Canada will hit 2021 immigration targets despite COVID-19: Immigration Minister

Canada’s immigration minister had expressed confidence that Canada will be achieving their 2021 immigration target despite the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Marco E. L. Mendicino, “I am confident that we are doing everything we can to meet that target and we will meet that target and the reason it is important to hit that target is because immigrants create jobs”.

Immigration is important for Canada. As per the Message from the Immigration Minister in the 2020 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, “Even as we adjust to the extraordinary challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot lose sight of the enormous benefits immigration presents to our prosperity and way of life. Newcomers bring their heritage and culture, but also their talent, ideas and perspectives”.

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While Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC] has continued to accept and process applications even during the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration has been impacted to a certain extent with service disruptions and limitations.

Addressing the shortfall, the federal government of Canada has set an ambitious immigration target as per the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan.

2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan
	Immigrant Category	Target for 2021	Target for 2022	Target for 2023
Overall planned permanent resident  admissions		401,000	411,000	421,000
Economic	Federal High Skilled [includes the FSWP, FSTP, CEC]	108,500	110,500	113,750
	Federal Business [Start-up Visa Program and the Self-employed Persons Program]	1,000	1,000	1,000
	AFP, RNIP, caregivers	8,500	10,000	10,250
	AIP	6,000	6,250	6,500
	PNP	80,800	81,500	83,000
	Quebec Skilled Workers and Business	Between 26,500 to 31,200 CSQs to be issued	To be determined	To be determined
Total Economic		232,500	241,500	249,500
Family	Spouses, Partners and Children	80,000	80,000	81,000
	Parents and Grandparents	23,500	23,500	23,500
Total family		103,500	103,500	104,500
Total Refugees and Protected Persons		59,500	60,500	61,000
Total Humanitarian and Other		5,500	5,500	6,000

Note. – FSWP: Federal Skilled Worker Program, FSTP: Federal Skilled Trades Program, CEC: Canadian Experience Class, PNP: Provincial Nominee Program, AFP: Agri-Food Pilot, RNIP: Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, AIP: Atlantic Immigration Pilot, CSQ: Certificat de sélection du Québec.

Previously, Canada had set an immigration target of 351,000 for 2021, followed by 361,000 admissions in 2022.

Recently, 6 new pathways to Canadian permanent residence have been announced. While there is a cap of 90,000 on 3 of the categories targeted at anglophone applicants, the other 3 new Canada PR streams for bilingual and francophone candidates have no numerical limit.

If you are looking to Work, Study, Invest, Visit, or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No. 1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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