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.

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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

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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.

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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

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