Canada met its target of granting 400,000 foreigners permanent residency in 2021 just the second time since it was founded as a country in 1867.

Canada, which depends on immigration to drive its economy and support an aging population, saw new permanent residents falling over 45% to 185,000 in 2020, when borders were largely closed due to COVID-19.

The majority of the new 401,000 permanent residents - a figure reached for the first time in more than a century - were already in Canada on temporary status, according to a statement from the immigration minister.

"Last year, we set an ambitious goal. Today, we achieved it," Fraser said.

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has relied on immigration to boost the Canadian economy since coming to power in 2015, setting an annual target of about 1% of the country's population of nearly 38 million.

IRCC has been able to meet its Immigration Levels Plan target this year through a technicality. A landing can occur either by a temporary resident of Canada seeing their legal status change to permanent residence, or by them arriving to Canada from abroad and officially gaining permanent resident status. Prior to the pandemic, most new immigrants came from overseas. This year, however, IRCC has focused on transitioning those within the country to achieve its newcomer goal. The rationale has been those within Canada are less likely to be impacted by COVID-related disruptions that may impede their ability to land as a permanent resident.

Before the pandemic, about 30 per cent of new economic-class immigrants were already in the country when they got permanent residency, while about 70 per cent moved from abroad. In 2021, this has been reversed with some 70 per cent landing from within Canada and about 30 per cent arriving from overseas.  

IRCC has made shifts in operations to transition more temporary residents to permanent residents.

Some of the changes include holding Express Entry draws that target Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates, as well as launching six streams in May to offer pathways to permanent residence to as many as 90,000 international students and temporary foreign workers living in Canada. 

In the pre-COVID days, Canada landed between 25,000 and 35,000 immigrants per month, with figures being higher during the warmer spring and summer months. Canada got off to a slow start this year before ramping up landings in June. Since June, Canada has consistently landed over 35,000 new permanent residents each month, and in recent months has exceeded 45,000 landings per month. 

Achieving the 401,000 newcomer target has been one of IRCC’s top priorities in 2021. Now that the department has achieved this goal, IRCC will broaden its priorities following the release of a new mandate letter. 

In today’s news release, immigration minister Sean Fraser stated “Last year, we set an ambitious goal. Today, we achieved it. This is a historic moment for our country, as we welcome the highest number of newcomers in a century. I want to thank all the employees in my department, especially our Operations Sector, who made this possible. Canada is built on immigration, and we will continue to safely welcome the immigrants that Canada needs to succeed. I can’t wait to see the incredible contributions that our 401,000 new neighbors make in communities across the country.”

Under the Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023, Canada is looking to welcome 411,000 new immigrants in 2022 and 421,000 immigrants in 2023. Fraser will announce the new Immigration Levels Plan by February 10, 2022. Fraser has suggested the new plan may entail even higher targets for 2022 and 2023.