Canada welcomed more than 35,000 new immigrants to the country in June 2021, Canada’s immigration department has said.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirmed that June 2021 was Canada’s strongest month for new permanent resident arrivals during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 35,700 new immigrants welcomed to the country through various Express Entry invitation draws.
IRCC also said that 45,100 permanent residency applications were submitted in June – the highest number of applications IRCC has had to process in its history.
As part of the county’s new Immigration Levels Plan, Canada has pledged to welcome 1.2 million new permanent residents by 2023 – making it the most ambitious immigration plan in Canada’s history.
To stay on course for meeting this immigration target, Canada needs to welcome 401,000 new immigrants to the country this year. Only once before has the country welcomed over 400,000 immigrants in a single year – back in 1913.
After the 35,700 new immigrants welcomed in June, Canada has now admitted a little less than 150,000 new permanent residents throughout the first half of 2021.
According to IRCC, Canada welcomed 24,680 new permanent residents in January, followed by 23,395 in February, 22,425 in March, 21,155 in April, and 17,100 in May.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Canada invited an average of 25,000 to 35,000 new permanent residents to the country every month.
To meet its immigration target of welcoming 401,000 new immigrants this year, IRCC will have to welcome around 251,000 permanent residents in the remaining six months of 2021, with an average of approximately 42,000 new arrivals every month.
There are several currently active immigration programs that are designed to assist IRCC to meet its immigration targets for this year.
For example, around 23,000 Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) holders have been granted eligibility for Canadian immigration, after restrictions were eased on June 21, 2021.
Moreover, IRCC also introduced six new immigration pathways to permanent residency in Canada for 90,000 international student graduates and essential workers. IRCC plans on processing around 40,000 applications for these programs by the end of this year.
Furthermore, IRCC has been holding periodic invitation rounds for Express Entry candidates, in which Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) applicants have been invited to apply for permanent residency in Canada.
The latter has been preferred of late, as it allows IRCC to invite applicants who are already likely in Canada to apply for permanent residency in the country.
Invitation draw sizes have been larger than ever as well, and Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cutoff scores have also been generally lower compared to past invitation rounds.
So far this year, around 100,000 Express Entry candidates have been invited to apply for permanent Canadian immigration – almost double the number of invitations issued at this stage last year.
Other signs pointing to better immigration numbers have been present as well, with Canada recently announcing that it will open its borders for tourism for fully vaccinated tourists by September.
Clearly, this shows Canada’s steady approach to normalizing immigration again, with numbers expected to reach pre-COVID levels in the near future.
With Canada’s strong drive to welcome new immigrants for permanent residency in the country, and with the increasing number of immigration pathways being made available for applicants, it can be safely assumed that Canada looks set to meet its immigration targets in the remainder of this year.
