In its bid to fuel post-pandemic growth and help fill critical labour shortages, Canada is increasing its immigration targets yet again.
The Canadian government in its Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 said, Canada aims to attract about 1.3 million new immigrants over the next three years, overall admissions amounting to 1.14% of the Canadian population by 2024.
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These are the targets the Canadian govt is looking at:
2022: 431,645 permanent residents
2023: 447,055 permanent residents
2024: 451,000 permanent residents
Until 2015, Canada used to welcome about 250,000 immigrants per year. In 2016, it announced a new target of 300,000 newcomers annually.
Prior to the pandemic, the target was set to about 340,000 immigrants per year but immigration fell to below 200,000 in 2020 due to the Covid-19.
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In 2021, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 new permanent residents— the most immigrants in a single year in Canada's history. The Canadian government has struggled to clear a backlog of about 1.8 million visa/citizenship due to covid-19.
In 2022, approximately 56% of new immigrants will arrive under economic class pathways such as Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program, and the Temporary to Permanent Residence (TR2PR) stream.
Canadian immigration authorities say, immigration has helped shape Canada into the country it is today. From farming and fishing to manufacturing, healthcare and the transportation sector, Canada relies on immigrants, adding that the govt is focused on economic recovery, and immigration is the key to getting there.