Canada Immigrants on a Record Rise

For the second time since its founding in 1867, Canada has welcomed over 400,000 new permanent immigrants in 2021. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada just confirmed this in a press release (IRCC). With this, the country has broken its all-time record for giving out permanent residence in a year.

The only previous occasion Canada reached 400,000 immigrants were in 1913, but with the outbreak of World War I, immigration to the country began to decline in the years following. Since then, the number has not been this high. The country tried reaching a set target number in 2020, but the pandemic hindered their plans.

Last year in 2020, Canada had set a target of welcoming 341,000 fresh immigrants, but that did not happen. Due to the pandemic, it only landed 184,000 people last year. However, it announced that it will target the entry of 401,000 additional permanent residents in 2021 as part of its post-pandemic economic recovery strategy.

Due to a technicality, IRCC was able to reach its Immigration Levels Plan target this year. A landing can happen when a temporary resident of Canada sees their legal status change to permanent residence, or when someone comes to Canada from another country and gains permanent resident status.

Prior to the pandemic, the majority of new immigrants were from other countries. This year, however, IRCC has concentrated on achieving its newcomer goal by transferring individuals already in the country. The logic has been that those who are already in Canada are less likely to be affected by COVID-related delays that could prevent them from becoming permanent residents.