Permanent Residency in Canada || Canada to target over 400,000 immigrants per year

Canada will aim to welcome 401,000 immigrants in 2021, another 411,000 in 2022, and 421,000 in 2023.

Canada announced its 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan. Canada will target the highest level of immigration in its history.

Over the coming three years, Canada will aim to welcome the following level of new permanent residents:

• 2021: 401,000 immigrants
• 2022: 411,000 immigrants
• 2023: 421,000 immigrants

The only time Canada welcomed over 400,000 immigrants in a year was in 1913, when it admitted 401,000 newcomers. It has never come close to this figure again.

The 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan aims to welcome about 60 per cent of all immigrants under economic class programs, including through Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program.

The Immigration Levels Plan is the most important immigration announcement made by the Government of Canada each year. It outlines the number of new permanent residents Canada aims to welcome over the coming years, and what categories Canada aims to admit them under. Canada welcomes immigrants under the following categories: economic; family; refugee; and humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Earlier this year, on March 12, the federal government announced Canada would aim to welcome over one million new permanent residents between 2020 and 2022. Days later, Canada had to shut its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, Canada will likely fall well short of the 341,000 immigration target it set for this year, however it has been holding Express Entry draws throughout the pandemic that will result in Canada breaking its Express Entry record this year. In addition, Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws remain ongoing.

To compensate for the fall of immigration this year, Canada has set the most ambitious immigration levels plan in its history.