Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) provides updates policy approach and outcomes for the period ending December 31, 2022 with its 2023 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration.
As a requirement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, this annual publication gives to the Minister of IRCC the opportunity to inform Parliament and Canadians of key highlights related to immigration to Canada, in terms of statistical reports regarding:
It also offers information on successes and challenges in welcoming newcomers to Canada, outlines the efforts undertaken with provinces and territories in Canada’s shared responsibility of supporting immigration, highlights efforts to support and promote Francophone immigration, and includes an analysis of gender and diversity consideration in Canada’s approach to immigration.
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Immigration Minister Marc Miller opened the report by shedding light on IRCC’s major milestones from the previous year.
According to him, owing to IRCC’s “commitment to improving our client services in collaboration with other levels of government, Canada is better positioned to attract and retain skilled workers needed to sustain the economy and grow our communities.”
Calling 2022 a “record year” for IRCC, the Report cites how the immigration department’s processing capacity increased with the use of new tools, technologies, and employees.
In fact, 5.2 million applications for PR, temporary residence, and citizenship were processed by the department as a result of the same.
This increased processing (double in number to that in 2021), as per Miller, has allowed employers and communities to be supported, and has reunited thousands of spouses, children, parents, and grandparents with their family in Canada.
Inventory reductions between August and December 2022 and the improved processing times can be traced to IRCC’s efforts to “add resources, streamline processing, and harness automation technologies.”
These also yielded a record number of admissions of 437,000 new PRs (against a target of 431,645 admissions), as well as more than 604,000 temporary workers.
These new incomers to Canada helped fill job vacancies in important sectors like healthcare, the trades, and tech, helping rebalance the country’s ageing population.
Miller’s message further shed light on the 4.4% French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec in 2022, which is an attainment of the target set for 2023.
This was in support of Canada’s efforts to “enhance the vitality of French linguistic minority communities” outside of Quebec.
In terms of humanitarian achievements, Canada reached closer to its goal of resettling 40,000 Afghans.
Moreover, the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel was launched in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine. More than 95,500 Ukrainians and their families were resettled in Canada in 2022.
The Report highlighted the essential nature of immigration for Canada’s socio-econo-cultural progress, with the aging population leading to a shifting worker-to-retiree ratio that the country needs to address.
Considering close to 100% of labor force growth is then owed to immigration (and 100% population growth by 2032), it is vital that the country continue boosting its immigration program.
“Canada continues to deliver and benefit from a strong immigration system, with significant and sustained growth in permanent resident admissions,” read the Report.
“Permanent immigration to Canada has important long-term benefits, as permanent residents and their families contribute to a skilled workforce over the long term, allowing hospitals, schools, transport and construction companies to increase their capacity to provide care, teach, provide transportation, and build infrastructure.”
IRCC creates space in the Immigration Levels Plan for those workers who can help increase infrastructure, with special focus on carpenters, contractors, plumbers, and other skilled trades workers for permanent immigration.
On a broader scale, filling labor shortages in specific areas lying outside big cities is achieved through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). This allows provinces and territories to adapt their program streams to meet evolving labor needs in their respective jurisdictions.
The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), for example, allows the Atlantic provinces to prioritize those sectors that show immediate labor needs.
To fill labor market shortages and address post-pandemic economic recovery, a majority of PRs were called in through economic categories of immigration.
This included regional economic programs (the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot) and AIP, which allowed for more equitably-spread immigration benefits across Canada.
In June 2022, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) was amended to authorize category-based selection in the EE system for launch in 2023.
This tool expands selection flexibility, which enables IRCC to issue invitations to some candidates to meet specified economic priorities and objectives.
The categories, as per the 2023 Report, were informed by labor market data and a consultation process with provincial/territorial partners in 2022.
Another major revision was the implementation of the National Occupational Classification update (NOC 2021) in November of last year.
This revision was led by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Statistics Canada, and introduced a new numbering and classification methodology for occupations in Canada.
NOC 2021’s usage is spread across IRCC programs, and it has helped identify labor needs, clarify skills and qualifications needed to perform Canada jobs, bring IRCC’s administrative data into alignment with ESDC and StatsCan data, and support the growth of PR and temporary residence admissions.
IRCC put in place the following temporary public policies in 2022 for international students:
IRCC launched the Digital Platform Modernization (DPM) program in 2022, which is a mulit-year initiative to gradually transform the client experience through new business processes and capabilities underpinned by new enterprise-wide digital technology.
In 2023, IRCC advanced this initiative by developing a blueprint for its future state service design and working with industry to finalize requirements for a new Case Management Platform.
