Immigration to Canada roared back to life in April, spiking 22 per cent from a lacklustre level in March as the country welcomed 42,545 new permanent residents during the fourth month of this year, the latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals.
After starting the year out strong with an 11-month high of 47,755 new permanent residents to Canada in January, monthly immigration softened to 39,100 in February and only 34,860 in March.
That downward trend early this year was a repeat of the trend in early 2023, a year which nonetheless closed with record-breaking immigration.
After hitting a high of 50,945 new permanent residents to Canada in January last year, monthly immigration levels tapered off over the following three months to a mere 29,565 new permanent residents in April 2023.
Despite the uptick in April this year, immigration to Canada in the first third of this year was still down 6.2 per cent overall, with 164,265 new permanent residents arriving in the country during those four months, compared to the same period in 2023 when Canada welcomed 175,060 new permanent residents.
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Projecting out from the first four months of this year to the rest of the year would result in 492,795 new permanent residents to Canada this year, up 4.4 per cent from last year’s record-breaking level of 471,810.
That level of immigration would allow Canada to exceed its target under the 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan.
Canada is planning to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents this year, 500,000 in 2025 and then hold the line on immigration in 2026 with another 500,000 newcomers for a total of 1.485 million immigrants to the country over those three years.
“Following the trajectory of the 2023 – 2025 plan, Canada aims to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024, 500,000 in 2025 and plateau at 500,000 in 2026,” notes the IRCC on its website.
“This plan prioritizes economic growth, and supports family reunification, while responding to humanitarian crises and recognizing the rapid growth in immigration in recent years.”
Canada’s biggest province by population, Ontario, was the most popular destination for newcomers in the first third of this year with 70,250 new permanent residents choosing to settle there during those four months.
That means the central Canadian province was the destination of choice of almost 42.8 per cent of all immigrants to Canada during the first third of this year.
Economic programs, including the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), Agri-Food Immigration Pilot (AFIP), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Caregiver programs, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), Federal Skilled Trades (FST) and Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) programs, the Start-Up Visa (SUV) and Self-Employed Persons (SEP) programs, and the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway accounted for about 54.5 per cent of all new permanent residents coming to Ontario during the first four months of this year.
Those programs helped 38,230 new permanent residents arrive in Ontario during that period.
New Brunswick Saw The Biggest Percentage Gains In Immigration In April
Another 17,085 new permanent residents arrived in Ontario through family sponsorships and 12,410 came to that province through Canada’s refugee and protected persons programs from January through to the end of April.
The other provinces and territories attracted the following number of new permanent residents each during those four months.
- Newfoundland and Labrador – 1,920
- Prince Edward Island – 1,830
- Nova Scotia – 5,545
- New Brunswick – 5,575
- Quebec – 18,400
- Manitoba – 8,055
- Saskatchewan – 7,910
- Alberta – 21,070
- British Columbia – 23,155
- Yukon – 370
- Northwest Territories – 150
- Nunavut – 20
Across the country, New Brunswick was the province that saw the biggest increase in monthly immigration in April with the number of arrivals of new permanent residents rising by 64.1 per cent. Among the country’s three territories, the Northwest Territories saw a monthly immigration bump up of 16.7 per cent in April compared to the previous month.
So far this year, Nunavut has welcomed only 20 new permanent residents.
Canada operates a two-tier immigration system which allows foreign nationals to gain their permanent residency through the federal Express Entry system’s FSW, FST, and CEC programs and as well as the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the 10 Canadian provinces.
Temporary immigration to Canada, which skyrocketed during the pandemic, is expected to come under an immigration levels plan in September, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced.
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