Canada is welcoming more immigrants than ever in 2022

On March 31, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, announced that IRCC surpassed its goal to make 147,000 permanent residence final decisions in the first quarter of 2022—doubling the number of final decisions in the same period in 2021.

Through these efforts, Canada has welcomed over 108,000 new permanent residents so far this year. In addition, Canada has exceeded its citizenship goals for 2021–2022, with over 210,000 new Canadian citizens.

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Modernizing and Improving Immigration Services in Canada

IRCC is modernizing and improving its service for immigrant candidates and permanent residents by

• Offering online testing
• Holding virtual citizenship ceremonies
• Creating online application tracker
• Moving more applications from paper to online
• Hiring new processing staff
• Digitizing applications
• Reallocating work among IRCC offices around the world; and
• Updating online processing times tool

In the first quarter of 2022, IRCC approved the most permanent residents over the same period of past years. The figure below shows the number of admitted permanent residents by quarter from quarter 1 of 2019 to quarter 1 of 2022.

The new announcement indicates that in 2022, Canada will welcome the most immigrants in history. The IRCC 2021 annual report gives the 2022–2024 Immigration Levels Plan as below:

2022             2023              2024
Projected admissions – Targets	431,645		447,055		451,000
Projected admissions – Ranges	Low	High	Low	High	Low	High
Economic immigration	210,000	248,000	222,000	259,000	235,000	273,000
Family reunification	90,000	109,000	94,000	113,000	99,000	117,000
Refugees, protected persons, humanitarian and compassionate and other	60,000	88,000	64,000	93,000	56,000	85,000
TOTAL	360,000	445,000	380,000	465,000	390,000	475,000

Compared to the PR admission target of 401,000 for 2021, IRCC increased its target numbers by around 7.6%.

With the increased processing capacity, high target, as well as the fading influence of Covid-19, we will see the most immigrants in history coming to Canada in 2022.

Table 2 provides the numbers of Admitted Permanent Residents in 2021 by Destination and Immigration Category. We can see that nearly half of Permanent Residents chose Ontario as their residing destination, and over 60% of immigrants received their permanent status through economic programs. Family members of Canadian permanent residents and citizens occupy only 20% of people who become permanent residents in 2022.

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Permanent Residents Admitted in Canada for 2021

Table 2: Permanent Residents Admitted in 2021 by Destination and Immigration Category*

Category / Destination			NL	PEI	NS	NB	QC	ON	MB	AK	AB	BC	YU	NT	NU	Not Stated	Sub-Total
	Federal Economic – Skilled		295	490	1,720	680		92,950	1,330	1,285	9,565	31,165	90	55	0	0	139,625
		Canadian Experience	285	485	1,670	665	0	86,860	1,185	1,195	8,560	29,520	85	55	0	0	130,565
		Economic Public Policy	0	5	0	0		105	0	0	30	75	0	0	0	0	215
		Skilled Trade	0	0	0	0		135	0	5	40	335	0	0	0	0	515
		Skilled Worker	10	0	50	15		5,850	145	85	935	1,235	5	0	0	0	8,330
	Atlantic Immigration Programs (AIP)		410	265	2,670	1,580	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,925
	Rural and Northern Immigration (RNIP)		0					350	50	0	0	125	0	0	0	0	525
	Federal Economic – Caregiver		0	0	0	0		1,445	15	30	470	705	0	5	0	0	2,670
	Quebec Skilled Workers						25,160								0	0	25,160
	Federal Economic – Business		0	5	10	10	0	230	20	0	35	250	0	0	0	0	560
		Self-Employed	—	—	5	—	0	105	0	—	15	50	—	0	0	0	175
		Start-up Business	—	—	5	10	—	125	20	—	25	200	—	0	0	0	385
	Quebec Business Immigrants						1,685								0	0	1,685
	Provincial Nominee Program		510	1,480	2,275	1,815	0	11,025	10,320	6,505	8,585	11,000	365	120	0	0	54,000
	Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway		105	160	920	415	0	12,935	1,080	415	1,695	6,085	50	25	0	0	23,885
Economic – Total			1,320	2,405	7,600	4,495	26,845	118,935	12,820	8,235	20,350	49,335	510	210	0	0	253,060
		Sponsored Children	15	10	55	40	920	2,135	130	85	950	490	5	—	0	0	4,835
		Sponsored Extended Family Member	0	0	0	—	70	135	5	5	140	45	—	—	0	0	400
		Sponsored Parent or Grandparent	15	0	40	15	1,750	5,425	400	390	1,800	1,870	5	—	0	0	11,710
		Sponsored Spouse or Partner	150	120	635	360	11,130	28,915	1,805	1,175	8,035	11,875	60	65	0	0	64,325
	Sponsored Family		180	130	730	415	13,870	36,610	2,335	1,655	10,925	14,285	75	75	0	0	81,285
Sponsored Family – Total			180	130	730	415	13,870	36,610	2,335	1,655	10,925	14,285	75	75	0	0	81,285
		Blended Sponsorship Refugee	0	0	10	0	0	40	10	0	—	15	0	0	0	0	75
		Government-Assisted Refugee	460	70	395	300	975	3,860	395	690	2,155	1,110			0	0	10,410
		Privately Sponsored Refugee	45	—	155	60	635	4,330	450	250	2,900	675	—	10	0	0	9,510
	Resettled Refugee		505	70	560	355	1,610	8,230	855	940	5,060	1,800	—	10	0	0	19,995
	Protected Person in Canada		15	15	65	40	5,685	27,375	385	85	2,910	3,215	—	—	0	0	39,790
Resettled Refugee & Protected Person in Canada – Total			520	85	625	395	7,295	35,605	1,235	1,025	7,970	5,020	5	15	0	0	59,795
All Other Immigration – Total			40	10	70	15	2,240	7,185	180	40	765	665	5	0	40	410	11,665
Total			2,060	2,630	9,025	5,320	50,255	198,335	16,570	10,950	40,010	69,300	595	295	40	410	405,795
Percentage			0.51%	0.65%	2.22%	1.31%	12.38%	48.88%	4.08%	2.70%	9.86%	17.08%	0.15%	0.07%	0.01%	0.10%	100.00%

*Data source: IRCC open data at Open Government.