IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2024 – IRCC Overview Dashboard

Prepared by: SPPB

Date: January 2024

IRCC Processing Overview

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) selects and welcomes, as permanent and temporary residents, foreign nationals whose skills contribute to Canadian prosperity, reuniting family members and maintains Canada's humanitarian tradition by welcoming those need in of protection

The 2023-2025 Levels Plan targeted 465,000 permanent resident (PR) admissions in 2023 and admitted 471,550 permanent residents.

The 2024-2026 Levels Plan targets 485,000 PR admissions in 2024.

Temporary resident (TR) entries are demand driven. Canada does not currently actively plan for the number of TRs the way it does for PRs via the Levels Plan.

2023 Overview: Citizenship and Travel Documents

Travel documents, specifically passports, have seen significant growth following a spike in demand as travel restrictions eased

Citizenship Grant (Naturalization): The formal process by which a person who is not a Canadian citizen can become a Canadian citizen.

Citizenship Proofs (Certificate of Canadian Citizenship): A document issued by the Government of Canada that confirms a person’s status as a Canadian citizen.

Travel document: An identity document issued by a government or an international organization (such as the United Nations) including passports, or an official travel document that identifies the person who holds it and shows their citizenship.

Processing Times for Select Lines of Business

Processing times refer to the number of days or months in which 80% of applications received were finalized by IRCC. Please note that a minimum of 10 cases are required to calculate processing times.

Processing time service standards differ across lines of business.

Immigration categories indicated in grey are no longer accepting new applications.

Arrows indicate change in processing time relative to the same period in 2022

Permanent Resident Admissions and Regionalization

Atlantic provinces saw the greatest increase in admissions from 2019 to 2023, but their overall share of admissions remained below that of all other provinces

5 Year Change in Permanent Resident Admissions by Province

2022 Permanent Resident Admissions by Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) & Census Agglomeration (CA)

• Permanent residents are more concentrated in CMAs (major cities such as Toronto, Calgary or Montreal) than Canadian citizens.

Work Permits and Regionalization

Work permits holders in Atlantic Canada are increasing, though the majority continue to go to Ontario and the Prairies.

5 Year Change in Work Permit* Holders by Province

Work Permit Holders present on December 31, 2022 by Census Metropolitan Area & Census Agglomeration

• Open work permit holders – individuals with work permits allowing them to work anywhere for any employer – are less likely to specify a province of destination on their work permit

*Permit count is based on the total number of permit holders within a calendar year. The actual number of permit holders residing within a province at a given moment may fluctuate depending on when the holder was admitted to Canada

Study Permits and Regionalization

All provinces in Canada have seen significant growth in study permit holders

5 Year Change in Study Permit* Holders by Province

Study Permit Holders present on December 31, 2022 by Census Metropolitan Area & Census Agglomeration

*Permit count is based on the total number of permit holders within a calendar year. The actual number of permit holders residing within a province at a given moment may fluctuate depending on when the holder was admitted to Canada

French-Speaking Permanent Resident Admissions Outside of Quebec

IRCC achieved its French-speaking target (4.4%) in 2022, one year ahead of schedule and reaching approximately 4.7% from January to December 2023

French-Speaking Admissions Outside of Quebec by Year

Immigration programs managed under Express Entry are the primary sources of French-speaking immigrants.

French speakers were disproportionately impacted by COVID border restrictions, creating a backlog of potential candidates. Once the restrictions were lifted, the backlog was addressed, creating an increase in French-speaking admissions in 2022.

The Department finalized new targets as the modernized Official Languages Act sets a legislative requirement to leverage immigration in support of restoring the demographic weight of Francophone minority communities. The targets for Francophone immigrant admissions outside Quebec are 6% in 2024, 7% in 2025 and 8% in 2026.

Permanent Resident Demographics

India remains the top source country for admissions

Five Year Change in Top 10 Source Countries of Citizenship for Permanent Resident Admissions

Economic Admissions by Year and Gender

Sponsored Family Admissions by Year and Gender

Refugee and Protected Person Admissions by Year and Gender

Temporary Residents: Demographics

While both work permit and study permit holders are increasing overall, Canada is seeing a decrease from citizens of some South-East Asian countries

Five Year Change in Top 10 Source Countries of Citizenship for Study Permit Holders

Five Year Change in Top 10 Source Countries of Citizenship for Work Permit Holders

“Two-Step Immigration” Is Increasing

In 2022, 35% of permanent resident admissions^{Footnote 1} were previously a temporary resident

Note(s): "Pre-admission experience" refers to the category under which an immigrant was authorized to enter Canada for temporary residence purposes before admission as a landed immigrant or permanent resident. In the 2021 Census of Population, data on pre-admission experience are available for immigrants who were admitted to Canada from January 1, 1980, to May 11, 2021. "Recent immigrant" refers to a person who obtained landed immigrant or permanent resident status in the five years preceding a given census. For the 2021 Census of Population, this refers to the period from January 1, 2016, to May 11, 2021.

Source(s): Census of Population, 2021 (3901).

Given the increase in the number of temporary foreign workers and international students, as well as the expansion of some economic immigrant programs, “two-step immigration” (the admission of immigrants from among those with previous experience in Canada) is more common among recent immigrants.

In 2021, over one-third (36.6%) of immigrants admitted in the previous five years had pre-admission experience, compared with 17.9% among longer-term immigrants (those admitted from 2001 to 2005).^{Footnote 2}

Canada’s Support To Ukraine

IRCC continues to support Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion through the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program (CUAET)

On March 17, 2022, the CUAET was launched, providing Ukrainians and their immediate family members of any nationality the opportunity to stay in Canada as temporary residents for up to three years.

They are eligible for a free open work permit or study permit, allowing them to take a job with almost any Canadian employer or enroll in an education program in Canada.

As of November 28, 2023, IRCC can report the following with regards to Ukraine:

1,189,320 Temporary resident applications received under CUAET

936,293 Temporary resident applications approved under CUAET

210,178 Temporary resident arrivals under CUAET

Taken from: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/ukraine-measures/key-figures.html.

Canada’s Support to Afghanistan

The Government of Canada achieved its commitment to welcome at least 40,000 refugees and vulnerable Afghans to Canada by the end of 2023.

IRCC is supporting Afghans affected by the humanitarian crisis through three programs:

• the Special Immigration Measures Program for Afghans who assisted the Government of Canada
• a humanitarian program
• a permanent residence pathway for extended family members of former interpreters

As of December 29, 2023, IRCC can report the following:

20,535 applications received under the Special Immigration Measures Program

14,145 applications approved under the Special Immigration Measures Program

45,820 Admissions across all three programs combined

Taken from: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/afghanistan/key-figures.html.