By November 1, 2022, the Canadian government is anticipated to release the most recent Immigration Levels Plan.
An Immigration Levels Plan is published annually by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and serves as a guide for how many immigrants will be permitted to enter Canada annually. It offers a breakdown of immigration from the next three years by economic class, family class, and humanitarian class programs. It will display predictions for 2023, 2024, and 2025 this year.
According to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which is Canada's primary immigration statute, the government is required to declare this by November 1 of each year. After the most recent federal election on September 20, 2021, the first Immigration Levels Plan was announced in February 2022.
This year, why are there two announcements?
Instead of the regularly scheduled announcement due by November 1, 2021, the 2022-2024 plan was not made public until February 2022.
Parliament did not convene again following the election until November 22, 2021, and even then it only met for 19 days before the Christmas break. In these circumstances, the proposal must be disclosed in accordance with IRPA within 30 days of Parliament reconvening. Parliament reconvened on this case in the middle of January 2022.
The administration will proceed with the most recent Immigration Levels Plan release on time now that Parliament is in full gear.
Immigration Levels Plan is currently in effect
Canada has set a target of bringing in 431,645 new permanent residents overall through all immigration classes in 2022, according to the Immigration Levels Plan for 2022–2024. Up to 2024, this goal will gradually rise to 451,000 new permanent residents.
Canada has already accepted more than 300,000 new permanent residents this year. The majority of them are graduates of programs for people of lower socioeconomic status. 241,850 immigrants, or around 60% of all immigrants, are the target number for immigrants from the lower socioeconomic groups in 2022. The 2022 plan also seeks to bring in 105,000 immigrants from the family class and 8,250 from the humanitarian and refugee categories.
These goals may all change with the publication of the new Immigration Levels Plan for 2023–2025, and they are no longer the basis for IRCC immigration targets.
What to anticipate?
The Immigration Levels Plan often includes fresh increases, and they are at their greatest levels ever right now. For instance, the overall objective for 2016 was 250,000 immigrants less than ten years ago. Even in the midst of the pandemic's uncertainty, IRCC shattered the record for the greatest number of permanent residents ever in 2021, totaling over 405,000.
The overall goal currently set for 2023 is 447,055, with a very slight increase to 451,000 in 2024.
In order to produce an immigration levels plan that is balanced in how permanent residence slots are distributed in each class and following the program, IRCC collaborates with numerous other governmental ministries and partners.
As some provincial immigration ministers have criticized the current plan for not allocating enough spots to Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs), which they believe are better suited to target the skilled immigrants required to bolster the workforce and make up for shortages in Canada's labor force, Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser stated in a June interview with CIC News that he would consult with the provinces to better understand their labor market needs.
The minister also predicted that goals might eventually reach 500,000 new permanent residents annually. He did not say when, though.
He said, "Look, I wouldn't put it on the clock." "I believe we will succeed. Through the current track, our population is increasing by more than 1%. That course will stay the same. I am unsure of the precise year in which we will surpass the 500,000 immigration mark annually. It will be based on what communities require.
As of August 31, 513, 923 applications for permanent residency were awaiting processing, according to information from the IRCC. IRCC recently disclosed that it was making investments to update the outdated technology that the department relies on on, as well as adding over 1,000 new personnel in an effort to enhance customer service and shorten processing times.