The year 2022 is set to become a banner year for immigration in Canada.
The federal government has announced that it is on track to reach its target of welcoming 431,000 new permanent residents in 2022.
The number is projected to exceed the record-breaking 405,000 new permanent residents in 2021.
For context, the 2021 number surpassed the previous record from 1913.
The projected new record for 2022 was contained in a media release on December 19, 2022 by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
“Newcomers helped build our country, were on the front lines as we battled the pandemic, and remain key to our success,” the agency stated.
In the same release, the IRCC noted that Canada is “proud to have one of the highest naturalization rates in the world and encourages all newcomers to complete their journey by becoming Canadian citizens”.
IRCC expects a record number of new Canadian citizens in 2022–2023, with approximately 251,000 new citizens welcomed from April to November.
The agency noted that this number is going to surpass the total number of new Canadian citizens for the last fiscal year.
“Canada embraces immigration as a strategy to help businesses find workers with the required skills in key sectors—including health care, skilled trades, manufacturing, transportation, and technology—to manage the social and economic challenges we will face in the decades ahead,” the IRCC stated.
The IRCC also stated in the release that it has been modernizing services and adding support for permanent residence programs to better serve clients.
The release quoted Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, saying that the federal government has reduced backlogs in the processing of immigration applications.
“It is through the dedication and hard work of those who administer our immigration system, and our willingness to modernize and adapt, that we are able to uphold Canada’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive country,” Fraser said.
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