Canada will be admitting more than 400,000 immigrants every year during 2021-23, the Immigration Levels Plan for the period has revealed. This is a historic announcement as the last time Canada welcomed more than 400,000 immigrants in a year was in 1913. Under the new Canada Immigration Levels Plan, almost 60 percent of the immigrants will be coming to the country through economic class immigration programs such as Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Programs.

The news release detailing the Canada Immigration Levels Plan said that the pandemic highlighted immigrants’ contributions to the well-being of Canadian communities and across all sectors of the economy. It further pointed out that the healthcare system of Canada heavily relied on immigrants. Likewise, industries such as information technology and agriculture depend on immigrants to grow and create more jobs for Canadians.

In 2019, Canada set a record in terms of the number of permanent residents admitted by welcoming 341180 newcomers. The target set for 2020 was 341000. But this is unlikely to happen because of the restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19. It seems the Immigration Levels Plan for 2021-23 aims to take the missing immigrants with higher targets for the period. Along with the focus on economic immigration, Canada’s immigration levels plan also recognizes the importance of family reunification.

Canadian immigration during the pandemic period

Though Canada continued to accept and process applications during the pandemic period, immigrants’ inflow was much lesser due to travel restrictions. To compensate for that, Canada decided to continue admitting immigrants at a rate of about 1% of Canada’s population. Thus, in 2021, Canada will be welcoming 401,000 permanent residents, 411,000 permanent residents in 2022, and 421000 permanent residents in 2023. In total, Canada will be admitting more than 1.2 million immigrants during these three years.

Impact of COVID 19 on Canada immigration

Canada witnessed a drop in the number of new permanent residents coming to the country in 2020. Compared to 2019 August, 64 percent fewer permanent residents were admitted in August 2020. Many candidates who were approved for the permanent residence could not travel to the country because of the restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19.

Why are immigrants important to Canada?

Canada is a country that has a population that is ageing fast and a low birth rate. Around 18 percent of the country’s population are above the age of 65. The government also has one of the world’s lowest birth rates at 1.47 births per woman. With a low population growth rate, Canada will have to face challenges in sustaining its economy’s growth and supporting government spending in the future. Canada believes that these problems can be overcome by welcoming more immigrants who can help the country’s labour supply and economic development.

Moreover, almost 9 million of Canada’s current working population belonging to the baby boomer generation will retire by 2030. It means Canada will have fewer workers when social spending on healthcare has to be raised for the sake of these retiring citizens. So, intending to tackle this situation, Canada has been gradually increasing the immigration targets over the past 30 years.

Since 1988, Canada had been admitting 200,000 new immigrants every year. In the past few years, the number was raised to 300,000. But according to the new Immigration Levels Plan, the number is going to be 400,000.

Immigration has become even more relevant for Canada in the wake of COVID-19. The pandemic has affected the growth of the country’s economy. Even before that, Canada’s birth rate had fallen to its lowest ever in 2019, 1.47 children per woman. With the possibility of the birth rate going further down because of the economic instability this year, Canada will have to depend more on immigrants for sustainable population growth. Canada also needs to strengthen its tax base through immigration to support government spending in the post-pandemic period.

A recent study found that public support for immigration has increased in Canada during the pandemic. One in five Canadians thinks immigrants would make Canada a better country, a more diverse and multicultural place to live. Canadians believe that immigration would help in the long-term economic recovery of the country. However, they also think family members needed to be given priority for immigration.

With Canada set on attracting more immigrants to the country, this is the best opportunity for immigrants to move to the country permanently. If you want to know more about Canadian immigration, contact ImmiLaw Global, the best Canadian immigration consultancy in Kerala.