Canada’s 2020 Immigration Highlights Annual Report

Canada continues to be the warmest and safest destination for refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. Immigrants contribution to the Canadian economy in terms of skilled manpower cannot be denied. Even during the adjustment of the extraordinary challenge of COVID-19, Canada remains strong and generous with their immigration policies. Recently the annual report to the Parliament was tabled by the Canadian government with an opportunity of updating the public on Canada`s
immigration system.

The primary vision of the report is to provide both the Parliament and the public about the latest immigration developments in Canada. With Canada aiming to welcome close to 400,000 immigrants under its 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan, the annual report happens to shed to light on how the administration aims to achieve its immigration targets. Below are some of the major highlights of Canadas 2020 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration.

In 2019, Canada Welcomed Over 1 Million Newcomers Canada had welcomed close to 1 million immigrants for academic as well
as employment opportunities. Over 341,000 newcomers have arrived as permanent residents along with 400,000 applicants through study permits. This implies that most of Canadas newcomers do not arrive as permanent residents, but temporarily. However, Canadian permanent resident admissions will play a crucial role, all thanks to the 2021-2023 Immigration
Levels Plan.

Nearly 200,000 Immigrants Arrived Under The Economic Class In 2019 Close to 60 % of its new permanent residents in Canada were welcomed under the economic class. This will remain a case study under the 2021- 2023 Immigration Levels Plan.
Almost 200,000 immigrants in 2019 were welcomed by Canada under the economic class immigration module. Out of these, close to 90,000arrived through the Express Entry System.

Majority of Express Entry migrants landed in Ontario with 71 % followed by British Columbia(17%), and Alberta(8%). The immigrants can opt for different immigration programs using the Provincial Nominee Program(PNP) program to encourage immigrants to settle in their favourite territories/provinces.

The PNP module accounts for a majority of the economic class immigration to most of the provinces like Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Overall provinces like Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Alberta enjoyed maximum levels of PNP admissions in 2019. IRCC Is Tackling Family Class Backlogs The annual report reflects the progress of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC) was constantly working on Family Class
backlogs before the pandemic.

Close 90,000 immigrants arrived under the Family Class in 2019. IRCC comes with a standard of processing family class applications within 12 months.

The report also stated that at the end of 2015, Canada had a backlog of 77,000 applicants under the partners, spouses and children category. At the end of 2019, the processing time fell to 13 months from 21 months category. Canada Is Welcoming More Francophone Immigrants Welcoming more Francophone immigrants is one of the major motives as well as the priorities of the IRCC system. In recent decades, it has struggled in attracting Francophone immigrants to communities outside the Quebec provinces. Recently, IRCC seems to have made changes which will award more points to French-speaking Express Entry Candidates.

IRCC has also launched a new Francophone Immigration Strategy by investing more and more money in the settlement services for the Francophone immigrants.