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This is to eventually replace the existing GCMS.
IRCC’s new Client Experience Platform – which will “transform how clients interact with the Department – started being procured and configured by IRCC, and will begin circulation to a “subset of clients” by the end of 2023.
Other digital and service improvements include:
Due to COVID-19 in 2019 and 2020, visitor trends declined. In 2022, however, trends increased, with 2,866,545 eTAs and 1,923,148 TRVs issued.
More people from across the world are applying to come to Canada every year.
Resultantly, the number of eTAs and TRVs issued increases proportionally to meet entry requirements.
Unprecedented numbers of initial study permit applications and study permit extensions were received by IRCC in 2022.
In 2022, 550,187 study permit holders existed, which is a 23% increase from the 445,776 in 2021.
These workers respond to labor market needs by bringing in global talent to cover labor shortages and skills gaps, enabling the Canadian economy to remain competitive.
Workers entering through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP) contribute to sectors including but not limited to agriculture, food processing, and healthcare.
TFWP is jointly administered by ESDC, which processes LMIA, and IRCC, which issues work permits.
The IMP is solely managed by IRCC, facilitating the entry of workers to support the broader Canadian economic, social, and cultural objectives or reciprocal benefits enjoyed by Canadians or PRs.
Eligible applicants under the IMP are LMIA exempt.
In September 2022, new regulatory measures came into force, protecting temporary foreign workers and helping to prevent mistreatment and abuse.
The 13 new regulatory amendments include measures to strengthen protections for TFWs and are set to enhance the integrity of the TFWP and IMP.
Quebec’s temporary immigration also boosted through the International Mobility Program Plus, which was launched by IRCC in May 2022 in collaboration with the Quebec Ministere de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Integration (MIFI).
This stream gives open work permit access to persons living outside Quebec who have been issued a Certificat de selection du Quebec.
The intent for using this stream is to encourage these individuals to enter Quebec, find employment, and start to integrate into the province – either before or while they are waiting for a final decision on their PR application.
GSS was launched in June 2017, and between then and December 2022 more than 92,400 foreign nationals held a work permit for highly skilled occupations like computer programming, information systems analysis, and software engineering.
Since its launch, more than 24,500 GSS workers transitioned to permanent status.
As the largest source of all 2022 PR admissions in Canada at 58.4%, the number of individuals under this class totaled 255,660. This includes accompanying immediate family (spouses and dependents) of the main applicant.
The three federal economic class immigration programs are:
The majority of these are managed via the EE. In 2022, many federal economic programs provided pathways to PR for individuals:
Additionally, 579 entrepreneurs and their family came to Canada under the Start-Up visa.
Some regional economic programs are as follows:
In 2022, 97,338 persons were admitted to Canada under the family-reunification program. 70,076 admissions were under the spouses, partners, and dependent children categories, with a remaining inventory of 72,671 at the year’s end.
27,262 sponsored parents and grandparents were admitted as Canadian permanent residents, which is a large increase from 2021.
IRCC funded upwards of 550 service provider organizations in 2022-23, and provided settlement services to more than 607,800 clients.
These include pre-arrival and post-arrival orientation and information services, needs and assets assessment and referrals language training, employment-related services that include mentorship and apprenticeship programming, and services that help newcomers connect and contribute to their communities
IRCC also funds support services that help address challenges and barriers to access for settlement services, and supports the integration of French-speaking immigrants through the Francophone Integration Pathway.
Canada has been a global leader with regards to migration and international refugee protection issues.
As a member of international multilateral organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum, and Refugees (IGC), Canada promoted its objectives of “safe and regular migration and upholding protection.”
In 2022, IRCC also advanced Canada’s strategic migration and refugee protection objectives by actively engaging in regional and bilateral activities, along with delivering capacity building assistance.
Miller acknowledged certain shortcomings in Canada’s immigration mechanism.
For one, there is still systemic racism within IRCC, which the department continues to address by implementing anti-racism initiatives and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
In July 2022, for example, it launched its Anti-Racism Strategy 2.0 to further racial equity and inclusion for clients and employees alike. Moreover, the diversity of IRCC front-line staff was increased. However, despite these steps, Miller said that “we (IRCC) have to do better.”
In terms of gender and diversity considerations in immigration, Gender-Based Analysis (GBA) Plus – which is a tool to understand how factors like race and sexual orientation influence access to programs and services – is used in the design and implementation of policies, programs, and other initiatives.
This is to maximize inclusivity in IRCC.
Some partners that are essential for IRCC mandate delivery and administration include:
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