Canada targets 351,000 new permanent residents in 2021 despite pandemic

Bloomberg News reports that after consulting with with various business, labor and settlement organizations to gauge the current demand for immigration, Canada remains committed to bringing 351,000 permanent residents in 2021 despite current travel restrictions.

The coronavirus pandemic has set back Canada’s ambitious immigration targets. In March 2020, Canada unveiled a plan to increase immigration over the next three years — targeting 341,000 permanent residents in 2020, 351,000 in 2021, and 361,000 in 2022.

Although Canada had aimed to welcome 341,000 new immigrants this year, but so far only 128,186 new permanent residents arrived between January and August as the pandemic wreaked havoc on immigration and travel plans.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino is leaning against scaling back the government’s immigration targets for the coming years, according to two people familiar with the matter. That includes bringing in 351,000 new permanent residents in 2021 — the most in a century. The government will update its three-year projections within the next month.

Bloomberg News

Bloomberg identifies several impacts of the pandemic and related travel restrictions on Canada’s immigration-related economics. For example, international students have largely been unable to travel to Canada. Decline in immigration is having significant knock-on effects in the housing market as apartment vacancy rates have increased significantly, condo rental listings doubled and average rents plummeted by 9%.

Canada 2020-2022 Immigration Level: Targets

		2020	2021	2022
Economic	Federal High Skilled	91,800	91,150	91,550
	Federal Business	750	750	750
	Economic Pilots: Caregivers; Agri-Food Immigration Pilot; Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot	5,200	7,150	9,500
	Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program	5,000	5,000	5,000
	Provincial/Territorial Nominee Program	67,800	71,300	73,000
	Quebec Skilled Workers and Business	25,250	TBD	TBD
	Total Economic	195,800	203,050	212,050
Family	Spouses, Partners and Children	70,000	70,000	70,000
	Parents and Grandparents	21,000	21,000	21,000
	Total Family	91,000	91,000	91,000
Refugees and Protected Persons	Protected Persons in Canada and Dependents Abroad	18,000	20,000	20,500
	Resettled Refugees – Government-Assisted	10,700	10,950	11,450
	Resettled Refugees – Privately Sponsored	20,000	20,000	20,000
	Resettled Refugees – Blended Visa Office-Referred	1,000	1,000	1,000
	Total Refugees and Protected Persons	49,700	51,950	52,950
Humanitarian and Other	Total Humanitarian & Compassionate and Other	4,500	5,000	5,000
	Overall Planned Permanent Resident Admissions	341,000	351,000	361,000

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