2020, and remain the same in 2021.

More than 90,000 family reunification places still represent a significant commitment to the category from the federal government, although it is clear the increases are focused in the Economic Class.

Refugees and Protected Persons

Staged increases will also happen in the Refugees and Protected Persons class, from 46,450 in 2019 to 51,700 in 2021.

Through its welcoming of Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016, the federal government has established itself as open to genuine refugee claimants.

It has also had to deal with a surge of irregular border crossers streaming in from the U.S.

However, the federal government has still chosen to increase the allocation for refugees to continue Canada’s reputation as one of the most welcoming countries in the world. 

Immigration Targets for The Previous Three Years

Immigration Category Category 2016 target 2017 target 2018 target
Economic Federal Economic- High Skilled 58,400 73,700 74,900
Atlantic Immigration Pilot N/A N/A 1,000
Federal Economic- Caregivers 22,000 18,000 17,000
Federal Economic- Business 800 500 700
Provincial Nominee Program 47,800 51,000 55,000
Quebec Skilled Worker 26,200 29,300 28,900
Economic Total 160,400 172,500 177,500
Family Spouses, Partners & Children 60,000 64,000 66,000
Parents & Grandparents 20,000 20,000 20,000
Family Total 80,000 84,000 86,000
Refugees & Protected Persons Protected Persons in Canada & dependants abroad 10,000 15,000 16,000
Government-Assisted Refugees 24,600 7,500 7,500
Blended Visa Office-Referred 2,400 1,500 1,500
Privately Sponsored Refugees 17,800 16,000 18,000
Refugees & Protected Persons Total 55,800 40,000 43,000
Humanitarian and Other Humanitarian and Other 3,600 3,500 3,500
Overall Total 300,000 300,000 310,000

Interested employers: Kindly contact us here to receive further information.

Interested candidates: Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with our evaluation within 1-2 business days.

Read more news about Canada Immigration by clicking here.