OLLO – Economic Immigration – February 6, 2023

Key Messages

• Canada faces demographic and economic challenges due to our aging population, which immigration can help address. Recent Census data reveal that from 2016 to 2021, immigrants accounted for four-fifths of labour force growth and that immigration is the main driver of Canada’s population growth. 
• Economic Immigration is a central pillar of Canada’s economic growth. Economic immigrants are educated, fill targeted labour and skills shortages, contribute to innovation and workplace diversity, and integrate into the Canadian labour market.
• The 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan supports building a resilient economy by prioritizing economic immigration. Particular focus is given to regional programs so that the benefits of immigration are spread throughout the country.
• 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

• Economic Class Levels: The 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan sets ambitious immigration targets, aiming to welcome 465,000 new permanent residents in 2023, 485 000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025.
  • Projected economic admissions will reach 60% of Levels by 2025.
  • Provincial Nominee Program targets increase by 22,000, and the Atlantic Immigration Program increase by 2,250 admissions in 2023.

Supporting Facts And Figures

• Express Entry: Express Entry is Canada’s flagship application management system for those seeking to immigrate permanently through the Federal High Skilled Programs and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.
  • Canada welcomed over 85,700 skilled workers and their families as of December 31, 2022.
• “Category-based selection”, expected to be launched in spring 2023, will build on the success of Express Entry with more flexibility to respond to evolving economic needs and Government priorities. 
• IRCC recently consulted provincial and territorial partners and stakeholders on categories to support the priorities of addressing chronic labour market shortages and positioning for the future, and supporting economic growth through Francophone immigration.
• The Department is analyzing input along with labour market information to recommend categories for ministerial approval. Categories have not yet been established and will change over time.
• The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) provides provinces and territories (PTs) a means to address their economic development needs and distributes the benefits of immigration across Canada.
  • Canada welcomed over 88,100 provincial nominees and their families as of December 31, 2022.
  • Admissions have increased by almost 600% between 2005 and 2021.
• PTs design and implementation their PNP streams, for example skilled worker and/or international graduate streams, or entrepreneurship or priority economic sectors.
• Launched in 2017, the Atlantic Immigration Pilot brought over 17,100 newcomers to the Atlantic region (as of December 31, 2022), with participating employers making over 11,000 job offers in key sectors. Most significantly, over 90% of AIP applicants were still living in the region after one year; a much higher retention rate than other programs.
• On January 1, 2022, IRCC and Atlantic Provinces transitioned the pilot into a permanent program. While the permanent program only launched a year ago, uptake has been promising with over 1,600 employers already designated (as of December 31, 2022) .
• 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. On September 23, 2022, the pilot was extended until August 2024. As of December 31, 2022, there were 1,683 admissions.
• Phase 2 of the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), launched in December 2021, focuses on durable solutions for refugees with the skills and qualifications that Canadian employers need. As of December 31, 2022, there have been 116 admissions through the EMPP since 2018. IRCC recently launched an authorized partner referral model and is committed to exploring other innovations to continue to grow the pilot.
• In 2021, IRCC created a time-limited Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway, which targeted recent international graduates and essential workers in over 130 essential occupations, including in areas such as healthcare, caregiving, agriculture, manufacturing, service industry, trades and transportation.
  • Dedicated streams for French-speaking temporary residents were included and have welcomed over 3,700 new permanent residents (up to December 31, 2022).
  • In total, over 63,000 new permanent residents have been admitted under this TR2PR Pathway (as of December 31, 2022). A further 25,000 admissions are planned in 2023.
• The three-year Agri-Food Pilot, launched in 2020, provides a pathway to permanent residence for full-time, year-round workers in specific agri-food industries and occupations.
  • In 2022, 1,000 permanent residents were welcomed through the pilot. Over 690 principal applicants in agri-food occupations were admitted under the TR2PR pathway (as of December 31, 2022).^{Footnote 1}
• The five-year Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots, introduced in 2019, provides a clear and direct pathway to permanent residence for caregivers from abroad and their families.
  • In 2022, 4,340 new permanent residents were welcomed to Canada through all caregiver pathways, including through these two pilots.
• Francophone Immigration: Immigration also helps maintain the vitality of official language minority communities in Canada. The Government of Canada achieved the 4.4% target for French-speaking admissions outside of Quebec (see separate note on Francophone Immigration Outside Quebec) in 2022, one year ahead of the deadline. Admissions through economic immigration programs were a key driver of this success.
• Outcomes of Economic Immigrants: Economic principal applicants’ employment earnings have historically been well above the average for all immigrants, and surpass the Canadian average shortly after landing. The gap in employment rates between all 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.
• Despite the strong performance, many economic immigrants do face barriers to labour market integration, including discrimination with differential impacts on racialized newcomers^{Footnote 2}, and under-recognition of foreign work experience and credentials. As a result, economic immigrants, in particular immigrants with degrees obtained outside Canada are overqualified at a higher rate than Canadian-born or Canadian-educated degree holders. Among immigrants with a foreign degree, over-qualification is higher among women than among men.
• Language: Proficiency in one of Canada’s official languages is a key determinant of labour market success. Four language testing organizations are currently designated by IRCC for economic immigration purposes (two English and two French). The designation of a second French language testing organization in 2018 reduced the cost of French language testing and increased its availability in Canada and around the world.