Canada Estimated to Welcome 1 million Migrants through 2020

Canada to Welcome over 1 Million New Immigrations

Canada is a progressive country that values all of its Canadian citizens, permanent residents and its temporary residents. The new multi-year Immigration Levels Plan was implemented as of November 1, 2017 and includes a very ambitious target for immigrants by the Canadian government. The ambitious target is for nearly one million new immigrations to settle within Canada between the years of 2018 to 2020. Ultimately, this is most likely the most ambitious immigration target in Canadian history. Therefore, in this article, I will explain the new multi-year Immigration Levels Plan and how this affects Canada’s several different immigration programs that foreign nationals can apply to.

New Multi-Year Immigration Levels Plan

The new multi-year immigration levels plan was implemented by the House of Commons on November 1 of 2017. The migrants that would make up a majority of the immigrants coming to Canada during the years of 2018 to 2020 will be economic migrants. These economic migrants will most likely be using the Express Entry program to successfully immigrate to Canada. The Canadian government estimates that the target for immigrants coming through economic categories will progressively increase every year until 2020.

The new multi-year immigration levels plan actually deviates from the norm for Immigration Canada. For instance, in the past, they would execute an annual immigration level plan which would only set the immigration targets for the following year. The new multi-year immigration level plan then came into existence through consultation between provincial governments and Canadian businesses and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The purpose of the new plan is for stakeholders to have the opportunity to plan for service levels and have adequate use of resources.

The estimated targets for the years to come are as follows:

Economic Migrants

As previously mentioned, economic migrants will be the majority of migrants coming to Canada. For instance, approximately 565,000 migrants will be issued permanent residency in Canada through economic programs. Specifically, a quarter of a million of them would arrive in Canada through one of the federal economic programs under the Express Entry program. IRCC has stated that the main programs for economic immigration in Canada are through Express Entry. They have noticed a definite increase of Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residency in Canada throughout 2017 compared to the previous two years combined.

It is important to note that the increased target for Express Entry candidates essentially allowed for a decrease in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off thresholds in 2017. The way in which this works is whenever there is an intake increase; there will inevitably be a decrease in the CRS cut-off thresholds. For instance, last year (2016) the lowest CRS cut-off threshold score was 450. Whereas, this year, the lowest CRS cut-off threshold scores for Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates were approximately 413. For the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC) program, they had an even lower CRS cut-off threshold score of 241. Therefore, if there is an even higher intake in the years to come, hopefully this will aid with even lower CRS cut-off threshold scores.

Below, I have outlined the estimated target admissions from this year to 2020 for Express Entry and for the Provincial Nominee Programs for your reference.

Target Admissions for Express Entry

Target Admissions for Provincial Nominee Programs

It is worth mentioning that the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) will also be a popular route for immigration to Canada in the following years. Specifically, approximately 184,000 economic migrants and any of their accompanying family members will be permitted permanent residency through the PNP. The Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) were intended and created to allow Canada’s provinces/territories to nominate certain individuals based on their qualifications and ability to settle into the specific provincial/territorial labour market.

Family Migration

One of the most highly-regarded and important aspects to Immigration in Canada is family reunification. This is also included in the new multi-year Immigration Levels Plan. The Canadian government would like to reunite approximately 265,000 spouses, common-law partners, dependent children, parents and grandparents with their Canadian relatives in Canada through the Family Class program. Additionally, there has been an increase over the years with regards to admissions to the Family Class program. The Canadian government has also diligently amended the process of Family class applications to reduce processing times and also to extend the successfully work permit pilot program that allows sponsored applicants the opportunity to work in Canada while they await the decision of their sponsorship application.

Below, I have outlined the estimated target admissions from this year to 2020 for the Family Class program.

Contact Akrami & Associates

It is essential that you have taken all of the aforementioned information into consideration before you attempt to apply for permanent residency in Canada through any of these immigration programs. If you want to apply for permanent residency in Canada and you are a foreign national, I would highly suggest applying for one of these immigration programs since Canada is opening their doors. Additionally, it is extremely important to note that these are difficult applications to pursue on your own, therefore, it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients gain permanent residency in Canada though different programs and they are now happily living within Canada. If you believe that you may be eligible for permanent residency, please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!