CIMM – Economic Immigration – May 12, 2022

Key Messages

• Canada faces demographic and economic challenges due to our aging population, which immigration can help address. This need has been exacerbated by the economic uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Canada continues to welcome newcomers, in particular economic immigrants, through multiple pathways. These newcomers bring the skills our economy needs to help recover and keep growing as we move forward.
• The 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan sets out a path for responsible increases to immigration to help the Canadian economy recover from COVID-19, with about 60% of admissions to come from the economic category by 2024.
• Immigration is a central pillar of Canada’s economic recovery and future growth. Economic immigrants are educated, fill targeted labour and skills shortages, contribute to innovation and workplace diversity, and are able to integrate into the Canadian labour market with ease.
• Canada has implemented several pilots and programs to support economic immigration, including in rural and remote regions, some of which embed supports for settlement and integration to help ensure newcomer success.

Supplementary Messages

• The 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan sets ambitious immigration targets, aiming to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024. It recognizes immigration as a key driver of economic recovery and growth, with close to 60% of projected admissions in the economic class.
• Canada’s suite of economic immigration programs allows for the selection of immigrants, including French-speaking and bilingual candidates, across a range of occupations and skill levels, at the national and provincial/territorial levels. 
• Immigration also helps maintain the vitality of official language minority communities in Canada. The Government of Canada is committed to achieving the 4.4% target for French-speaking admissions outside of Quebec by 2023.
• Express Entry is a key driver of Francophone immigration outside of Quebec. An increase in additional points for French-speaking candidates resulted in 5.2% of invitations issued to French-speaking candidates in 2020 (compared to only 2.9% in 2017), representing the majority of French-speaking federal admissions. The proportion of French-speaking permanent resident admissions was 3.61% in 2020 and 2% in 2021.
• Applications for all permanent residence programs continue to be processed. Throughout the pandemic, the Department has taken extraordinary and innovative steps to meet economic immigration levels:
  • exceeding pre-pandemic processing rates – surpassed the 2021 admissions target, welcoming 405,332 permanent residents (roughly 62% were economic class admissions);
  • pivoted to deliver many services remotely;
  • implemented new ways to grant new permanent resident status, including facilitating virtual landings for in-Canada applicants;
  • allocated additional points for French-speaking and bilingual candidates under Express Entry;
  • introduced the time-limited Temporary Pathway to Permanent Residence to help retain the talent of temporary residents already here, to support our economic recovery;
  • eased medical exam requirements for eligible in-Canada permanent resident applicants, to facilitate processing; and,
  • supported settlement service providers to adapt and continue supporting newcomers throughout the pandemic.
• Immigration is a significant driver of population growth, accounting for close to 86% of overall growth in 2019. It is anticipated to increase to 100% by the 2040s. With an aging population and declining fertility rates, plus labour and economic challenges, Canada will depend even more on immigration in the long-term.

Outcomes of Economic Immigrants

• Economic principal applicants’ employment earnings are well above the average for all immigrants, and surpass the Canadian average shortly after landing.
• The gap in employment rates between immigrants and the Canadian-born population has narrowed in recent years (with the exception of 2020). In 2021, 79.1% of immigrants aged 25-54 were employed, compared to 83.9% of the Canadian-born. 
• In 2019, the labour market performance of immigrants in Canada was stronger than the average reported for other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD countries for both employment rates and earnings.
• Despite the strong performance of many economic immigrants, newcomers to Canada do experience notable challenges due to discrimination and under-recognition of foreign qualifications and work experience. Newcomers, including economic immigrants, are more likely to end up in jobs where they are overqualified.

Permanent Resident Processing

• While my Department continues to accept and process permanent resident applications, service disruptions and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 have had an impact on processing times. As a result, IRCC has seen significant growth in the overall size and age of its application inventories across economic programs.
• In the drive to process as many applications as possible in 2021 to compensate for these shortfalls, IRCC focused on processing applicants who were already in Canada.
• In order to reduce the backlog and improve client experience without impacting admissions, the Department has temporarily paused sending invitations to apply to candidates in the Express Entry pool, with the exception of the Provincial Nominee Program.

