Kareem El-Assal and Shelby Thevenot | CIC News | December 23, 2021
IRCC achieved the goal by focusing on transitioning temporary residents living in Canada during the pandemic to permanent resident status.
Canada has landed over 400,000 new permanent residents in 2021 for just the second time since it was founded as a country in 1867.
This has just been confirmed in a news release by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The department also confirmed that the country has broken its all-time record for permanent residence landings in a year.
The only other time Canada surpassed the 400,000 immigrant figure was in 1913, but the onset of the First World War saw immigration to the country drop in the following years.
Prior to the pandemic, Canada set a goal of welcoming 341,000 new immigrants in 2020. It only landed 184,000 last year due to the pandemic. However, it doubled down on immigration to support its post-pandemic economic recovery by announcing it would target the arrival of 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021.
IRCC has been able to meet its Immigration Levels Plan target this year through a technicality. A landing can occur either by a temporary resident of Canada seeing their legal status change to permanent residence, or by them arriving to Canada from abroad and officially gaining permanent resident status. Prior to the pandemic, most new immigrants came from overseas. This year, however, IRCC has focused on transitioning those within the country to achieve its newcomer goal. The rationale has been those within Canada are less likely to be impacted by COVID-related disruptions that may impede their ability to land as a permanent resident.