News
13-05-2021 Canada is still on pace to welcome 401,000 new immigrants in 2021:
Canada landed 22,425 new permanent residents in March 2021.
Data released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) earlier this week shows the country welcomed over 70,000 new immigrants in the first quarter of this year. This Q1 2021 figure is well above the 30,000-40,000 newcomers Canada had been landing per quarter since the start of the pandemic.
IRCC is guided by the most ambitious immigration plan in the country’s history. In late October 2020, the department’s minister, Marco Mendicino, announced the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan.
Canada aims to welcome 401,000 new immigrants in 2021 which would tie the record set in 1913. It looks to welcome even more newcomers over the next two years.
The main way IRCC is doing this is by holding Express Entry draws that target individuals currently in Canada. Express Entry is the primary way Canada welcomes economic class immigrants. The economic class accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the new immigrants Canada admits each year.
Express Entry draws have targeted Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates. The CEC has comprised the overwhelming majority of successful Express Entry candidates in 2021.
On February 13, IRCC invited 27,332 CEC candidates to apply for permanent residence, which was almost six times larger than the previous Express Entry draw record.