In a bid to ensure that Canada has the required workers to fill the labor market gap and strengthen the economy, the country expects to welcome more immigrants per year sooner. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser puts the projections at 500,000 per year.
Canada’s immigration system has made Canada what it is today. People moving to the country help better and enrich the community as they work on a daily and create more job opportunities.
The Covid-19 pandemic affected the number of immigrants that immigrated to Canada. Before the pandemic, Canada expected 340,000 new immigrants. However, the target number was not met due to the strict restrictions that required most activities to be done remotely. This led to many people losing their jobs and fewer people immigrating to Canada.
A post-Covid -19 economic recovery plan by Canada set the target at 400,000 new immigrants to come in and support the economic growth in 2021. The target was however surpassed with Canada welcoming 405,000 new immigrants. An immigration levels plan 2022-2024 tabled by Minister Sean Fraser in February 2022 showed that Canada intends to have 430,000 new immigrants per year with the number intended to grow to 450,000 immigrants by the year 2024.
With the 1% growth in the numbers witnessed, the immigration minister affirmed that the 500,000 immigrants per year target will be easily met. According to minister Sean Fraser, there are no clear timelines as to when the target will be met but based on the rise in the number of immigrants the target will be met soon.
