Not Later Than Valentine’s Day
The Canadian government is expected to announce its Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 in February. This plan includes the specific number of immigrants the county is planning to welcome under its various economic, family, and humanitarian programs.
This is the first official immigration-related announcement since October 2020, when the government stated they seek to welcome more than 400,000 new immigrants annually.
Under the current immigration plan for 2021 to 2023, IRCC aims to resettle 241,500 economic class immigrants through Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program, and Quebec programs, among other pathways – which would account for almost 60% of Canada’s overall immigration target.
The IRCC is also looking to welcome 103,500 family class immigrants through the Spouses, Partners and Children Programs and the Parents and Grandparents Programs, which will make up 26% of the immigration target. The remaining 15% should be accepted as refugees, as well as humanitarians and compassionate immigrants.
While the breakdown of immigration classes have been sustained since the 1990s, the total number of immigrants Canada chooses to target is expected to increase significantly.
Minister Fraser has indicated that he is open to boosting the targets further based on stakeholder feedback. He also noted that he would like to listen to community groups and employers to understand their immigration needs. On the other hand, since the IRCC is dealing with a huge backlog of applications, some could argue that the increase in accepting more immigrants isn’t possible yet.
However, taking into consideration the post-pandemic economic recovery, more immigrants are needed to reduce labour shortages. Higher targets may also be necessary to accommodate the government’s lofty goal of resettling 40,000 Afghan refugees.
