IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2024 – Economic Immigration

Context

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) manages economic immigration programs TO support the development of a strong Canadian economy and ensure that the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions.

Economic immigration

• Economic immigrants are selected^{Footnote 1} for their ability to become economically established and contribute to Canada’s economy. Economic immigration represents the largest share of annual permanent residence admissions, and will reach 60% of all permanent resident admissions by 2025.
• A variety of federal and regional immigration programs exist within the economic class. IRCC works closely with provinces and territories to manage the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Quebec has the exclusive authority over selection of economic immigrants destined to reside in Quebec. PNP and Quebec economic immigration allocations are included in the Multi-Year Levels Plan.

Economic Class: Permanent resident projected admissions

• 2024 – 281,135 (58% of all projected admissions)
• 2025 – 301,250 (60% of all projected admissions)
• 2026 – 301,250 (60% of all projected admissions)

Impacts

Principal applicants

• Principal applicants in the economic category selected for their ability to economically establish have the best outcomes among immigrants in Canada. In the Federal High-Skilled Programs, average annual earnings of principal applicants surpass the Canadian average soon after becoming permanent residents, and surpass average earnings for all other categories of permanent residents.

Labour market needs

As the largest portion of the annual immigration levels plan, economic immigration programs are often used as levers to meet short and long-term economic and labour market goals.

Pace and Mix

• As an important lever of managed migration, the Minister has the ability to calibrate the impact of economic immigration programs through levels setting, and adjusting the mix of programs and criteria.
• The Department collaborates with provinces, territories and other stakeholders so that their needs and interests are reflected in economic immigration programming.

Current Program

Core programs

• The vast majority of economic immigrants are selected through longstanding core programs which focus on:
  • Human capital factors (e.g. level of education, language proficiency, skilled work experience).
  • Labour market needs (e.g. job offers, provincial nominations).
• Each program has distinct objectives aimed at selecting immigrants across a range of skilled occupations.

Express Entry Application Management System

• Launched in January 2015, Express Entry is the electronic application management system for Canada’s Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs,(the Federal Skilled Worker Class, the Federal Skilled Trades Class, and the Canadian Experience Class), as well as a portion of the PNP.
• Foreign nationals may express their interest in immigrating to Canada by completing an online Express Entry profile, and individuals who meet the eligibility criteria for at least one of the Federal High Skilled Programs are placed in the Express Entry pool. Candidates receive a Comprehensive Ranking System score based on the details in their profile and top-ranking candidates are invited to apply for permanent residence through regular rounds of invitations.
• In June 2023, category-based selection launched in Express Entry, which allows the Department to target invitations to apply for permanent residence to candidates in the Express Entry pool who are eligible for specific categories established by the Minister to meet identified economic goals. Initial categories were established for candidates with French-language proficiency, or work experience in specific healthcare, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, trades, transport, and agriculture and agri-food occupations.
• Overall, Express Entry provides the Government of Canada with the means to manage the intake of applications for permanent residence under these key economic immigration programs, while also facilitating the selection of individuals who are most likely to succeed in Canada and who can help meet key labour market needs.

Federal Programs

Objective: Select and retain skilled workers and business people who can succeed over the long term in the Canadian economy and labour market. Includes the Federal High Skilled Programs (managed through Express Entry) and federal business programs. The 2024 admissions target for federal programs listed below is 115,770.

Federal High Skilled (2024 admissions target: 110,770)

• Federal Skilled Worker Class: Selects workers on the basis of skilled work experience and high human capital.
• Canadian Experience Class: Streamlined pathway to transition former students and temporary foreign workers who have skilled work experience in Canada.
• Federal Skilled Trades Class: Facilitates the immigration of skilled tradespersons in certain industries and sectors.

Federal Business (2024 admissions target: 5,000)

• Start-Up Visa Program: Attracts innovative foreign entrepreneurs who can create businesses in Canada that can compete on a global scale.
• Self-Employed Program: Attracts individuals with experience in the arts or athletics.

Regional Programs

Objective: Distribute the benefits of immigration across Canada by selecting skilled workers, international graduates and entrepreneurs best suited to meet regional economic development and labour market needs. The 2024 admissions target for regional programs listed below, (excluding Quebec economic) is 116,500.

Provincial Nominee Programs (2024 admissions target: 110,000)

• The PNP is a jointly administered immigration program which provides provinces and territories an opportunity to address their economic development needs, while distributing the benefits of economic immigration across Canada. Provinces and territories are responsible for the design and implementation of their streams within the PNP.

Quebec economic immigration (2024 admissions target: 35,500-40,750)

• Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec selects the economic immigrants destined to the province. In addition to the admission target range of 35,500-40,750 admissions, Quebec has also indicated that it intends to process an additional 6,000 business class applicants, to draw down existing inventory.

