Ottawa: Canada has unveiled a three-year Immigration Levels Plan (2022-24) aimed at welcoming immigrants at a rate of about 1 per cent of the country's population. They now recognise the important role played by immigrants in filling critical labour market gaps and contributing towards its economy. The plan includes a target of 430,000 permanent residents in 2022, 440,000 in 2023 and 450,000 in 2024, totalling to 13,20,000 in three years. The earlier targets of 410,000 for 2022 and 420,000 for 2023 have been revised upwards.
“This plan builds on the previous levels plan with an increased focus on supporting our economic resurgence and post-pandemic growth,” the Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the government’s immigration unit, said. Canada in 2021 had hit a historic high by welcoming over 400,000 new permanent residents, thus meeting its targets. However, this target was met largely by conversion of status of those already in Canada such as temporary foreign workers and students, bypassing the challenge of Covid travel curbs. The new plan has come amid criticism from those caught in processing delays. According to Canadian media, a backlog of nearly 18,00,000 exists as of December 2021.
