In September, Canada welcomed a record-breaking 45,000 new immigrants.
ANALYSIS: Canada is back on pace to achieving its target of 401,000 new immigrants in 2021. It needs to continue to welcome at least 45,000 immigrants per month for the rest of the year to achieve the target.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has confirmed that Canada landed a stunning 45,000 new immigrants in September. This amount is the largest in contemporary Canadian history and ranks among the highest monthly totals in the country.
September’s all-time high was because most newcomers during Canada’s first century came in the warm spring and summer months.
However, the new September figure indicates a stunning turnaround for a Canadian immigration system that had been struggling to process applications during the outbreak. Prior to the epidemic, Canada received 25,000 to 35,000 new immigrants every month on average. Monthly permanent resident landings fell to just 4,000 in April 2020, the lowest level in the modern era, during the outset of the pandemic.
Landing figures gradually began to recover over the rest of last year but not at the pace needed to achieve Canada’s goal of welcoming 341,000 new immigrants in 2020. Instead, only 184,000 new immigrants arrived in Canada last year.
To compensate, the federal government has opted to double immigration, aiming for 401,000 new arrivals this year, tying the annual high set in 1913. Canada had a solid start to the year, before losing steam. However, with the arrival of 35,000 immigrants in June, Canada began to step up the pace.
This year, Canada welcomed 267,000 immigrants. To meet its 401,000 newcomer goal, it will need to bring in another 134,000 immigrants between October and December. This equates to approximately 45,000 new permanent residents each month. IRCC has set itself up to achieve this target.
In May, the IRCC opened six temporary streams, allowing up to 90,000 current residents to apply for permanent residency. In 2021, the agency plans to process 40,000 applications, according to the department.
In June, all confirmed permanent residents were able to enter Canada and finish their immigration process once Canada abolished its travel restrictions. In addition, Canada recently eased its restriction on flights from India, the country’s primary supplier of immigration.
The combination of these major factors and other IRCC efforts put Canada in a strong position to at least come close to achieving the 401,000 immigration target by the end of 2021.
