The 2021 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration has been made available to the public.

The Report is a requirement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and a way to inform the public, parliament, and the Minister of IRCC on the previous years’ immigration numbers as well as other impacts on immigration.

It presents information on immigration in 2020, which experienced many interruptions and setbacks due to COVID-19. Minister Sean Fraser notes in the beginning of the Report that numbers were heavily decreased because of the pandemic, however, the new Anti-Racism Task Force, updates on the Sex and Gender Identifier Policy, as well as a move to digitization and modernizing application processes were positive points in 2020.

The report outlines the number of temporary residents and permanent residents accepted in 2020 and projected permanent residents for the future. It also contains ways the IRCC has promoted and supported Francophone immigration and has an analysis of gender and diversity considerations in Canada’s approach to immigration, which is also a requirement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Here are the major numerical highlights of the Report:

Temporary Residence

• Temporary Resident Visas (TRVs): 257,330

• Electronic Travel Authorizations (eTVs): 648,789

• International students: 256,740

• Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs): 84,609

• International Mobility Program (IMP): 242,130

• International Experience Program: 18,725

Permanent Immigration

• Economic Class: 106,422

• Family Reunification: 49,290

• Spouses, Partners, and Children: 38,831

• Parents and grandparents: 10,459

• Humanitarian and Compassionate Consideration: 3,408

• Protected persons: 16,250

• Refugees: 9,236

• French-speaking permanent residents: 5,756

All numbers are significantly lower than numbers in 2019, which is attributed to the pandemic. International students contribute an estimated $20 billion to the Canadian GDP, and their numbers were greatly stunted. Immigration through the Economic Class, which was responsible for 58% of all admissions in 2020, was down 46% from 2019. Though the number of refugees admitted into the country was also very low, Canada was still in the top three countries globally for resettlement of refugees in 2020.

Canada aims to support growth of French linguistic minority communities across the country. The Francophone Immigration Strategy is meant to aid in this goal. This includes reaching a target of 4.4% of French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec by 2023 and additional funding to 14 selected communities totaling $4.2 million per year over the course of 2020-2023 through the Welcome Francophone Communities initiative.

The report also includes targets for the 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan, which seeks to welcome 431,645 permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024.

Source: Canada