Atlantic Immigration Program (2024 admissions target: 6,500)

• Initially launched as a pilot in 2017, and then transitioned to a permanent program in 2022, the Atlantic Immigration Program is an employer-driven program to help employers hire skilled foreign workers and international graduates from an Atlantic Canadian institution for jobs they have not been able to fill locally. The program aims to support economic growth and retention of newcomers in the Atlantic region.

Pilot Programs and Targeted Measures

Objective: A smaller share of economic immigrants are selected via pilot programs geared to specific regions, occupations or sectors or targeted measures introduced in response to unique circumstances. The 2024 admissions target for all pilot programs and targeted measures listed below is 10,875.

Regional

Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (2019-2024)

• Building on existing regional immigration initiatives, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) was launched in 2019 to test a community led model for immigrant attraction and retention in rural and northern communities to support their local economic development. The pilot tests new approaches to both the recruitment and the settlement of newcomers to rural and northern communities.

Regional Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (2021- open until intake cap of 500 applications is reached):

• Supports Canadian employers in finding skilled refugees to meet their labour needs by facilitating access to Canada’s existing economic pathways (PNP, Atlantic Immigration Program, RNIP) for qualified refugees abroad and other displaced people.

Sectoral, Occupational

Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilots (Caregiver Pilots) (2019-2024)

• Provides in-home care providers with pathway to permanent residence upon completion of Canadian work experience in caregiver occupations.

Agri-Food Immigration Pilot (2020-2025)

• Provides a pathway to permanent residence for experienced non-seasonal workers in specific agri-food industries and occupations.

Targeted Measures

Federal Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (2023-2025)

• Supports Canadian employers in finding skilled refugees to meet their labour needs through two streams – one for those who have secured a full-time job offer from a Canadian employer and one for those with very high human capital who do not require a job offer. The job offer stream is uncapped, while the no job offer stream is capped at 150 applications per year.

Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway (May to November 2021)

• A 2021 temporary pathway was created to allow people already in Canada to become permanent residents. Those eligible included international graduates, health care workers, and other essential workers. Uncapped dedicated streams for French-speaking and bilingual temporary residents were also included.
• Total applications: Over 90,000 applications were received. Applications will continue to be processed in 2024.

Recent Developments/Next Steps

Higher Economic Immigration

• Economic immigration levels have increased, primarily in Federal High-Skilled and PNP. In recent years, the target for economic immigrants has increased with the current 2024 admissions target set at 281,135. The majority of economic immigration comes from Federal High-Skilled programs and the PNP.

Support for Francophone Immigration

The economic class has been a main pathway for French-speaking and bilingual immigration outside of Quebec, with the Federal High Skilled Programs managed through Express Entry representing an average of 50% of all French-speaking permanent resident admissions since 2018.

IRCC also coordinates two measures included in the Action Plan for Official Languages (2023-2028) related directly to economic immigration: the Corridor for the selection and retention of French and French-speaking teachers and the integration of a Francophone lens into economic immigration programs.

Upcoming Immigration Programming

Given the RNIP’s success and positive stakeholder feedback, IRCC will seek to make the pilot a permanent program, including assessing options to expand it to more communities, with particular attention to the needs of Francophone communities. This was also included in the Strategic Immigration Review report released on October 31, 2023.

A new immigration program for National Occupation Classification’s Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category 4 and 5 occupations is expected in 2025, leveraging an Expression of Interest model similar to the Express Entry system. This pathway could replace standalone sectoral pilots like the caregiver pilots (pending Digital Platform Modernization Phase 3 readiness) by providing a generic mechanism to select economic immigrants in essential-skilled occupations (i.e. TEER 4 and 5 occupations), mirroring the approach already used for high skilled immigrants (i.e. TEER 0-3 occupations). The pathway could incorporate category-based selection authorities, thereby providing the ability to invite candidates with specific profiles.

Key Takeaways

• Economic immigration which targets skilled workers represents the largest share of the immigration levels plan, helps respond to Canada’s short- and long-term economic needs and is generally supported by the public and stakeholders.
• Core economic immigration programs are evidence-based and well-established, consistently generating positive economic outcomes over successive cohorts of immigrants.
• Within the economic class, the allocation between federal programs and pilots and provincial nominees has shifted, such that the Federal High Skilled Programs managed through Express Entry are now allocated a declining share of annual admissions.
• New pilot programs and targeted measures across skill levels have been introduced in recent years to meet specific regional or sectoral needs and to test new approaches (e.g. meeting immigration targets or increasing Francophone immigration).
• Upcoming decisions: Considering the mix of existing and potential new tools for fine-tuning the economic class landscape; considering ways to improve the efficiency of economic immigration programs.

“Canada has not only the largest in terms of numbers, but also the most elaborate and longest-standing skilled labour migration system in the OECD.” - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, July 2019.