If pressed: on the pause on Federal High Skilled Programs

• The pause on invitation to apply rounds for Federal High Skilled Programs (Federal Skilled Worker Program, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Trades Program) was necessary in order to address the existing inventory of applications and to return to normal service standards within the Express Entry system.
• The pause is in place until July 2022. The Department continues to monitor the inventory and evaluate when invitations to apply can resume. Canada remains committed to welcoming newcomers who bring the skills our economy needs to grow.
• The Department continues to finalize applications for skilled workers and the pause on invitations will have no impact on the number of new skilled worker permanent residents to Canada.
• IRCC’s processing network has worked diligently to manage processing issues. Additional funding of $85 million was announced in January 2022, to help return to processing service standards in various programs by year-end. This investment will go towards the expansion of the digital application portal by summer 2022. As well, it was to support the processing of 147,000 permanent residence final decisions by March 31, 2022. This target was surpassed with 156,000 final decisions made between January 1, 2022, and March 31, 2022. Canada welcomed over 113,000 new permanent residents in the first quarter of 2022.^{Footnote 1}

Outcomes of New Measures Attracting Individuals Across Skill Levels

• The time-limited Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway, which targeted recent international graduates and essential workers in areas such a healthcare, saw over 91,000 applications. Dedicated streams for French-speaking and bilingual temporary residents were included. Close to 24,000 new permanent residents were admitted through this pathway in 2021 and approximately 17,000 more have been admitted to the end of March 2022, 42.5% of the 40,000 planned admissions for 2022. A further 32,000 admissions are planned in 2023.^{Footnote 2}
• The three-year Agri-Food Pilot, launched in 2020, provides a pathway to permanent residence for full-time, year-round workers in specific agriculture industries and occupations. In 2021, 187 new permanent residents to Canada were welcomed through the pilot. In addition, a total of 391 principal applicants have been admitted to date as new permanent residents under the TR to PR Pathway in occupations that qualify under the Agri-Food Pilot.^{Footnote 3}
• The five-year Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots, introduced in 2019, provide a clear and direct pathway to permanent residence for caregivers from abroad and their families. In 2021, there were roughly 2,800 new permanent residents welcomed through these two pilots.
• The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, introduced in 2019, uses a community-based, economic development approach with the aim to support 11 partner rural or remote communities located in northern Ontario and western Canada. In 2021, there were 556 admissions.
• Launched in 2017, the Atlantic Immigration Pilot brought over 12,700 new permanent residents to Atlantic Canada (as of January 31, 2022). The pilot was very well received in the region and was transitioned to a permanent program on January 1, 2022.
• The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a jointly administered immigration program which provides provinces and territories with an opportunity to address their economic development needs, while distributing the benefits of economic immigration across Canada.
• From 2019 to 2021, provinces and territories received additional allocations aimed at increasing transitions to permanent residence for in-Canada temporary workers to meet the labour market needs at the intermediate skill level (“NOC C Initiative”).
• Early data indicates that the PNP will see an increase in admissions at this skill level. It has also resulted in new pathways to permanent residence, as all eleven participating jurisdictions now have a dedicated stream for intermediate-skilled workers.

Language

• Proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages is a key determinant of labour market success. Applicants to most economic immigration programs must demonstrate that they meet minimum language requirements.
• Four language testing organizations are currently designated by IRCC for economic immigration purposes (two English and two French). The designation of the second French language testing organization in 2018 has reduced the cost of French language testing and increased its availability in Canada and around the world.
• Language testing performed by independent, designated language testing organizations has been found to be the most consistent, accurate, and secure way to demonstrate language proficiency.
• The cost of language tests varies between organizations and testing locations due to a number of factors, including demand, capital costs, and competition. Demand in Canada for the English tests has been significantly higher than demand for the French tests, which remain slightly more expensive (an average difference of approximately $40). The Department is committed to decreasing the gap in cost of and availability of English and French language tests for economic immigration to Canada.