Canada breaks record by welcoming over 437,000 new immigrants in 2022
Canada breaks record by welcoming over 437,000 new immigrants in 2022
Over 437,000 new permanent residents were admitted to Canada last year, the most ever in a single year.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced today that Canada has exceeded a record-breaking target for permanent resident admissions in 2022.
According to an IRCC tweet, Canada welcomed over 437,000 new immigrants last year. This exceeds their target of 431,645 new immigrants and sets an all-time high for Canadian permanent residence admissions in a single year. The previous high was set in 2021, when Canada welcomed over 405,000 new residents.
“Today marks an important milestone for Canada, setting a new record for newcomers welcomed in a single year.” said immigration minister Sean Fraser. “It is a testament to the strength and resilience of our country and its people. Newcomers play an essential role in filling labor shortages, bringing new perspectives and talents to our communities, and enriching our society as a whole. I am excited to see what the future holds and look forward to another historic year in 2023 as we continue to welcome newcomers.”
In 2022, IRCC processed 5.2 million applications across all business lines. This figure includes applications for permanent residency, temporary residency, and citizenship, and it is more than double the number of applications processed in 2021.
The increase in applications processed, as well as the high number of admissions, is attributed to new resources, new technology, streamlined processing, and bringing more processes online, according to IRCC.
In the Fall Economic Statement, the government also committed $50 million to IRCC for 2022-2023 to address the ongoing backlog of applications, which stood at 1.09 million across all lines of business as of November 30, 2022.
Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025
The annual Immigration Levels Plan specifies Canada’s admission targets. The plan for 2022 was released in February 2022, with the highest admission targets ever, until the plan for 2023-2025 was released in November 2025.
Immigration accounts for nearly all of Canada’s labor-force growth. In Canada, there are nearly one million job openings and a skilled labor shortage due to the aging workforce.
Immigrants are critical to Canada’s economy because nine million Canadians are expected to reach the retirement age of 65 by 2030. Because of Canada’s aging population, the worker-to-retiree ratio is expected to fall from 7 to 1 50 years ago to 2 to 1 by 2035.
Furthermore, because Canada has one of the lowest global birth rates, at 1.4 children per woman, immigration accounts for nearly 75% of Canada’s population growth.
In recent years, Canada has made an effort to welcome a greater number of immigrants in order to increase its population. According to the 2021 immigration census, 1.3 million new permanent residents entered Canada between 2016 and 2021. In other words, one in every four respondents in Canada was or had been a landed immigrant or permanent resident, the highest proportion since Confederation and the highest proportion among G7 countries. Immigrants are expected to account for 36% of Canada’s population by 2036.
In the future, the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, released in November, sets an even more ambitious target of 500,000 new permanent residents per year by 2025. The goal for 2023 is 465,000 people.
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