According to Minister Marco Mendicino, June was the brawniest month of 2021 for the permanent resident’s arrival during the pandemic.
“We are going to make good on our commitment to land 401,000 new permanent residents,” stated Mendicino in a recent article by Globe and Mail.
The Canadian government’s Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023 aims to welcome at least 401,000 newcomers every year. The target number has been increased after the pandemic as compared to before which was set at 341,000 new immigrants.
This program is the first of its kind in Canadian history. Earlier in 1913, Canada had welcomed over 400,000 immigrants in one year. Immigration plummeted in Canada just after the First World War.
The Immigration department of Canada estimated that over 35,000 new permanent residents have been welcomed in June. Figures exhibit that 35,700 immigrants were welcomed by Canada the previous month which is higher than the total invitations sent in the recent months.
January started great for Canada with 24,680 new immigrants. Followed by February with 23,395 newcomers, 22,425 in March, 21,155 in April, and 17,100 in May.
In total Canada has accepted about 143,000 permanent residents in the first six months of 2021. The aim is to welcome 401,000 by the end of this year.
To achieve this target an addition of 258,000 immigrants will be needed which sets an average pace of accepting 43,000 per month for the rest of the remaining year. This is a difficult task but there is still a probability of it to be achieved.
Before the Coronavirus chaos, an average of 25,000 to 35,000 immigrants was welcomed by the Canadian government every month. Another reason is the climate of Canada, immigrants favor warmer months to immigrate. Along with this, both academic and business calendars initiate from September which draws in more potential candidates.
As per the analysis of 2019, it was witnessed that immigration levels in the second half of the year were more than the first half of the year. Canada welcomed 180,000 immigrants between July to December.
If the same level of numbers is maintained in the second half of 2021, Canada will remain behind its set target.
Although, there are some tailwinds still pondering that could propel Canada to attain its set goals by the end of this year.
The 21st June relaxation in travel restrictions by the Canadian government will add about 23,000 Confirmation of Canada Permanent Residence (COPR) holders who are now legally permitted to move to the maple country.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has launched six new permanent residency streams that allow about 90,000 foreign student graduates and skilled workers to live in Canada. The department has set a target to complete processing 40,000 applications by December this year.
IRCC is also focused on breaking different Express Entry records all year since it prioritizes Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates.
Draws have been made more frequent and its size has been larger than ever. The cut-off scores have been set at a low record. IRCC says that 90 percent of CEC candidates are currently residing in Canada, making the transition task altogether easy. Almost 100,000 Express Entry invitations have been sent by IRCC in 2021.
The statistics were half of this figure during the same time frame in the previous year. It is estimated that a significant portion of the invitees during the pandemic should complete their permanent residence landing in Canada by the end of 2021.
According to a statement to Globe by the minister’s office. 45,100 PR applications were processed in June, which was the highest record set ever. That means IRCC still holds the probability to process and finalize the required number of applicants to achieve its target.
IRCC is on a fence considering the turbulence caused by the Covid pandemic. An increase in the number of cases and travel restrictions could disturb IRCC’s plans. Just like how Canada has still restricted flights from its prominent newcomers’ source country, India.
A restriction for this long could get into IRCC’s way of achieving its goal. Moreover, delays to COPR holder arrivals are an added risk. Right now, IRCC is engaged in the search of thousands of expired COPR holders to arrange their landing in Canada. This process consumes a lot of time as IRCC individually contacts every one of the COPR holders to confirm that they have with them all the necessary documents for the immigration process.
Although in a few weeks the immigration levels are estimated to remain high. It is also assumed that the total number of immigrants per month will hit a record high by the end of this year because of the combination of additional overseas arrivals and in-house applicants who will complete their landing in Canada.
