October 25, 2022

Record Breaking Canadian Immigration Levels between 2023-2025?

IRCC will announce the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 by November 1, including the breakdown of immigrants from economic class, family class and humanitarian class programs over the next three years. The target for 2022 was said to welcome nearly 432,000 new permanent residents, out of which over 300,000 permanent residents have been welcomed so far, and 513, 923 applications for permanent residency are still waiting to be processed. In February, the target was announced to be over 451,000 by 2024.

It is also likely that the minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for the resumed all-program Express Entry draws will continue to decrease until it is below 500, as was the norm before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some stats: the first five draws had declines of 8 or 9 points and the more recent draws on September 14, and 28 had decreased by only 6 points in each draw. If this trend continues, the score could soon dip below 500, similar to 2020, when the CRS score was 468. Will this lead to a record number of new immigrants between 2023-2025?