Canada aims to accept nearly 1 million new immigrants in 3-year period

IMPACT – MEDIUM

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has unveiled a plan to accept nearly 1 million new immigrants over the next three years, aiming to continue a trend of bringing more foreign workers to the country as a way to meet the country’s business and labor needs.

The plan is consistent with recent comments from Canada’s minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen, that 300,000 new immigrants per year would become “the new normal” for Canada.

“This historic multi-year immigration levels plan will benefit all Canadians because immigrants will contribute their talents to support our economic growth and innovation, helping to keep our country at the forefront of the global economy,” Hussen said in a statement Wednesday.

Key points:

• The 2018-2020 Immigration Levels Plan calls for Canada to accept 310,000 new permanent residents in 2018, 330,000 in 2019 and 340,000 in 2020.
• Economic immigrants will make up nearly 60 percent of these totals, with most economic migrants being accepted through the Federal Skilled Trades and Provincial Nominee programs. All told, Canada is planning to accept about 177,500 economic immigrants in 2018, 191,600 in 2019 and 195,800 in 2020.
• Canada is also planning to accept tens of thousands of family-sponsored immigrants and refugees in each of the next three years. Projections show family-based immigrants totaling about 86,000 in 2018, 88,500 in 2019 and 91,000 in 2020. Refugees and protected persons are expected to total about 43,000 in 2018, 45,650 in 2019 and 48,700 in 2020.

BAL Analysis: The three-year projections show that Canada is intent on continuing the current trend of accepting an increasing number of new immigrants, particularly economic immigrants. Canada has taken a number of steps recently to welcome more immigrants, including accepting more permanent residents through its Express Entry program, introducing several new measures under the Global Skills Strategy and concluding the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union to ease mobility for European professionals. Additional information on the 2018-2020 Immigration Levels Plan is available on this IRCC website.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group. For additional information, please contact your BAL attorney.

Copyright © 2017 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.