High-rise in Indian migration To Canada
Because of the inhibitory and stringent immigration regulations under Donald Trump and challenges in acquiring a green card to the USA, Indians are opting for Canada for permanent residence. During 2016, 39,340 Indians acquired permanent residence in Canada, and in 2019, the number had doubled to 80,685. According to NFAP (national Foundation American Policy), this is a 105 percent rise.
Canadian universities have also played a role in the rise of Canadian immigration. In 2017, Canada experienced a 20 percent increase in international students, which increased by 16 percent in 2018.
The Current Situation in Canada
Canada is still reviewing immigration processes amid the pandemic and awarding permanent resident invitations to qualified applicants. It uses the Express Entry system to manage immigration applications within the economic class. This system’s bi-weekly draws are still ongoing since March.
IRCC (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) has also issued more ITAs( invitations to apply) for yearly permanent residence. For instance, during the Express Entry draw on September 2 this year, IRCC awarded 69,950 ITAs compared to 56,200 issued in 2019.
The PNP (Provincial Nominee program is also still operational, and Canada is still focused on the Immigration Levels Plan of 2020-2022.
Come September 16, 2020, Express Entry will issue 4200 candidates an ITA. The CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) cut-off threshold in this draw was 472 points.
This all-program Express Entry is the first back-to-back draws since the onset of the pandemic. Although we can’t confirm this a return or one-time outlier, it’s similar to pre-COVID patterns. However, this could be good news to applicants in FSW (federal skilled Worker), CEC (Canadian Experience Class), and FST (Federal Skilled Trades), who were exempted from various draws since the outbreak of the pandemic.
With the above factors, IRCC expects an increase in Canada’s PR immigration levels when the current corona virus pandemic is behind us.
