(OTTAWA) The federal government plans to continue to increase the record number of new permanent residents in Canada over the next three years, as Ottawa tries to deal with a massive backlog of applications that have accumulated during the pandemic.
Posted at 5:55 p.m.
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser on Monday presented his 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan, which projects that Canada will admit 431,645 permanent residents this year, 447,055 next year and 451,000 in 2024.
The federal government therefore indicates that it wants to increase the admission rate of newcomers to reach the threshold of just over 1% of the Canadian population by 2024.
The government approved 405,0000 new applications for permanent residence in 2021, a record for a single year in Canadian history.
But there was still, at 1er February, a backlog of more than 1.3 million applications for permanent and temporary residence – delays mainly due to the pandemic, according to the government.
Minister Fraser indicated on Monday that increasing immigration will be key to Canada’s pandemic recovery.
“Newcomers enrich and improve our communities, and they work every day to create jobs, care for loved ones and support local businesses,” the minister said in a statement. Throughout the pandemic, they have served on the front lines, working in key sectors like healthcare, transportation and manufacturing. »