According to ICCRC data In January 2022, 35,260 Immigrants landed in Canada.

 This information shows Canada has gotten off to a solid beginning as it tries to welcome more than 400,000 new workers for the second successive year.

Under its new 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan, unveiled last month, Canada is targeting almost 432,000 new immigrant landings this year, which would be the highest level on record ever. Last year, Canada landed more than 405,000 immigrants, mainly by transitioning those living in the country to permanent residence. It marked a record year for Canada and marked the first time since 1913 that the country welcomed more than 400,000 immigrants.

In January, 65 percent of the new landings of permanent residents corresponded to the economic class, which is higher than the 56 percent foreseen in the level plan. 20% landed in the family class, which is below the tier plan’s target of 24%. The refugee and humanitarian class accounted for the remaining 15% of landings, which is below the plan’s target of 20% levels for this year.

Canadian Experience Class (CEC) continued to be the leading program for new economic class landings, with almost 7,700 immigrants. IRCC relied heavily on the CEC last year to achieve its immigration levels target, with the CEC accounting for about a third of new admissions. The Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident (“TR2PR”) Program, which was available to international graduates and essential workers between May and November 2021, was the second-leading economy class admissions program, with more than 7,000 immigrants landing in January. The Provincial Nominee Program ranked third among the economic class, with 4,200 immigrants landing, followed by the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), with nearly 2,600 landings.

Recent IRCC data shows that the department is processing FSWP applications at an increased rate. This is notable because the FSWP was Canada’s leading economy-class immigration program between its founding in 1967 and the start of the pandemic. Last year, IRCC slowed down FSWP processing in order to transition as many international students, temporary foreign workers, and other temporary residents to permanent residence in compliance with its 2021 tier plan goal. The rationale for this policy was that it would be much more difficult for the IRCC to achieve the goal of its tier plan if it sought to admit large numbers of FSWPs and other immigrants abroad amid operational difficulties caused by the pandemic.

However, IRCC appears to be changing course by processing more FSWP applications in recent months. It processed more than 9,000 people under the FSWP between mid-December and the end of February, which is much higher than the average of 600 people it processed under the FSWP for much of 2021. This is a sign that IRCC is beginning to standardize its operations which involves striking a balance between processing immigration applications filed within Canada and abroad.

Another reason the January 2022 immigrant admissions figures are noteworthy is that they likely represent a low point in the monthly landings Canada should expect this year. Before the pandemic, Canada used to see lower immigrant arrivals in the first and fourth quarters of each year, due to colder weather and the winter vacation season. Landings are expected to increase by about 40 percent in the warmer spring and summer months of the second and fourth quarters. With IRCC processing more applicants from abroad, we should expect to see more immigrant arrivals in the second and third quarters of this year, however, the magnitude of the growth may not reach 40 percent given that IRCC still has many permanent residents. in Canada. applications to process, such as under the TR2PR program.

Unlike last year, where there were significant operational challenges from COVID-19, such as Canada’s travel restrictions and difficulties around the world, there is less doubt that Canada will be able to achieve its goal of immigration levels in 2022. IRCC has shown that it can process even higher numbers of permanent residence applications than before the pandemic. Additionally, IRCC is investing heavily in modernizing its application processing systems and Canada has lifted most of its travel restrictions.